Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
But right then, as I took in the woman talking to my landlord, that sensation came at me like a damn hurricane.
He wasn’t smiling at her. It didn’t even look like he was talking to her by the way his lips were pressed together, but… none of that changed anything.
I was jealous.
Aunt Carolina and Yuki would be shocked because I sure as hell was.
He wasn’t my boyfriend. We weren’t even dating. He could—
She touched his arm, and my throat muscles had to work extra hard to get me to swallow.
Holding my breath a little, I put one foot in front of the other and got myself to move toward them just as the woman smiled brighter and touched Rhodes once more. I was only a few feet away when those gray eyes I knew too well moved in my direction, and then, then, a small smile came over his mouth. And as I kept making my way over, I watched as he pulled out the chair beside him, a little at an angle and closer to his.
I could hear the woman talking in a nice, clear voice even as her gaze flicked over her shoulder to try and figure out who Rhodes was looking at. “…if you have time,” she said at just about the same time her smile wilted a little.
I smiled at her and carefully took the seat that he’d pulled out, my gaze going from him to her and then the steaming cup on the table.
He pushed it toward me as he said, “Thank you for the invitation, Ms. Maldonado, but I’m going to be in Colorado Springs at the time.”
I picked up the cup and brought it to my mouth, peeking at the woman as discreetly at possible. She was looking back and forth between Rhodes and me, trying to figure out… what? If we were together or not? “I can possibly work some things around if you have time once you get back,” she offered, apparently deciding that we weren’t. Maybe because I wasn’t shooting her eye daggers.
I couldn’t exactly blame her.
I’d be hitting on him too.
That thought alone made me feel petty. Of course women flirted with him. He was gorgeous, and his crabby little attitude just made him more attractive to some people more than likely. I was probably the only sucker who had been drawn in by how good of a dad he was.
Or maybe not.
“I appreciate the offer,” Rhodes replied in that tight voice that reminded me of what our relationship had been like months ago. “I won’t have time then either, but I’ll make sure to tell Amos you asked about him, and if you have any questions, you can call the office, and someone should be able to help you out.”
To give her credit, she wasn’t giving up even as she pushed her chair back and shot me a smile that wasn’t totally friendly or unfriendly. “If you change your mind, my number is in the school directory then.” She got to her feet. “Hopefully I’ll see you around school, Mr. Rhodes.”
I was the only one who watched her walk off, and I knew that because I felt his intense gaze on my face as I did it. It was confirmed too when I glanced back toward him and found him looking at me.
He’d shot her down. Politely, but he had.
“Hi, sneaky,” I told him, holding the cup of hot chocolate a little higher. “Sorry to interrupt you and your friend.” Did that sound sarcastic, or was I blowing it out of proportion?
“She’s not a friend, and you didn’t interrupt anything,” he replied, picking up his own cup and taking a small sip. “She was Amos’s English teacher last year.”
I nodded before taking another sip. So she’d waited to make her move. It all made sense now.
Rhodes’s eyes narrowed a little as he took another drink, the cup looking small in his hand. “I had a feeling she had been interested, but I hadn’t known for sure until today.”
I raised both my eyebrows and nodded. “She’ll probably ask you out again real subtle the next time she sees you.”
He got a funny look on his face. “I’m sure she got a clue now that I don’t feel the same way.” He leaned forward in his chair, propping his elbows on the table. His gaze was steady on my face as he whispered, “She talks too much.”
I reeled back and laughed. “I talk too much! Remember when you asked me, ‘do you always talk this much?’ You do, don’t you?”
A big smile came over his full mouth, and I swear he was more handsome than ever. “I changed my mind, and the difference is that I like hearing you talk.”
My heart skipped a damn beat or ten before he managed to keep going.