Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
The guys would always tease me that I needed to hurry up and settle down.
But I was in no rush.
Until I met someone worth rushing for.
Alex was one of the weekend volunteers at Ryan’s House—a charity I founded to build housing near hospitals.
Little did I know she was the same person I’d been arguing with over email before the project started. At the time, I’d thought Alex was a dude.
In reality? She was a smoking hot blonde who captivated me from the moment we met in person.
Our chemistry was off the charts, and I fell hard pretty fast.
Unfortunately, Alex insisted I was too young for her. I hated that she felt that way. Because age was just a number.
Not only that, her words didn’t match the way she looked at me—like she was very interested.
I lived for the weekends we’d spend out of town volunteering. Alex and I side-by-side hammering during the day, while sharing intimate dinners together at the hotel at night.
Eventually, the walls she’d put up to protect her heart began to crumble.
Until fate threw us a doozy that I wasn’t sure we could come back from.
If I’d thought our age gap was the biggest hurdle, I didn’t know anything yet.
Rule number one for dating an older woman who insists you could never be together?
Don’t fall in love.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER 1
Brayden
I looked down at my cell and shook my head.
“Why the long face?” My buddy Colby walked back into the kitchen and tossed me the keys to his car. “I didn’t think single guys with no kids and fat bank accounts had anything to stress over.”
I caught the keys. “Bite me.”
He chuckled. “No, really. Is everything alright? You were grumbling at your phone the other day when I walked into the elevator, too.”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Except one of the volunteers on the renovations team for the new Ryan’s House project is driving me nuts. You know how we pick two team leaders to help coordinate things on each job?”
Colby nodded. “One for the mechanics—electrical, plumbing, heating, and stuff, and one for interior design—paint, flooring, fixtures, and appliances, right?”
“Exactly. This dude Alex is the design team leader. He’s driving me nuts with his suggestions. He questions every fixture, appliance, and molding I’ve picked out. Today he wants to change the living room paint color by a shade—a freaking shade. I couldn’t even see the difference between the two paint samples online. Now he just asked if we could meet for dinner tonight to go over a few last-minute changes he’d like to make.” I shook my head. “No way am I doing that. It’s a good thing you clowns are coming up this weekend to help out, because I have a feeling this guy’s going to test my limits.”
Colby made a pouty face. “Awww... Brayden has trouble working with others.”
I shook my head, but smiled. “I don’t know why I tell you shit.”
“Probably because no one else wants to listen to you.”
“Ouch.”
He laughed. “What time you getting on the road today?”
“Probably about two. I need to stop by the office and pick up a project I’ve been working on for a kid. He’s in the hospital upstate again, so I’m going to drop by to visit over the weekend and surprise him with it.”
“What did you make this time?”
I grinned. “You know I don’t give hints about my masterpieces before the unveiling. I told his family I’d come by Sunday. If you knuckleheads are still around, you should join me.”
“Sounds good.”
I held up Colby’s car keys. “Thanks again for the car swap. Mine is too small to fit baseboard heating covers.”
“Anytime you want to swap my ten-year-old, beat-up SUV for your hot little six-month-old Porsche, I’m in.” He grinned. “I’m going to have a good-ass time driving that thing upstate Saturday morning.”
I opened the door. “Don’t get arrested for going a hundred and twenty.”
***
Later that night, I checked into the hotel up in Seneca Falls and decided to go down to the lobby bar for a drink. It was empty, except for a woman sitting alone. She had a drink in front of her, and a full glass of wine sat at the empty stool beside her, so I assumed she must be here with someone. I took a seat along the short side of the bar to give them some privacy.
But damn... Sitting here gave me an even better view of the woman, and she was a total knockout—sandy blond hair, big blue eyes, and high cheekbones that led down to a full set of lips. She might’ve been a few years older than me, but that didn’t stop a rush of adrenaline from giving my body a good jolt.
The bartender walked over and dropped a napkin in front of me. “What can I get you?”
“I’ll take a whiskey sour. Any chance you have Russell’s Reserve Ten-Year bourbon to make it with?”
The bartender’s brows pulled together, and he thumbed to the woman sitting alone. “You with her?”
“No, why?”
He shrugged. “She just ordered the same drink. That brand of bourbon and all.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
I glanced over again and lowered my voice. “She alone?”
“Is now. Some guy sidled up to her when she came in a few minutes ago, but he left pretty quickly with his tail between his legs.”
Alrighty then. “Any chance you guys serve food here?”
“Sure do. I’ll grab you a menu.”
Even though I now knew she was alone, I wasn’t too enthused about striking up a conversation with the pretty blonde. Not after she’d just chased another guy away. But when the bartender brought my drink and she looked over, I raised my glass.
“Apparently we ordered the same drink.”
“Whiskey sour?” she asked.
“With Russell’s Reserve Ten-Year.”
She smiled and held up her glass. “To good taste.”
I tipped my glass to her. A minute later, my phone buzzed with a call from Colby. I swiped to answer. “I hope you’re not calling to tell me you dented my car already.”
“No, but how the hell do you put the top back up?”
“You know the button you pushed to drop it?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s the same button to put it back up. You just need to hold it for ten seconds.”