Total pages in book: 8
Estimated words: 7958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 40(@200wpm)___ 32(@250wpm)___ 27(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 7958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 40(@200wpm)___ 32(@250wpm)___ 27(@300wpm)
“You trust me enough for that? You don’t know me, we just met.”
“And a stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet,” she says.
“How very poetic of you.”
“Come on. I am sure you are tired coming all the way from New York.”
“You know who I am?”
“Of course, I do. Everyone knows who you are, Aric.”
“Well, how about I get to know you,” I say as we walk up the stairs. I don’t know if she realizes that our hands are still entwined or not, but I won’t be the one to say anything about it.
“I’m Ariana Blair, and I work in public relations.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ariana Blair.”
“It’s not yet, but it will be,” she says before unlocking the door and pushing it open. She holds it open while I grab my bags from Paul.
“See you next week, boss,” he says before leaving.
“See you,” I reply as I go into the room with Ariana.
Maybe this vacation won’t be so bad after all.
THREE
ARIANA
What was I thinking? I wonder as I hold the door open for him. I can’t tell you what I was thinking, but I can tell you what I was thinking with. Aric Holbrook is tall, bearded, and handsome. Sometime between him staring at me so openly and taking his hand in the lobby, I fell for him. I fell for him hard and fast, despite not knowing him.
I could very easily go right next door and sleep on the couch in there, but I don’t want to. For the first time in my life, I want to do something bad. Something I shouldn’t. Aric is older and so fucking hot. I can’t help myself, but more than that, something inside of me told me only he was supposed to see me naked. I don’t know this man from Adam, but I feel like I do, or like I am supposed to.
“Ariana, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Arina asks as I help her get ready for her bachelorette party.
“It’s fine, really. We’re adults. We can manage a week in each other's company.”
“I’m worried about you. You’ve never been with a man,” she says
“I have no plans to be with him, Arina,” I lie. Oh, I’m definitely gonna try to get with him, but I don’t want to have to talk about it when I get shot down.
“Don’t lie to me, Ariana. I can read you like a book. He wants you too, you know?”
“I kinda knew, but ya know, not for sure,” I say, sounding like I’m middle school.
“Girl, come on. I’ve never seen a man stare at a woman like that before. Not even Hoyt. Sure, you were naked as a jaybird, but I could feel the air between you two. Didn’t you feel it?”
“Yes. Of course, I did,” I say, giving her hair an extra burst of hairspray before doing the same thing to my own hair.
“It’ll be easy. Sometimes the best thing in the world is to just go ahead and get it over with; then you won’t be so nervous.”
“I don’t believe you, Arina. You were a virgin when you met Hoyt.”
“And then I wasn’t one twenty minutes later. I didn’t know at the time that he was going to be my one,” she says.
“Yes, you did. I still have the text you sent me eight minutes after meeting him. I’ve met my husband. Ring any bells?”
“Alright, I was just trying to be encouraging.” She swipes on some lip gloss and declares herself ready to go.
“Incorrigible is more like it,” I say, laughing. “You ready to get this party started?”
“Yes. Don’t tell Hoyt about the strippers,” she says, grabbing her purse.
“Your secret is safe with me,” I tell her, linking arms with her as we go down to the lobby. The rest of the Bride Squad is there, as our t-shirt dresses proclaim. I am the only one who thought the dresses were too short and paired it with jeans and Chucks, but alas, let’s get this party started.
“I’m getting married!” Arina shouts again as we pile into the limo for dinner at a nearby restaurant before taking us to a strip club. A female strip club, but it’ll be fun.
The strip club is oddly packed for a Monday night, but luckily I thought to make reservations. Dinner was great, but I had too much to drink. I’m feeling floaty but able to make decisions. We are seated at a large circle booth, and more drinks are brought over, including champagne. Really good champagne. After we’ve been there for about an hour, a large, loud party enters the club. I recognize the groom’s brother, Peter, and wait for the scream. Arina runs and jumps into Hoyt’s arms, who is wearing a blindfold.
“Peter, I said no strippers,” Hoyt shouts, ripping the blindfold off. I watch as he visibly breathes better once he realizes it's Arina in his arms.