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)
“Hi,” I said. She looked as though she wanted to say something.
“I don’t believe we’ve formally met, even though you and I have been working alongside each other.” She held out her hand, which had some paint splatter on it. “I’m Cora.”
“Alex. So nice to meet you.”
Cora was tall with short brown hair. She was wearing denim overalls.
“Can I be nosy?” she asked.
“Sure.”
“You and that hottie Brayden… A few of us saw you kissing in the elevator last night, as you probably know.”
“I do.” I cleared my throat. “Sorry for the spectacle.”
“Oh, please.” She waved her hand. “It was hot as fuck.”
“Well, happy you think so. It wasn’t meant to be a show, though.”
“You guys were so into it, you barely noticed the elevator doors opening.”
“We got a little carried away.”
“I think that’s amazing.” She tilted her head. “So when’s the wedding?”
I turned to the wall and began scraping. “There’s no wedding. We’re not even dating.”
“Really? Well, you had me fooled.”
“We’re mainly…flirting.”
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
“Damn. That’s some flirting, then.”
“He’s too young for me.”
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
The longer Brayden and I hung out together, the more my excuses seemed flimsy. If I didn’t believe what I was trying to sell, how could anyone else?
“Then I suppose you wouldn’t mind if I made a play for him?” Cora asked. “Dude’s smoking hot.”
A rush of heat rose from the base of my neck to my head as I abruptly stopped scraping.
“Oh my God. You should see how red you just got. I was totally joking. Also, I’m totally gay. I have more interest in you than him. You don’t swing both ways, do you?”
“I don’t.”
She laughed. “Okay, then why are you denying what’s obviously an amazing connection? Age is just a number anyway.”
“Even aside from the age difference, Brayden and I…are in two different places in our lives.”
“It looked like you were in exactly the same place last night.” She looked over my shoulder. “Speak of the devil…”
I turned to find Brayden walking in with Charlie. Immediately, I felt like an idiot for wondering where he was. That’s right. Brayden had told me yesterday that he was taking Charlie this morning to get fitted for a suit.
Brayden headed straight toward me, carrying two coffees.
He held one out. “I figured you could use this.”
I took it. “Thanks. I had a coffee at the hotel, but could really use another.”
“Long night?” Brayden arched a brow.
I felt my face heat as I peeled back the plastic lid.
“Were you up late doing anything in particular?” He flashed me a mischievous grin.
“Why is that any of your business?”
He lowered his voice. “Because we started it, and I want to know how it finished without me.”
“It finished great.”
“Damn, what I wouldn’t have given to be a fly on the wall for that. Or better, a bedbug with a front-row seat.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
He winked. “I forgot… I’m not supposed to say bedbugs around you.”
Taking a sip of my coffee, I couldn’t believe it. Is that cinnamon? A hint of caramel? It was precisely the way I liked it. Glancing down at the details printed on the side of the cup, I noticed he’d indeed figured out my usual order.
“How did you know how I take my coffee? I never told you.”
Brayden tapped the side of his head. “I’m just smart like that.”
“No way. Oat milk with two sugars, one pump of caramel, and a dash of cinnamon? That’s way too specific for you to have gotten lucky.”
“You brought a coffee with you to the house one time. I memorized what was on the sticker on the side, so I’d know what you like.”
Wow.
For some reason, my thoughts went to my husband, God rest his soul. Richard was always too busy with work to bother with such minute details. He couldn’t have told you how I took my coffee if his life depended on it. I never faulted him for that. I understood. It just wasn’t in him. Now, though, it felt foreign to have such attention placed on me.
“That’s not the only thing I know about you,” Brayden went on to say.
“Oh really?” I blinked. “Do tell.”
“Blue is your favorite color. You’ve worn it approximately four times. That’s how I know.”
He’s right.
“One of your eyes is slightly darker than the other. It’s subtle, but I notice it because I’m constantly staring into them.”
It’s getting hotter in here.
He continued, “You write with your left hand but eat with your right. You lick the corner of your lips when you’re nervous.” He smiled. “Should I go on?”
Please don’t, because I don’t know how to stop liking you.
***
After work that afternoon, Brayden accompanied me back to the hotel. We somehow found ourselves in an empty elevator again. Before I could even contemplate whether we’d end up in the same predicament as last time, Brayden had backed me up against the wall.