Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 135604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“Oh? And what exactly am I pullin’?”
“The bikini.”
“What about it?”
“What about it?” I echoed, dipping my eyes for a quick look down the front of her. “The wind picks up even the slightest bit and you’re fucked, babe. I’m not even sure that classifies as swimwear.”
Her blue eyes flashed bigger, filling with triumph.
“And what do you care what I’m wearing? You’re done waitin’ around for me, right? You’re not interested anymore. Isn’t that what you said?”
I straightened up, admitting, “Yeah, that’s what I said,” ’cause I had said it. No point in lying now.
How much truth I had wrapped up in that statement, I wasn’t sure about.
And that I kept to myself.
Her mouth tipped up in the corner. “Then I’m not seeing what shit you think I’m pullin’ here or why anything I do would have any effect on you, Jamie,” she fired back. “Unless …” Tori took a step back, dropped her bag in the sand, and started shaking out her towel. “You still want it,” she offered, turning her head and flashing an ear-to-ear smile.
I started breathing slower.
Shit.
Shit.
There it was. The first goddamned genuine smile she’d ever actually given me, and it was good.
No. It was damn good.
Better than the ones I took from her. The ones I stole from her. The ones she was always putting on others.
At Whitecaps. Hanging around at Dash’s place on Sundays. To strangers or to people she knew, and her friends, the ones she really cared about.
I saw a lot of smiles from Tori Rivera. Real ones. She never faked it. Her smile lit her up. It was a beautiful fucking thing to watch. And what I felt witnessing her give that smile to other people is what kept me coming back after nine months of waiting and getting jack shit in return.
But now? Getting it put on me? Fuck. Yeah … it was good.
“Wow, Jamie, look at you.” Tori laughed, jarring my focus. “You close to begging yet?”
I kept staring, liking the confidence growing in her voice and the way her hair looked, breeze-blown and light against her skin.
But I kept that to myself. I was winning this shit.
“You’re pushin’ it, babe,” I told her. “Fair warning. Take it places you can handle. You don’t …” I shrugged. “That’s on you.”
“I think I’m handling things just fine. More than fine, actually.”
“Yeah?” I paused for a breath, waiting for hesitation to tighten her smile ’cause I had her pegged, and when it did, giving her a grin of my own before adding, “We’ll see about that.”
Handling things fine, my ass. She had no idea what I was capable of.
Legs covered her tell and rolled her eyes, uttering a quiet “whatever” before bending over and spreading out her beach towel in a spot where there wasn’t much room for another beach towel considering the crowd. Didn’t matter, though. She was making room ’cause she was on her little mind-fuck mission to distract me.
Whatever.
I shook my head and laughed, then turned away to watch out for this girl I was waiting on.
I had all afternoon to stare.
“Well?”
My head swiveled back around at the sound of the voice over my shoulder.
Tori was standing in front of me again with her hands on her hips, feet spread, head cocked, and brows lifted expectantly. Like she was waiting for me to do something.
Do what, exactly, I had no idea.
“Well, what?”
She smiled big, drawing my eyes down to the cute curve in her mouth. “I’m ready for my lesson,” she informed me.
My eyes snapped back up to meet hers again and quickly narrowed. “Your what?”
“My lesson.”
“What lesson?”
“I’m your three o’clock.”
What the fuck?
“No, you’re not.”
She kept smiling at me, arguing, “Yeah, I am,” as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, swaying her hips a little.
I cocked an eyebrow, thinking she was acting weird. “Quit playin’. You ain’t my three o’clock.”
“Actually, yeah, it totally is me.”
My jaw clenched. Jesus. I turned and squared off with her, facing her fully now and only keeping breath between us I was standing so close.
“Legs, for real, arguin’ with me ain’t gonna do shit,” I informed her, watching that damn smile of hers keep. “You’re not my three o’clock.”
“Yes, I am your three o’clock. I swear I am. Promise.”
I breathed slowly, keeping annoyance at bay and the urge to toss her hot little ass into the ocean under control while thinking back to the name printed on the sign-up sheet.
I’d checked it this morning before heading out. I knew who my lesson was with.
Then seeing that name materialize in my head, I allowed my face to relax, gave her a smile back, and shared, “Nice try, babe. Seriously. Like the effort you’re putting out, too, but you want a lesson with me, you need to call the shop. My three o’clock is with a Mira.” I tipped my head at her towel, ordering, “Have a seat. You can watch me with her. Know that’s what you’re really here for anyway. Not this bullshit about enjoying the weather.”