Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 58952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
He pulled his cell phone from the front pocket of his slacks and used his fingerprint to unlock the screen. “What’s your number? I’ll text you from my personal phone so you can reach me directly, instead of going through my assistant.”
She flashed him a cheeky grin. “Well, now I feel special.”
An unexpected chuckle escaped him before he could stop it. “You should.”
Her grin remained as she rattled off her number, and he shot her a quick text message so that she now had his. As soon as he tucked his phone back into his pocket, she stepped right up to him and enveloped him in a hug before he realized her intent.
Shocked by the warm and endearing gesture because he was unused to that kind of open display of affection outside of Billie, he felt his body stiffen as she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing all those sensual curves right up against him as he’d envisioned only minutes before. He forced himself to relax, and tentatively, his own hands slid around her waist, instinctively returning the hug.
Or maybe he just selfishly wanted to be close to her, to soak up her vivacious, accepting personality, despite his attempts to keep his guard up. His hand slipped down to the slight indentation at the base of her spine, much lower than was probably appropriate, and he inhaled a deep breath. God, everything about her was so warm and soft and fragrant. Heat shot through his veins, along with something far more intimate. The lust and desire was a given, but the connection he felt in that moment with Lauren was unprecedented and threw his equilibrium off-kilter.
The embrace only lasted a few seconds before she released him and stepped back. “Sorry, I’m a hugger,” she said impishly, clearly having sensed his initial discomfort. “But you need to get used to being touchy-feely with me, if we want to make us look believable to my family.”
She’d put him through such a range of emotions in such a short span of time, and his head was still spinning from that embrace, that all he could manage was a grunt as a response.
She laughed softly, as if understanding. “Thank you for doing this for me, Chase.”
He cleared his throat and found his voice. “You didn’t give me much of a choice, did you?” he said, injecting a bit of humor in his tone.
Despite everything he’d put her through, Lauren’s eyes held a mischievous little sparkle. “You still could have said no, or made some excuse not to do it, but you didn’t. You’d better be careful, or else I’m going to think you’re actually a really nice guy beneath that grumpy façade of yours.”
With that sassy retort, she turned around and walked out of his office, leaving him with the tantalizing view of her hips swaying and her firm ass outlined in her fitted black pants… making him wonder what the hell he’d gotten himself into.
Chapter Four
“So, I think this is the last of the items left from the charity event,” Lauren said the following week, when Billie came by the Meridian to collect a box filled with Future Fast Track signs, posters, and other unused paper goods. “I could have had it couriered over to your office, instead of you coming by to pick it up.”
Billie grinned unabashedly. “I know, but if I’m being completely honest… I’m nosey and wanted to know what’s going on with you and Chase.”
Lauren paused for a moment. She wasn’t sure what Billie knew about any of her interactions with Chase and didn’t want to assume anything. “What do you mean?”
She chewed on her lower lip, her eyes glimmering with a hint of worry behind her black framed glasses. “Has he been in touch about how you’ll spend your weekend together?”
Throwing Chase under the bus by telling his half-sister that he’d initially tried to buy her off with an all-expense-paid weekend without him wouldn’t serve any purpose other than to disappoint Billie. Clearly, she adored her brother, despite his uptight personality, and all that mattered to Lauren was that he’d agreed to be her date to her sister’s wedding.
“So, you haven’t talked to him since the charity event?” Lauren asked instead.
Billie shook her head and absently ran her fingers along the edge of the cardboard box holding the nonprofit’s things. “I definitely thought about asking him, but I know my closed-off brother and knew I’d get a straighter answer from you, most likely. I mean, he made it pretty obvious up on that stage that being auctioned off was equivalent to having a root canal, and I’m just hoping that he didn’t totally turn you off with his brusque attitude.”
“Oh, he tried,” she admitted, and found herself grinning as she recalled her initial interaction with Chase at his office, and his unsuccessful attempts to dissuade her. “But we came to an understanding.”