Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
I spent the next God knows how long fixing myself. I tied my hair into a ponytail, washed my face, brushed my teeth, put on deodorant, and slipped into sweatpants. Then I had a long conversation…with myself.
“You’re fine. He’s just drunk. He has no idea what he’s saying.” I took a deep breath. “Nothing’s gonna happen out there. You’re just going to help him up, and help him to his room.”
But…if he starts to rub my foot again.
“No. Definitely not. This is stupid. Just go out there, already. How long have you been hiding in here anyway?”
The better question is, how long has it been since you were with a man?
“Stop it. You’re being ridiculous. This is your nemesis, a man you don’t even like half the time.”
Tonight doesn’t have to be that half of the time…
I pointed a stern finger at the mirror. “No more.” Then I took one last look at myself and straightened my posture before putting my hand on the doorknob. Here goes nothing.
Literally.
Because I swung open the bathroom door to find…
Bennett snoring on my floor.
***
I couldn’t go back to sleep.
And since I had an early-morning flight, I only had a few hours to kill until I had to leave for the airport. Yet a few hours didn’t seem like nearly enough time to replay everything Bennett had done and said last night.
I’d tried to wake him after I’d come out of the bathroom, but it was no use. He’d fallen into a deep, drunken sleep. So I covered him with an extra blanket from the closet, tucked a pillow beneath his head, and left him sleeping right there on my floor.
Even while I’d gotten ready this morning—zipping my suitcase, the sound of the shower, dropping the deodorant on the tiled bathroom floor—nothing made Bennett flinch. I got the feeling he could probably stay that way until this afternoon, and he probably needed to, but then he’d miss his flight. Luckily, his wasn’t until three hours after mine, so he didn’t need to get up for a while.
I phoned the front desk and asked them to give me a wakeup call at nine, but I wasn’t so sure the sound of the phone ringing from the other side of the room would even wake him. So I decided to set the alarm on his cellphone, too. Only I had to get it out his pocket first.
Crouching down, I examined his face, making sure he was still in a deep sleep. Bennett really was one damn handsome man—his complexion had a natural, sun-kissed color even in his drunken stupor, and I knew that if his eyes were to open, they’d be shockingly green against his skin. And what man had lips that full and pink? Of course, unlike me, he slept graciously. His lips were slightly open, showing a hint of his perfect white teeth, while mine would be leaking drool into a puddle on the floor. It almost wasn’t fair how good looking he was.
But I had a flight to catch, and so did he. So I couldn’t waste any more time admiring him. I needed to try to slip his phone out of his pocket to set an alarm.
Except…
When I went to reach into his pants pocket, my eyes snagged on a significant bulge a little to the left. Oh my God. Bennett had a hard-on in his sleep.
Wow. That’s...a good size.
I might’ve stared at it for a minute or two.
I might’ve taken another minute to close my eyes and imagine what it might feel like in my hands if I unzipped his pants and reached inside.
I might’ve wondered if he would even know if I opened that zipper.
Or if he woke up while my hands were wrapped around that bulge, what he would do.
This man is really making me lose my mind.
I shook my head and snapped myself out of my insanity. I needed to get on the road and set this damn phone alarm.
My hand shook as I reached into his pocket. With every move I made, I kept checking his face to make sure he wasn’t waking up. Ever so slowly, I inched his cell free.
When it was out, I exhaled, realizing I’d been holding my breath. My hands were still shaky as I woke up his phone. I hadn’t thought about the possibility of a password—most people had one. But when I pressed the on button, no keypad came up. Instead, it booted directly to his home screen, and an unexpected picture of an adorable little boy. He was probably no older than ten or eleven, with shaggy, light brown hair and the biggest, toothy smile. He wore shorts and yellow plastic rain boots, and he stood on a rock in the middle of a stream, holding up a giant fish.
I looked at the photo and then to the sleeping man next to me. Could Bennett have a child? He’d never mentioned one, and he’d said his longest relationship was less than six months—not that you need to be in a relationship. But it seemed like something that would have come up in our conversations by now. I looked between Bennett and the photo a few more times. There wasn’t any resemblance that I saw.