Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 125257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
“Fine, I’ll bite. What’s my little issue?”
“The way you want my dick.”
She tosses her napkin at me. “Shut up.”
I catch it easily. “Oh, my bad. I meant the way you want my dick all the time.”
“You’re the worst.”
“The way you want it more than you’ve ever wanted anything in your life? Is that better?”
“You’re in trouble.”
“Fine, fine. I guess you don’t want it. I don’t have to give it to you again then.”
She crosses her arms. “Good. I don’t want it anymore.”
I blow out a long sigh. “Such a shame. I had so much planned for you with it.”
She smirks, then takes a breath, like she’s gearing up to say something hard. “Because I want your tongue.”
My brain stalls. It just stops working for a white-hot second or fifty. As I absorb everything she’s saying, then devise a brand-new game plan—one that consists of two words.
“Check, please!”
But she shakes her head. “Tonight. I need to get some work done before my meeting.”
“Like I can wait.”
“Good things come to those who do,” she says, and holy fuck. Who knew she was so flirty, so dirty?
“I’m going to be so fucking good at waiting today,” I say, then before it gets too heated here in the diner, I gesture to the bag within the bag. “What do you want to do next? On the list?”
I’m avoiding number five. It scares the hell out of me. Maybe she is too. Because she says, “Three or four.”
I study the list, peering closely at those two again, even though I’ve memorized the list already.
3. Camp under the stars
4. Make breakfast together and clean it up
“I think we could easily do number four back in the city after this road game. The one about making breakfast together in the morning.”
Her shoulders tense. “Okay.”
Not sure why that stresses her out, but I’ve got a feeling, seeing as how I woke up this morning to her dressed and ready to go. “You don’t like waking up next to someone.”
She shrugs. “It’s okay. I just like to brush my teeth and, you know, freshen up.”
I could tell her she doesn’t need to worry about that with me, that I find her sexy with dragon breath, but that’s not what she needs to hear. “Then we’ll make sure you get to do that.”
Her smile is one of relief, then she moves on. “But I don’t know how the hell we’re going to do number three. Camping under the stars?”
“There are campgrounds everywhere.”
She shudders, then leans closer, cupping the side of her mouth like she’s confessing. “I don’t know how to break it to you, but I don’t camp.”
I laugh. “Right. Snakes.”
“Exactly.”
I stare at the ceiling for a beat. “How about glamping?”
“Maybe,” she says, but it’s a hopeful maybe.
That twinkle in her brown eyes makes my pulse spike. It’s a little ludicrous, this effect she has on me. Making her happy just does it for me. Too bad I only have a few days of this kind of happiness left.
But I try not to linger on that. She doesn’t want to see that side of Lake Onion. I zero in on practical matters. “I’ll look into glamping. And we can fit the breakfast easily around the wedding shower and the spa day. Did your sister ever pick a date for that kind of torture? I mean, that kind of relaxation?”
She gives me a sharp stare. “I saw you get a massage in the training room.”
“That was for sore muscles.”
“Yes, they work on sore muscles at spas too,” she says, then clicks on a link on her phone—a spreadsheet no doubt—and gives me a date.
I swear I’m not grinning when I say, “I have a game that night.”
She sighs mournfully. “I was really looking forward to seeing you with cucumbers on your eyes. I was even going to take a picture.”
“Dream on, beautiful,” I say.
“Oh, I will, Lake. I will.”
After I pay for breakfast, we head back to the hotel, and walk by the front desk where Cedric’s working. He gives us a wave, then a knowing sort of smile. “Hey there. Looks like everything worked out okay?”
Right. I have to keep making sure it’s clear that I didn’t fuck up yesterday when I first said we were friends. I tug Remy closer. “Sure.”
“Glad to hear that, and go beat the Sea Dogs tonight.”
“I see we have a hockey fan in our midst,” Remy puts in.
Cedric swings his gaze to her, studying her for a second or two, then adding, “Absolutely. And…I think I saw you on the broadcast too.”
She cringes, but he shakes his head quickly, then gestures to Remy. “Nice to see you happy.”
“Thanks,” she says, her smile fading as we walk away.
His remark is similar to what the woman at that dress shop said. “When people recognize you from the Jumbotron video,” I say as we head up the steps, “does that bug you?”