Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 62095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Considering he was gearing up for another risky work assignment, I had a feeling I’d go home with some budding bruises later.
Ten o’clock was here, so I activated the access system, locking the doors to everyone who didn’t have a membership card. Or code. Darius loved that part. He’d gotten into countless bitch fights with our doors.
My phone dinged with a message on the counter, so I glanced at the screen and immediately picked it up when I saw Natalie’s name. She’d texted.
This is going to sound super stalkery, but I just saw that you’re still working. Can I come down?
Absofuckinglutely, she could. I texted her back.
Come on down, stalker.
That was another thing. She’d been seeking me out more since Jayden’s birthday party, and I was done avoiding her. Not that I’d succeeded a whole lot, but I’d given it a week. I’d tried to honor her wishes to keep everything professional. Except, she was the one pushing for conversation, and there was only so much I could do before I got sucked in.
While I waited for her, I took the opportunity to check in with Darius.
You ready for me to kick your ass, big brother?
We’d have a glorious audience of four people if Natalie stuck around.
The boxing ring was ready. It was usually where I faced both Darius and Avery. And Ryan, when he was in town.
The sound of the door opening made me look up, and I smiled automatically. “Well, hey. If it ain’t the client watching me from her window.”
She smirked and rolled her eyes. “You know what? I can be honest enough and say it’s not the first time.”
How about that.
I grinned and bent down to rest my forearms on the counter. “I’m gonna need more details.”
She huffed and trailed closer, albeit very slowly, while she pretended to find the nearby clothing displays interesting. “For the record, stalking isn’t the right term. I prefer to say I’m…sojourning.”
I burst out a laugh and shook my head.
She smiled impishly.
“Well, you can sojourn here whenever you want,” I assured her, still too amused.
But it was more than that. Being around her simply made me happy.
She finally reached the counter, and she raked her teeth across her bottom lip. A bit distracting. “Okay, full disclosure? I once saw a woman hit on you right outside, but it looked like you turned her down.”
I had no idea when that had happened, because a woman hitting on me wasn’t specific enough. I just couldn’t say that out loud without sounding arrogant.
“Taking a break from that scene means declining occasional offers,” I said.
She nodded slowly and brushed her fingers mindlessly over a display of supplement dispensers. “In this particular case, I can also imagine she wasn’t your type.”
I furrowed my brow. “What’s my type?”
“Who buys these?” She held up one of the dispensers.
I stifled my smirk. “People who take multiple supplements every day and think the pill boxes for meds are too small.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense.”
She wasn’t, though. She wasn’t making any sense at all.
“What’s my type, Natalie?” I repeated.
She scoffed and flipped her wavy hair over her shoulder. “How should I know? But I’m guessing, you know, fitness people. Women who do yoga every day and drink algae shots?”
Fucking hell, I wanted to laugh. For the record, I’d dated a few of those women, and yoga and algae shots hadn’t been the deal-breakers. But I almost wanted to ask, what was it about algae shots? It wasn’t the first time I’d been accused of liking that. I’d never in my fucking life taken an algae shot.
She probably saw you with Janette.
Shit. Could that be it?
Janette and I had gone to high school together. She came in from time to time to renew her membership, and then I didn’t see her for months again. Now she was on a keto kick, a restrictive diet that only worked long-term for certain people, and she wasn’t one of them.
“The woman you saw me with,” I said, “was she plus-size?”
“Ummmmm…” Natalie knitted her brows together, thinking about it, and went on to fidget with the QFC measurement tapes. “She might’ve been, yeah.”
I killed my smile before it could break out, because I was finally catching on. Natalie was uncomfortable for some reason. She was bordering on awkward, and it was fucking adorable.
Was she digging for personal information about me?
More specifically, she wanted to know my type?
“Probably Janette, then,” I said. “If I’d been interested in a woman who once admitted to me that she’s been in love with most of my brothers at one point or another in her life, maybe I would’ve considered giving her a call. But then, I’d also have to put up with her collection of healing stones and her strong belief that burning incense can cure colds.”
“Oh wow,” she laughed. “And yeah, okay, with the flu season upon us, I can see how that would be a lot.”