Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 96586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Not that I don’t like flowers.
I just…I don’t want them from my ex-boyfriend who seems to have used our split to grow into someone I possibly could’ve enjoyed my time with.
“I am not putting Angel into piano lessons, darling. She’s one and can barely hold Cheerios without crushing them,” Katherine chortles, sound cut off by a knock at the door.
“Come in,” I insist and close the email.
An unexpected face peers around it on a cooed, “Hey you…”
“Hi you…”
Katherine swings herself around to officially get her first in person glimpse of him.
“Busy?”
“Just finishing up lunch. I have a conference call to discuss a possible change in the type of busses we use in about fourteen minutes.”
“Very precise.”
“At work I always am.”
“I respect it,” he sweetly beams. “I just…haven’t seen your face outside of my phone all week and needed a fix.”
It’s impossible not to blush.
“I’m Katherine – never Kat,” she warmly interjects, reminding us that we’re not alone. “The best friend.”
He slips inside, shuts the door quietly behind him, and extends an open palm her direction. “Collins.” They shake as he cockily states. “The everything.”
I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from swooning.
And he is.
He really, really is.
“Well, aren’t you in love?” Katherine pokes on a playful snicker.
“More and more every day.”
Another round of redness rushes to my face.
His eyes cut to me at the same time he shoves his hands into his jeans. “I really didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch or possibly make you late for a call, baby. I just uh…,” he clears his throat to continue, “missed you.”
I’m not entirely sure who swoons louder me or my best friend.
“You are always welcome to stop in and come see me, Ry.”
Surprise slides onto his face. “Yeah?”
“Yes.” A sweet smile is wedged in between sentences. “However-”
“That’s how she gets ya,” Katherine teasingly states on a wag of her fork my direction.
“However,” I reiterate after tossing her a mirth-filled glare, “two things. Number one, do not use your niece’s pin to get into the building again. That is for pick up and drop off only. Using it to sneak in to see me creates suspicious log in activity on the records.”
He flashes a small guilty cringe.
“And number two, just call or text first to see if I’m in the building. Sometimes I’m at a conference or running errands or last-minute pickups because we’ve somehow managed to run out of extra packages of wet wipes in the entire building. On days that I’m just giving a tour or doing an evaluation of an employee or playing on the swings, you’re more than welcomed to wait in my office for me to be finished – I’ll inform Clemmy today.”
“Still a huge fan of the swings, huh?”
“You know I don’t trust people who aren’t.” Both of them laugh and afterward, I state, “The rest of my day is maxed out, but I’m free tonight. Dinner? Movie? Finally teaching me how to play frisbee golf?”
He slightly shifts his weight. “I can’t tonight. I have plans.”
“Cancel.” my best friend rudely interjects.
“Katherine!”
“I’m so sorry.” She places an open palm over her chest and offers us both an apologetic expression. “What I was meant was…reschedule.”
“Katherine!”
“I can’t,” he politely informs, stare swinging to her. “Support group and waffles afterward with a friend from the meeting.” His gaze momentarily shifts to me. “And while my woman is the most important fucking thing to me in the entire world,” it’s impossible not to blush under the proclamation, “I haven’t always been the best about keeping my word in the past, so I’m working on that. Commitment requires commitment so to speak.”
Pride thoughtlessly pumps through my gaze. “Wanna come by when you’re all done?”
His gaze shifts to me. “Might be a little late? That okay?”
“Yeah, just use your key.” An almost embarrassingly schoolgirl style smile slips onto my face. “I wanna fall asleep beside you tonight.”
“I could never say no to that, baby.”
“Ohmygod, get cuter you two,” Katherine teases while resuming her eating.
“Why don’t I get going,” Ry casually suggests, “so that you two can finish up the last of your lunch together?”
He begins to move my direction for a goodbye kiss prompting me to ask, “Are you headed back to work?”
“No. I um,” his tongue steals a small swipe of his lips, “actually took the afternoon off – with Big Roscoe’s blessing – to uh…,” he clears his throat, “look at a few technical schools in the area.”
The information lights up my face. “Ohmygod, really?!”
“Yeah. Big Roscoe wants more certified hands under the hood and certified mechanics make more money than those not. Plus, he wants to eventually expand to another garage in a more upscale area and has mentioned wanting me to run it if I get my shit together.”
“Ohmygod, Ry!” My hands briefly cup my mouth. “That’s so exciting! I’m so proud of you!”