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)
“Everything going okay over there?”
“Yeah.” I paused. God, I want to tell her.
What did I have to hide? For years I’d told Caitlin everything. What was different about this? “There’s a guy here who’s…interesting,” I blurted.
She pointed at me. “I knew it!” She kicked her feet in victory. “Do I freaking know you or what?”
I immediately began to downplay things. “It’s not like that. I mean, nothing is actually happening and nothing will happen, but gosh, I’d nearly forgotten what it was like to flirt with someone. There’s nothing like it.”
“Wait.” She narrowed her eyes. “Why can’t anything happen?”
I gnawed at my lip. “I think he’s too young for me.”
“How young are we talking?”
“Your age.”
My heart raced as Caitlin seemed to process that. “Okay. Well, how is this any different than me dating Greg, who was a decade older than me?”
Greg was a man she’d dated for about six months. It didn’t last. Probably the age difference.
“It’s not different. It just…” I didn’t have a good comeback for that. “I don’t know.”
“Alex, you look amazing. You blow most women my age and less out of the water. Who cares if he’s younger?”
“I guess I care. I’m at a point where I need to enjoy my life and not worry about some guy who might want kids someday. Stuff like that.”
“You’re getting way ahead of yourself here. Why not have some fun with this guy while you’re on the project? You don’t even live in the same place, right? Who says you need to worry about any of that serious stuff at all?”
I didn’t have an answer for her, except that deep down, I knew there was something special about the connection I felt to Brayden. I could see myself falling for him. And that was precisely why I needed to be very careful. It didn’t feel like just physical attraction.
Despite constantly warning myself, though, a part of me didn’t want to hear it. I couldn’t help being excited to see him again tomorrow. Giddy was a better word to describe it.
“There it is,” she said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“What?”
“That look again.” Caitlin covered her mouth in laughter. “You should see yourself.”
Believe me, I already did—in the mirror. Maybe I need to smack myself harder.
CHAPTER 4
Brayden
“What did you do, require photos and pick the volunteers by how hot they are?” Holden raised his hands, showing me his palms. “Not that I have an interest in any of them. My wife is my queen. Still, I can’t help but notice that there are quite a few attractive women here. I’ve volunteered for other projects, and the crews certainly didn’t look like this.”
My buddies—Owen, Holden, and Colby—had driven up this morning to support the start of renovations on the twenty-third Ryan’s House. We all volunteered for Ryan’s House when we could. Most renovations lasted three to four months, so it was a hefty weekend commitment. But when one of us managed a project, the others all tried to pitch in for at least a weekend or two. It always felt good when we came together like this in Ryan’s honor.
I looked over at Kyra, a super-sexy twenty-something. She caught my eye and flashed a flirty smile. I shook my head. “I have no idea how it happened. But last year when I managed a renovation, I had seventeen dudes, a lesbian couple, and a sixty-year-old woman who reminded me of my aunt and chain smoked. She spent more time outside puffing on butts than she did working inside.”
Holden laughed. “That Kyra has been giving you the look since we walked in an hour ago.”
Normally a woman like Kyra would be right up my alley, but I seemed to have a one-track mind lately. Just then, the object of those singular thoughts entered the room, walking with Chad, a decent-looking volunteer in his mid-forties. They were both smiling.
“Excuse me a minute,” I said to Holden. “I’m going to kick things off. I think an hour for coffee, a tour, and introductions is more than enough.”
Holden put a hand on my shoulder. “Go be the man of the hour, buddy.”
I tossed my empty Dunkin’ cup into the trash and walked into the center of the room. “Can I have everyone’s attention again, please?”
The group of twenty-two gathered around.
“We’re going to get started. As I mentioned when we did introductions earlier, we have two project leaders—Jason and Alex. Jason is going to lead half of you to work on electrical, plumbing, heating, and other mechanics. You’ll see different contractors coming by at various times during the weekends to do the work that requires a license or a special skill. But the teams will do the legwork to support the contractor. For example, an electrician will be coming in to rewire the house. He’ll deal with anything to do with live wires, but you guys might do things like running the Romex cable through the walls before everything is hooked up. The other team will be led by Alex, and they’ll focus on interior-design elements like paint, flooring, fixtures, and appliances. We have a contractor coming in this morning to give lessons on installing the Pergo flooring, and we’ll work alongside him to keep the costs down. Anyone have any questions so far?”