Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
“Oh.” My mouth fell open, but I quickly buttoned it again. I added my pile of pulverized onion to the preheated skillet he’d already added olive oil to. “So you’re not just asking because of termites?”
“No, but I’m not going to lie. It’s a convenient excuse for why you’re also leaving town that weekend.” He used the same pragmatic tone I’d used earlier. Fair enough. The sneaking around was a regrettable but inevitable part of our reality.
“The lying sucks.”
“It does.” He slid the chicken in among the browning onions. “I mean, you suck better…”
“I do.” I preened at the praise, then sobered. “And I’m in. I’ll tell anyone who asks that I’m going to California that weekend to see friends. Not that far from the truth. I’ll sneak in a coffee with a friend interning at city hall in downtown San Francisco, add some credibility.”
“Thank you.” Monroe pulled me close enough to kiss my forehead. We were very nearly the same height, but his subtle stretch was endearing as hell. “Thank you for giving me this.”
“No problem.” Oh man, if he only knew I’d give him my best drawing, my luckiest penny, my favorite shirt. Whatever it took to keep him. If I thought it would work, I’d give him my whole damn heart.
Chapter Eighteen
Monroe
I was doomed. I was going to be done in by a rare sighting of Knox’s dimples and his always-present boundless enthusiasm. We’d had a late arrival in San Francisco thanks to a flight delay and had barely had enough energy to tumble into the hotel bed the night before, but given a couple of hours of sleep and wake-up blowjobs, Knox was chipper as ever. And as we entered a downtown coffee shop near the financial district, Knox bounced on his feet like we were at an amusement park, not on a hastily arranged coffee date with a profoundly reluctant Worth Stapleton. Sharing none of Knox’s enthusiasm, Worth had been entirely monosyllabic in his text responses.
“So, am I the good cop or the bad cop?” Knox asked as I scanned the Saturday morning coffee shop crowd.
“Pardon?” I was distracted because I didn’t see anyone who looked like the Worth I’d known. He’d been skinny like the rest of us as teens but a true golden boy with blond hair, dark soulful eyes, and peach skin. It was no wonder he’d made a young Sam swoon.
“Well, we’re here to gather information from Worth, right?” Knox was also glancing around the coffee shop. The place was full of well-dressed patrons, yoga clothes and Saturday morning designer sweats mingling with suits and ties of those unlucky enough to have to work weekends. “This isn’t strictly a friendly catch-up.”
“Yeah, I’ve got some questions.” I’d gone over the case individually with Knox, Holden, Rob, with anyone who would listen.
“And I’ve got ideas.” Knox had been by far the best audience for my hypothesizing, going so far as to sketch me both a timeline and a rough layout of the Stapleton home. Knox’s energy was already my favorite part of this trip. Dealing with the exterminators for the house had been a pain. The flight delays had been a drag, but Knox was a stubborn ray of sunshine that refused to be diminished. “I could play it as the bumbling but adorable boyfriend who keeps stumbling onto topics he shouldn’t. Or I could be a gossipy brat who asks too many annoying questions. Or maybe I could pretend to be a reporter…”
“Maybe I want you to be Knox.” I pulled him in close to my side. Less than twelve hours in this city, and I was already drunk on the freedom of touching Knox in public, sniffing his hair, grabbing his hand, or simply staring with wonder that this marvelous creature chose mine as the bed to share. I hadn’t ever craved such things before, but with Knox, everything was different, and I hadn’t known how badly I needed to publicly claim him until I couldn’t.
“That works.” He returned my look with one of his own, so much adoration in his gaze my breath caught. But then his eyes darkened. “Heck. Just realized. I can’t be Rob’s kid if I’m here with you. I know you can’t risk gossip getting back to the town busybodies.”
“Yeah.” Deflated, I dropped my hand from his side. The easiest solution would be to send Knox back to our hotel, but that option had a razor edge of guilt. This was supposed to be our weekend, damn it. And I didn’t want to risk hurting him, even if he had a darn good point. Think, think, think. Knox turned slightly as if already bracing for me to ask him to leave. But in his profile lurked that sexy guy I’d first seen at the club. Bingo. “You can be Rebound. My too-young, too-good-for-me guy who lets me ask the hard questions.”