Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“I told him about a couple of my most popular pamphlets, but I think I embarrassed him instead. I mean, who hasn’t heard of my famous reproductive health showstopper—What’s This Sticky Mess in My Bed? Boys and Puberty.”
He choked on his beer and swallowed down a laugh, before giving her his most ingenuous look. “No fucking way? You wrote that? Man, remind to bring my copy around for an autograph.”
She laughed, as he’d intended her to, and he grinned in response to that lighthearted sound.
“You should have seen him; he didn’t know where to look. And that was after I’d already told him about the companion piece My first Period. A Girl’s Guide to Puberty.”
This time he laughed outright and lifted his beer in salute.
“I’m sorry Perfect Adam turned out to be an unimaginative arsehole,” he said insincerely.
Beth eyed him assessingly. “Do you mean that?”
“Not even a little. You can do better.”
“Why do you care who I date?”
“I just didn’t think he was right for you.”
“Again. Why?”
“You’d walk all over that guy, Scrappy. Grind him to dust beneath that villainous pump heel. You need someone who won’t let you clomp all over them. Someone who gives as good as he gets.”
“Someone like you?”
Chapter Seventeen
Beth felled him with that question. And really, Gideon should have seen it coming, considering where the conversation was headed. Yet it still shocked the hell out of him.
Did Gideon think Beth needed someone like him?
He gaped at her in slack-jawed horror. Not entirely sure how the hell to respond. Because the voice screeching in his head right now told him that Beth did not need someone like him.
No fucking way…
Beth needed him.
Gideon.
Period.
And Gideon did not have a single clue how to properly process that insane idea. Not when every fiber of his being vehemently rejected the very notion of him and Beth together in any sort of romantic way.
And yet, it was pervasive.
The absurd thought had escaped from some musty, previously undiscovered pandora’s box of shitty ideas in his brain and now he couldn’t grab hold of the timidly fluttering thing to shove it back inside.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You look like you’ve just swallowed a bug. Oh God, please tell me you did not just swallow bug?”
“Uh…what?”
“Why do you look so freaked out?” she asked, and then laughed suddenly. “You didn’t think I was propositioning you, did you?”
His brain was sluggish and it took him a moment to figure out what she meant.
“No. Not at all. Nothing like that. I was just, uhm, just thinking about work.”
“Work? Why?”
“I remembered something I had to do.” He sounded like a fucking tosser.
“Oh.” She looked disappointed. “Do we have to leave?”
“Leave? Why? Oh. No. Not at all, that’s not what I meant, it was…Great, you’re back,” he said in grateful enthusiasm when the server showed up with the food they’d ordered when they’d received their drinks. “This all looks absolutely phenomenal.”
The server gave him an are you for real? look, while she slid their quiches and shared Greek salad onto the table in front of them.
“Doesn’t this look awesome?” he asked Beth, whose expression mirrored that of the server’s.
“It looks tasty,” she agreed, but he could tell she was humoring him. Frankly, he didn’t care. As long as they moved on from the previous topic of conversation.
“So give me the lowdown on your family. What can I expect?” she invited, and he tried to hide his wince from her.
Great, the next worst thing they could possibly talk about. Still, she did need a heads up. She needed to know what the hell she was getting herself into.
“Kenny is great, she gets along with everybody, she’s warm, kind, considerate. I think she’s the glue that keeps us together. Well, together-ish. I’m not sure about this guy she’s marrying. It all happened so suddenly. I was worried, y’know? She’s a wealthy heiress—so a sudden engagement is bound to set off red flags. But he’s got money. He’s from a well-known family. Seems like a good guy.”
“Is that what it takes to be a good guy in your world?” Beth mused. “Money and connections?”
He felt his face flush at her words and shifted uncomfortably, well aware of exactly how dick-ish and privileged he must’ve sounded to her.
“Of course not. I just meant there wasn’t anything alarming in his background. Nothing questionable.”
“And if he’d been a poor guy, or someone with an average income, from a normal family, would that have been alarming?”
“Not at all. But in our world—as you called it—we can’t be too cautious. My sister is an extremely wealthy woman.”
“And I take it that you’re an extremely wealthy man. Good thing we’re mortal enemies then. No chance my middle income, ordinary ass would try to seduce you out of your fortune.”
“Chance would be a fine thing,” he muttered beneath his breath, disguising the words behind a sip of beer.