Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
And, God, how I love his laugh. I want to make him do it all the time.
Just as I start chopping vegetables for the salad, Connor walks back inside and takes over washing the ones I haven’t gotten to yet.
“You’re handy.”
“Despite being rich?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Yep.” I whip the kitchen towel at him, swatting him on the butt. He lunges for me, making me shriek as I move away, but before he can catch me, his phone rings.
“I have to get this.”
“Go ahead.” I’m still laughing when I grab the knife and continue slicing the cucumber. To my surprise, he doesn’t leave the room. He simply answers.
“Gallagher.”
I glance over and see him scowl as he stares out at the living room, listening to whatever the person on the other end says.
“When?” His voice is sharp. Direct.
It sends a shiver down my spine, and my panties flood.
Why do I love that so much? That hard, unrelenting, demanding tone.
I know how it sounds in the bedroom when he’s driving me wild with his fingers, with his mouth, with his cock.
And fuck me if I don’t miss it.
“Send Sean first thing in the morning and let it be known that if they can’t back the fuck off, we’ll dump the entire bloody project. No, I’m not bloody kidding, Fiona.”
Fiona. His ex-wife.
“I’m not playing this game with them. Bleedin’ hell, there are plenty of other sites to build a resort on in Sweden.”
He hangs up and blows out a breath. His jaw muscles tick, his shoulders are tight, and I don’t know why, but I want to touch him.
Setting the knife down, I walk up behind him, wrap my arms around his middle, and rest my cheek against his back, hugging him.
And slowly, the tension seems to seep out of him.
“It’ll be okay,” I murmur as his hands cover my arms. “Sometimes people just suck, Connor.”
And now it’s my phone ringing, making me scowl as I pull away from him and look at the screen.
It’s Emily at the shop.
“Hey, Em.”
“Hi, I’m so sorry to call you on your day off.”
“No worries, what’s up?”
I move back to continue cutting the cucumber, pinching the phone between my ear and shoulder, and Connor resumes cleaning vegetables next to me.
“I caught a shoplifter.”
I narrow my eyes.
“Did you call the police?”
Connor’s head whips over to look down at me.
“Of course. They just left. The kid was arrested, and we filed a report, and everything is fine, but I didn’t want to wait to tell you until you got here tomorrow.”
“I appreciate that. Who was it?”
“A teenage girl. I actually felt really sorry for her because I could tell that she just really wanted to read the book she tried to steal and likely can’t afford it.”
“But we have a no toleration policy,” I finish for her.
“Yeah. She was upset. She’ll probably be released to her parents.”
I turn and lean against the counter, and Connor reaches over and tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. I offer him a small smile.
“You did the right thing, Em. Thanks for letting me know. How’s Tiffany feeling?”
“Oh, she’s fine. She’s ringing up customers now.”
“Has it been busy today?”
“Steady all day. Have you considered hiring more help? I don’t see us getting slower in the offseason.”
“I have some interviews on Monday,” I reply. “We definitely need more help. I’m gonna go now, but let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do, boss. See you.”
I hang up and look up into worried, insightful eyes. “It’s all fine.”
“Sometimes people suck,” he says, echoing my words and making me laugh.
“That’s true. What wise words.”
“A brilliant and beautiful woman recently told me that.” He winks, and we resume our tasks. “You’re going to hire more help?”
“Yes, definitely. Two, maybe three more. The store is busy, and more often than not, I’m being called away from the floor for other things. I’m in contact with indie authors about collaborations, which is so exciting and not something I ever thought I’d do. I’m constantly buying new stock and starting to schedule book signings. It’s a lot of admin work on my end, and I’d rather have employees on the floor with customers while I handle the back end.”
“You’re growing,” he says, dragging his hand down my spine. “Good for you, bumble.”
“I might eventually buy the space next to me. Not the coffee shop side, obviously, but the other side, if it ever comes available. I could use more space, and it hasn’t even been a year. Anyway, I won’t bore you with that.”
“Do I look bored?” He raises an eyebrow and leans his hip against the counter. Folding his arms over his chest, he faces me as I finish the vegetables.
“No, you look …” I lift a shoulder. “You know what? Never mind. I’ve boosted your ego enough today.”