Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
I grinned. “Maybe it has.”
Later, much later, after Penny and I ate, hung out, and shot some footage of me with the typewriter, I went to find Cole. He’d been in his study all afternoon, so I looked there first. The door was open. I rapped my fingers against the frame before stepping inside—and stopped dead.
He looked up from his desk. “Hey, Lila.”
No words came to me as I stared at him. “Wh-what are you wearing?” I pointed at the monstrosity on his broad chest.
He glanced down. “This is my pizza-making shirt.”
“Why?”
He was wearing a hideous Hawaiian shirt that seemed to encompass all the colors of the rainbow and quite a few likely known only to an alien society. His shirt was so loud it made Penny’s car seem quiet by comparison.
He grinned at the expression on my face. “It’s kind of an old family joke, but it started when Brady and I bought a Hawaiian shirt for my grandfather for Christmas.”
“Was it as bad as that?” Looking directly at it burned my eyes.
“Worse, if you can imagine.”
I couldn’t. “Why do you wear it to make pizza? So if you spill any sauce, no one will be able to tell?”
“It eventually became a family tradition.”
A very upsetting thought occurred to me. “Please tell me this doesn’t mean you’re putting pineapple on the pizza.”
“God, no.” He shuddered. “But I’m glad you stopped by. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Okay.”
“Do you think you can shut the door and stop staring at my shirt in horror?”
“I’ll try.” Shutting the door turned out to be the easy part.
“Have a seat.”
I sat across from the desk trying to look in his direction without actually looking directly at him. “What’s up?”
“Brady told me about what happened last night.”
That got my attention. “What?” I yelped as my pulse tripled.
“He said you told him that you get nightmares.”
My heart continued to pound hard in my chest. “And?”
Cole grinned. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. If you like to make yourself feel good before bed to help you sleep, that’s your business.”
Wait… did that mean he didn’t know that Brady had lent a hand last night?
Cole took a key out of his pocket and unlocked a drawer under his desk. He took out the basket they’d used when they confiscated my stuff. “I can’t give you back everything, since that’s not what this week is about, but why don’t you pick out one toy to take with you?” His amused expression faded as he looked my way. “Nightmares are no fun.”
“Thanks.” I got shakily to my feet and moved around the desk. Normally, even someone as shameless as me would be a bit embarrassed to rummage around a basket of sex toys in front of a guy, but I was just so relieved that he didn’t seem to know what Brady and I had done last night.
I pulled out a silver bullet vibe, in part because it was reliable and also because it would fit in my pocket. No way in hell I wanted to risk Gideon catching me walking the hallways with a translucent pink cock in my hands.
Cole looked skeptical. “Will that little thing get the job done?”
“Yes.” But not as well as his cousin could.
He locked my stuff up again and I remained standing. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. And there’s one more thing,” he said as I started for the door.
Shit. Maybe he did know about Brady and me.
But all he did was hand me a brown paper bag. “I picked this up when I was in town this morning.”
“What is it?”
Cole leaned back in his massive desk chair and rubbed his hand against his chin. “Aren’t you the queen of those, what do you call them, unboxing videos? Seems like you should be able to handle a paper bag.”
“Good point.” I opened the small bag. Even before I could see inside, the scent hit me—lavender. I pulled out a round purple bath bomb.
“Lavender’s supposed to help you sleep, if you take a bath before bed,” Cole said. “I thought it might help.”
“Thank you.” It was a kind gesture even though I didn’t currently have a bathtub.
But Cole seemed to have thought of that. “I asked the lady at the store. She says you can set it at the bottom of a shower, and as long as the water hits it, you’ll get the same effect. But my room’s got a bathtub, and you’re welcome to use it anytime. Just give me a heads-up and I’ll come in here and get some work done.”
“Thanks,” I said again. “That was really thoughtful of you.”
He nodded nonchalantly, but he looked pleased. “Save some of those thanks for after you try my pizza. I’m going to start on the dough in a few.”
“Looking forward to it.”
19
GIDEON
I was completely focused on the screen in front of me when an online influencer burst into the little office. “I thought you said you were starting on the dough—oh.” She sputtered to a halt when she saw it was me.