Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 55744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
That's when she'd come up with the brilliant plan to test her hypothesis. Evil, for sure. Although she wasn't dating anyone at the time, and hadn't been for a long while, she did have several male friends and one of them was exceptionally brilliant and good-looking. Unable to stop herself, she'd picked up her cell and called Justine. They had a lovely, hour-long chat about everything under the sun.
Nick had shown up on Friday after her last class.
Her roommates had gone to Daytona Beach for the weekend, but Courtney hadn't been feeling up to joining them because she'd been suffering from cramps earlier in the day. That evening, her cramps were mostly under control, thanks to three ibuprofen and a heating pad. She was on the couch watching television in her shortie pajamas when the doorbell had pealed.
She'd glanced at the door and her heart had constricted and then started beating more rapidly. No way. It couldn't be him.
It couldn't be true.
Slowly, she'd stood to her feet and walked to her door, thanking the good Lord that even though she'd been feeling bad, she'd gone to class that day, because that meant that her hair was clean and she was still wearing make-up.
She looked through the peephole and almost had a coronary.
Damn. It had worked.
And that had been the day her life had changed. That was the exact moment she'd known. She hadn't known exactly what she'd known, but she'd known for a fact that Nick was attracted to her. She'd known in that instant, as she'd looked through the peephole, as he'd stood on her doorstep, irritation plastered across his face, that Nick was jealous and possessive and that he didn't think of her as a little sister.
She'd opened the door, forgetting all about her flimsy pajamas, only trying to contain the violent beating of her heart. "Hey," she'd said, trying for a look of pleasant surprise as her eyes drank him in, so happy to see him that she'd wanted to fling herself at him. Stunned beyond belief at her new understanding of him.
Nick gave her no response; he made no attempt to embrace her. All she saw was six-feet-two inches of pissed-off male on her doorstep. He stood stock-still, his hands braced above his head on the doorframe. He wore extremely casual clothing, and his t-shirt was tight. It molded to his stomach, showing his washboard abs underneath. His biceps were pronounced as he flexed his hands, gripping the wood above him. "You going to let me in?" he asked, narrowing his eyes on her.
Fighting butterflies and at a loss for words, stunned that Nick did have feelings for her after all, she nodded her head and pushed the door all the way opened.
He walked inside and glanced around at the empty apartment with a suspicious glint. "Where are your friends?"
"They went to the beach for the weekend," she answered neutrally.
He took another step forward and slammed the door shut, sliding the deadbolt into place with a resounding click. "Which beach?"
Swallowing hard, her blood beating so quickly that her brain was spinning, she managed to answer, "Daytona."
"Why aren't you with them?" he asked, leaning against the door and crossing one foot over the other in a falsely lazy fashion.
Not wanting to blurt out that she would have been if she hadn't had the cramps, she was silent for a moment too long.
"Is it because you don't have enough money?" he drawled in a tone that suggested he didn't believe that was the real reason.
Trying with all her might to follow the conversation because she was still so floored that he was actually standing here in her apartment, she mumbled, "No, I've got enough."
"Are you sure? I can boost your allowance if you need more," he said in a neutral tone that somehow managed to sound as if he were baiting her.
Her mind was racing. It had worked. He was here. He was here. He. Was. Here. Dear God. "No, I'm good. I just didn't feel like going." That kiss. Oh, my God. That kiss on her eighteenth birthday. He'd meant it. It had been for her. She took a deep breath and then another. She would not hyperventilate.
"Didn't feel like going," he repeated flatly, as if he didn't believe her. "With your girlfriends. To the beach. You expect me to believe that?"
Her eyes flared as her heart continued to beat in triple time. "It's the truth."
His lips curled into a snarl. "Where is he?"
Oh, my God. Oh. My. God. Seriously, he was really jealous. "Where is who?" she asked as evenly as possible.
"The new boyfriend," he bit out, his anger conveying itself blatantly.
Her muscles tensed as she realized just how pissed he was. And that she had misled him in an effort to get him here. "I don't have a new boyfriend," she quickly denied.