Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
I groan and cover my face with my hands for a moment. “You must think I’m a terrible person,” I say. “Looking into my own family member, and a parent, at that. I just….”
He holds up his hands, stopping me. “Not at all. I get clients in here all the time wanting to look into members of their family,” he says. “Actually, my most regular clients are husbands or wives wanting to look into what their spouses are up to. And if you want to find out something about your father, then I bet you must have a pretty good reason for it.”
I nod slowly. His words make me feel better. “You’re right,” I say. “I do have a good reason.” I look down at my hands beginning to shake.
I know the next logical step is to tell him the reasons. He’s probably expecting me to do just that.
But now that it comes to it, I find it difficult to say the words. It’s difficult to admit what I’ve been through and what’s still going on.
I’ve already been humiliated so many times today, and now this. This is going to be so much worse. I’m going to have to admit to this stunning man, this man who I want to spend the rest of the day fantasizing about, something that will pretty much ensure he never wants to have anything to do with my family or me ever.
This would destroy my hopes and daydreams as if there was even a chance now.
“Are you alright?” he asks, with some concern still layered in his voice. “Is it getting to you again from earlier?”
I take advantage of that moment to pick up my tea and take another warming sip. It’s sweet and yet has such a full flavor. It really does make me feel better. Like I’m being reinforced by the tea.
It gives me a moment to delay and think and wonder if I can really do this.
“I’m still a little shaken up,” I say, hoping that will be enough to cover me for a moment. I know that once I say the words, it’s over. He won’t look at me twice.
Is it wrong of me to want to keep this fantasy going for a bit longer?
“That’s alright,” he says and then pauses. “Hey, it’s getting late in the day. Did you come here after school?”
I nod but feel the need to make one very important distinction. “College,” I say. I don’t want him to think I’m in high school.
But my heart is also dropping because it sounds like he’s getting ready to kick me out and tell me to come back tomorrow.
“Well, I don’t know about you,” he says. “But I’m getting hungry. What do you say we discuss this over dinner?”
First, he gave me his number.
Now he’s asking me out to dinner.
Does this man know what he’s doing to me?
CHAPTER SIX
Hunter
I feel somewhat proud of myself for the way I resisted her. As soon as I saw her lips, so close like that, I could only think about kissing her.
But there was no way I was going to start our relationship by taking advantage of her while she was in a vulnerable state. Absolutely no way.
Just because I might have wanted to push everything off my desk, rip her clothes off, and take her right then and there doesn’t mean I have to actually do it.
Now is the time to be a gentleman. When I know she’s fully recovered and no longer vulnerable – that’s when I can be a caveman.
But asking her out to dinner was a stroke of genius, even if I say so myself. I get to be with her in a romantic setting but with the pretext of business. That way, no boundaries have been overstepped, and no moves have been made. And yet, we kind of get to have our first unofficial date.
To say that I’m pleased with myself is an understatement. But the moment after asking the question, something else came over me.
Fear.
Because if she says no and turns and runs as she did earlier, this will be over before it’s even started. And if that happens, I don’t know what I’ll do. One thing is very clear to me, I need this woman. I must have her. So if she says no?
I don’t know what I’m going to do next.
“Okay,” she says, and my heart remembers how to keep beating. “Sure, that sounds good.” She clears her throat slightly, and I try to interpret her nerves.
Is she unsure of going somewhere with me because she doesn’t know if this is the proper thing to do? Or is she, like I hope, nervous because she feels the spark growing between us as well and knows what dinner could lead to?
“Great,” I say, because either way, I’m going to take full advantage of this opportunity. I can’t afford to let it pass. “Well, I know a place within walking distance that’s pretty good. Do you want to go now?”