Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 116362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Luckily once I get to school, I spot Rio about to head up the stairs.
“Hey,” I call after her and hurry to catch up. “What happened with your exes last night, you never texted me.”
She gives me a dry look and I realize she’s still wearing not only her makeup from last night but the same clothes. “Ugh. I can’t wait to shower all this regret off of me,” she says, sounding wrecked. Then her eyes grow round as she looks over my shoulder. “Heads up, Hugh Grant Jr. is coming your way.”
I turn to see Blake coming toward me. Shit.
I quickly whip around just as Rio is abandoning me, running up the stairs.
“You bitch,” I mutter under my breath and try to inhale deeply.
“Amanda,” Blake says crisply to my back.
I slowly turn around, raising my brow. “No nickname this time?”
His gives me a wary smile. “Oh I’ve got plenty but they’re all very inappropriate during a proper grovel.”
“This is you grovelling?”
He chews on his lip for a moment and looks away, his eyes shifting from dark grey to dark blue in the dim light of the hallway. “I’m sorry I cancelled last night,” he says, focus on me again, brows raised in offering. “You forgive me?”
Shit. He’s got one hell of a sweet face when he wants to be sweet. Those dimples, the puppy dog eyes. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
“Maybe,” I say. “That really pissed me off. You’re not the only who has a life you know, I put off things so that we could work together.”
He runs his fingers along the stubble on his chin. His fingers are something else. I’ve only really noticed them as we’ve been working together but my mind has gone a few places imagining what else he can do with them.
And now I know I must be blushing. I clear my throat and stare at him expectantly.
“I know,” he says. “Something came up.”
“Two blondes with, I’m guessing, big tits is what came up.”
He raises his finger. “Actually one had small tits and I never went on a date with them. Her or her tits. That was my mate Heath who did that. At least I assume he did, I actually never heard back from him.”
I guess Rio was right. Not sure why that bothers me. “Then why did you lie?”
He coughs out an incredulous sound. “Because you assumed already that I was cancelling because of some girls.”
“And you weren’t.”
“No,” he says adamantly. “Look, darling, I know this may come as a surprise to you but I have a life that involves more than getting my dick sucked.”
I flinch at his language though I’m not sure it’s because of his crudeness or that it ignited a hot flare of interest inside me. I’m praying for the former. “Well you could have fooled me.”
Some students brush past us, heading to the stairs. Blake reaches out and grabs my elbow, leading me out of their way and over to the wall. His grip on my arm is firm and gentle at the same time and what little intimacy this is surprises me.
He moves me so that my back is against the wall and peers down at me intensely. I’ve seen this look before when he’s discussing his character and it makes me feel slightly off-balance. I swallow thickly.
“I just found out that my dad and stepmum are getting divorced,” he says in a low voice. “It caught me off-guard though clearly I was missing all the signs. Anyway, my stepbrother Kevin was having a hard go of it all. They still haven’t told him but the chap is smart, he knows. They asked me to stay for dinner and I couldn’t say no. I’m really sorry I had to do that, I was looking forward to seeing you.” He pauses, blinking a few times. “I mean, I was looking forward to working with you on the novella. But I don’t mind seeing you either. Especially that arse of yours.”
So many things flying through my head at once. I push the comment about my arse aside since it’s not the first time he’s made some remark about one body part or another. “I’m so sorry,” I tell him. “You should have just said that.”
“Well I obviously called you to tell you the truth but once you got all fiery like the barmy redhead you are, it was hard not to fan the flames. So I’m sorry for that.” He holds his hand out. “Apology accepted?”
I put my hand in his and he squeezes it tightly. “Accepted.” His brow quirks and I feel a smile tug at the corner of my mouth. “And I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. You had a good excuse.”
“You mean a threesome isn’t a good excuse?”
“Not unless it’s like your life’s goal or something.”