Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I roll my lips and look over at Caine to see him just staring at them. I honestly don’t know what he’s going to say, but what I’m not expecting is for him to come right out with a dig. “Juice boxes, am I right?” he jokes with them, and we all laugh. It would take nothing for me to go and stand beside him. But instead, I stand where I am. Everyone goes away slowly, and Stefano moves to put the gift down. Eva and Levi go to greet other guests, while Meadow looks at Caine and asks if she can go play. He nods his head. “Not too far,” he tells her as she joins a couple of kids at the party, and they start chasing each other.
“Well, this is fun,” he finally says as we stand next to each other.
“On a scale of one to ten, how shocked are you to see me here?” I ask him as my shoulder touches his arm.
“In the words of Meadow, one thousand million and half trillion,” he exaggerates, and I can’t help but laugh, leaning into him. I catch myself right before I kiss him. In my head, I can feel his arm wrap around my waist and pull me to him, and then he leans down to meet my kiss. But it’s only in my head because reality is two different things.
I look over at him, and he looks back at me, smirking now. “You look cute in that hat.”
“Do I?” I ask, and he nods, trying not to look at me more than is normal, which bothers me even more because all I want to do is look at him.
“Yeah, you look even younger,” he teases, “which makes me feel even creepier.”
“Oh, stop it.” I push his shoulder with my hand, moving down his arm, and I’m about to slide my hand into his, but instead, I let our fingers graze each other. “Come on, Grandpa, let’s go mingle.”
twenty-six
Caine
The minute she calls me Grandpa, I put my head back and laugh. Something I’ve been doing a lot lately. “That mouth of yours.”
She turns and stops in front of me, her eyes twinkling in the sun even though her hat covers most of it. “Yeah, what about it?”
I shake my head and look around to make sure no one is listening to our conversation. “I’m going to keep it real busy tonight.”
“Is that so?” She looks up at me, an innocent look on her face. A face I want to hold in my hand and kiss because I can. My fingers tingle thinking about it. “I look forward to it.”
“Hey,” a woman says when she walks up to us and hugs Grace. “Stefano said you were here.”
“I am, Addison,” Grace introduces the woman. “I’d like you to meet my boss, Caine.”
Her face is like all the others, shocked with a touch of glare. “You don’t say?” She tries to keep a smile on her face, a fake one but still.
“The one and only,” I confirm, holding out my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Addison.”
“Trust me, the pleasure is mine.” She smiles big. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“That seems to be the running comment.” I look over at Grace, who just looks away. “I hope I’ve gotten better.”
“Time will tell,” Addison says to me, then looks at Grace. “We’ll catch up tonight.”
“Oh, no,” Grace quickly says, “I have plans.”
“Oh, a date.” Addison pushes her shoulder, and my stomach tightens at the thought.
“No.” She shakes her head. “I have a huge assignment due next week.” She lies to her, or at least I hope it’s a lie.
“Oh, that’s a bummer. We leave tomorrow,” Addison says. “Next time, or you can come down and spend the weekend.”
“That sounds like fun,” Grace replies, and I ignore how I feel about her leaving for the weekend. Especially since it’s the only time we get with each other. I look down, hoping she doesn’t see I’m bothered by it and then makes me out to be too needy.
Addison is called away, and I turn to look at Grace. “I’m afraid to even ask what you told them about me.”
She tries not to smile. “It’s not a secret how much of a dick you were, Caine.” She folds her arms, pushing her tits higher. “It was within ten seconds that you were a dick.”
“I’m never going to live that down,” I state. She’s about to say something when Meadow comes running over. Her ponytails are now slanted to the side as she pushes the stray hairs out of her face.
“Daddy, I have to go pee,” she says, and I look around, seeing a little brown building with one door for women and one for men.
“I can take her,” Grace offers. “It might be easier than taking her in the men’s bathroom.”