Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
He laughs and slides his hand down my belly and glides his fingers to my center. “I have plans for you. Then coffee.”
“I don’t know if I like this bossy side of you.” His fingers do something magical, and I gasp. “Okay, this isn’t so bad.”
“Let’s see if we can do better than lovely this morning.”
March 31, 2002
* * *
Dear Diary,
Today was my birthday. Grandma had a big party here at our house and invited a whole bunch of people. It made me kind of uncomfortable because I didn’t need a ton of people here to help me celebrate my fifteenth birthday. I just wanted Luna and Sarah. But Grandma was trying to do something fun and different, and she was so excited about it. I couldn’t tell her no. It would have hurt her feelings.
On the upside, I got a bunch of presents. Things like movies and posters and gift cards. Luna’s mom is going to have Sarah and me over next weekend to spend the whole weekend at the lighthouse, and that sounds like the best present of all. We love being at the lighthouse.
I can’t really sleep tonight. It’s warm today, so I have my window open, and I can hear the waves from the ocean. I like the way it sounds. It usually lulls me to sleep, but not tonight.
Apollo came over for the party. He didn’t stay long. Now that he has his own car, he’s not around much, which is way better for me.
Anyway, I’m going to go sit by the window and listen to the water.
XO,
June
Chapter Eight
Apollo
“This place is damn cool,” Zeke says from beside me, and Wolf and Tanner nod their agreement. It’s our last morning here, and none of us is in a hurry to leave. “I should have come the first night with you guys. The date I was on wasn’t worth missing all of this. Was the food good?”
“You don’t want to know,” I inform him. “You’ll just be sad. Why did the date suck?”
“It didn’t suck,” he replies as Tanner and Wolfe listen in. “It just wasn’t anything special. Then I ran into my neighbor on my way home, and she’s always a pain in my ass.”
“Cherry Dubois is a nice girl,” Wolfe replies, his voice mild.
“Cherry lives across from you?” Tanner asks.
“Yeah, and for someone who’s barely thirty, she acts like she’s eighty.” He shakes his head and pitches his voice higher, mimicking his neighbor. “‘Turn the music down, Zeke. I can’t think when you blast that music like that. You burned your popcorn, and now the whole building smells disgusting. Didn’t anyone ever teach you how to make it right?’”
I can’t help but laugh into the mimosa Luna proudly handed me on my way out here.
“Yeah, you think it’s funny because you don’t have to deal with it.”
“So, turn down the music and don’t leave the popcorn in too long. It’s not hard.”
“It’s the principle of it,” Zeke insists. “I don’t need anyone to mother me. Definitely not my neighbor. No matter how hot she is.”
“So, you think she’s hot.” Tanner grins over at Wolfe. “Now we’re getting to it.”
“I’m not blind, am I?” Zeke scowls out at the ocean, as if he can just picture Cherry in his head, and she’s on his last nerve. “If I didn’t have a view like this one, I’d sell the condo and move. But I like my place, and I’m not going to let my jerk of a neighbor run me off.”
“You spend most of your time at one of the garages with me,” Wolfe reminds his business partner. “You aren’t there enough to irritate her so much.”
“And yet, I do.” Zeke blows out a breath. “I guess it’s just a gift. So, it’s been nice to be here and not have to try to avoid her.”
“If you feel like you have to avoid her, you either hate her or you’re in denial about wanting to get into her pants.”
Zeke narrows his eyes at Tanner. “I’m done talking about her. The point is that the inn is awesome, and it’s going to do great. It’s as good, if not better, than most five-star resorts I’ve been to. My bathtub is ridiculous.”
“Luna wanted really good tubs,” I inform them. “She says there’s nothing quite as luxurious as an awesome bath, and I think she’s right. The female guests will dig it.”
“So, speaking of women,” Wolfe says and looks my way, “is something going on with you and June?”
All eyes are on me as I take another sip of my mimosa, trying to decide how to answer. Do I want to confide in my best friends?
June wants to keep things just between us for a while. I don’t agree with it, but I don’t want to break her confidence, so I just shake my head.