Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 84952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“You’re going to eat him up and spit him out,” I tell her.
“I always spit them out.” She tosses me a wink. “Swallowing is gross and reserved for the men who deserve it. That has yet to be proven.”
I shake my head as she sashays across the restaurant like she owns the damn place.
Suddenly, the fact I’m alone in the middle of the restaurant becomes readily apparent. And knowing that Sebastian is probably just waiting to pounce on that little bit of information makes me want to scream.
“I need a drink,” I groan, fluttering my lashes open and letting them fall on the opposite side of the restaurant.
Large, dark beams crisscross the ceiling and play a distinct contrast to the pale lavender walls. Bronze lighting fixtures and hazy yellow lights create a warm ambiance that speaks to my soul.
The entire front of the building is composed of windows that showcase the beautiful hotel across the cobblestone street. A bar tucked away to the right of the door.
I weave my way through the tables with much less grace than Bellamy. I’m about halfway across when the hair on the back of my neck stands up. If I were in an alley, I might think it was a predator ready to kill me. Here, I know it’s just Sebastian.
And I, being the lady I am, cannot punch him in the throat.
“Why can’t he just leave me alone?” I mutter.
My steps speed up, and I make it to the bar just as I feel his energy behind me. I glance over my shoulder and spot him, with his arm around the gorgeous redhead, heading my way.
I reach for the chair in front of me. Instead of finding leather, my fingers brush against something else. Something warmer. Something smoother and rougher all at the same time.
My heart jumps in my chest at the same moment my head snaps to the side.
Oh. Shit.
The most beautiful set of hazel eyes I’ve ever seen traps my gaze. The warmth of the chocolate brown is cooled by the spring green embedded in the orbs. Gold flecks twinkle as the man slowly withdraws his palm away from mine.
I open my mouth, but I’ve somehow forgotten how to speak.
“Hey,” he says, his Southern drawl rippling across my ears. “You can have it.”
I shake my head to try to jolt myself out of the haze I’m in. “I … I can have what?”
His full, pouty lips split into a sexy smirk. “I meant the chair, but if something else is on your mind, just let me know.”
My heart flutters in my chest as a wave of heat courses through my body from head to toe.
A couple of days’ scruff peppers a sharp, chiseled jaw. His skin is sun-kissed and imperfect, and there’s the slightest mole beneath his left eye that gives a bit of softness to his appearance. His body is long, well over six feet, with broad shoulders and a thick chest.
It’s one heck of a picture.
Slowly, oh, so slowly, the fog in my brain lifts.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he asks.
Sebastian’s gaze pummels me from the side. It’s as if it’s intentional—his ego cannot stand the fact another man is paying me attention.
If that’s the case …
A crazy idea pops into my brain. The longer I watch this man peer at me from under his thick lashes, the more it seems possible.
Crazy? Yes. But definitely possible.
“Want to do me a favor instead?” I ask before I can talk myself out of it.
My chest rises and falls in quick succession as he and I ponder my question. He narrows his eyes as he undoubtedly considers why a woman he just met might need his help.
His thick brows tug together. “That depends on what it is.”
Blood pours through my ears as I realize I’m potentially playing with fire.
But what’s the alternative? Sebastian gets to come over here and play poor Larissa?
Not an option.
“Are you going to ask or not?” he asks
I look up and down his long, muscled body.
Too bad he’s not an option.
Before I can overthink it, the hottie in front of me slays me with a playful quirk of his brow.
Screw it.
I take in a quick lungful of air. “I’m going to need an answer to two questions.”
“Shoot.”
“Quickly.”
He grins. “I can’t answer them if you don’t ask them, beautiful.”
I steady myself against the term of endearment and stay focused.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” I ask.
His eyes sparkle with mischief. “I like where this is going.”
“That’s not an answer, and we’re running out of time.”
“No,” he says hurriedly. “Hard no. Definitely not. No girlfriend.”
“Second question …” I take another deep breath and go in for the kill. “Will you be my fake boyfriend for five minutes?”
His grin knocks the breath I’m holding right out of me. “When do we start?”