Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
“Let’s go change,” he suggested and wrapped an arm around her to safely guide her to the elevator.
A crowd was getting on the elevator, and Celeste couldn’t believe she was holding her breath to make sure he made it in. But the gust she exhaled when he stepped inside showed her how much she wanted him around. Leaning against the wall, she waited to get to her floor as the elevator stopped at each level to let people out. Finally, they reached the fourth floor, and she pushed away from the wall to walk out after the last couple.
“Aren’t you getting out?” she asked.
“I’m on the fifth floor. Some employees live up there. I’ll meet you here by the elevator in an hour.”
“Thirty minutes?” she asked, and her stomach growled again.
“Want to make it twenty?”
“Please,” she said with a laugh.
“Twenty minutes,” he agreed.
She stood and watched as the elevator doors closed. Shaking herself, she fled the short distance down the hallway and opened her door. Everything was exactly as she had left it.
She ran into the shower. Fifteen minutes later, her hair was almost dry. Celeste had a relatively clean pair of jeans and a shirt on. Of course, she hadn’t brought much makeup. She made do with a tube of lip gloss and mascara. Making a face at herself in the mirror, Celeste gave up trying to make herself something she wasn’t.
Staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, Celeste recalled the last time she’d gotten all dressed up. She’d had a blast at the fancy event her ex-company had thrown. With the goal of asking wealthy community members for donations, her boss had stressed that everyone needed to attend. Celeste hadn’t recognized herself after her makeover. Her hairdresser had been itching to show her how to put on makeup. That woman obviously had serious talent in making her look so good.
After the gala, Celeste had turned down requests for dates from single—and some married—men from every department. Finally, when they’d seen she was not going to recreate the woman they’d all stared at, the invitations had dried up. At least she knew Hawking hadn’t seen that woman, which meant he had asked her to dinner without even knowing how she could look after an afternoon of pampering.
The idea made her feel desirable, and Lord knew it had been a while since she’d felt anything resembling desirable. She shook the thought from her head. “He only asked you to dinner. He’s probably just being polite. You have no reason to think he’s interested in you,” she mumbled to herself.
She flushed as she remembered glancing down at his, uh, his crotch earlier. Had he actually been hard? Maybe he was interested in her.
Stepping out of her room, she saw Hawking standing patiently at the elevator. He was dressed in jeans that hugged the corded muscles of his thighs and a red T-shirt that revealed the power of his arms and shoulders. She tried not to notice anything else, keeping her eyes on his.
“I’m ready.”
He punched the down button. “Perfect. Let’s go try out the Danger Bluff chefs at the restaurant near the dock. We’ve been enjoying the food here in the main building for days. It’ll be good to get out for a change,” he shared.
“Who’s we?” she asked curiously as they stepped into the elevator.
“There’s a small management team here that has worked together to get ready for the opening. We get along well and have the same goals, so we decided to have dinner together every night.”
“Oh. I’m interrupting your plans.”
“They’ll be fine without me. I sent my update to the tech guy. He’ll share my notes from today,” Hawking said.
As they stepped off the elevator into a swirl of excited guests, Hawking made a motion with his hand, indicating which way to head. As he created a path for her to walk through, Celeste tried everything to keep her eyes on his back as she followed him, but his toned ass kept drawing her gaze. After almost running into his back twice when he stopped to answer a question or allow someone to cross their path, Celeste placed a hand on his midback so she’d have warning every time he paused.
“I am determined to slam into you,” she said, laughing.
“Anytime, Little girl,” he answered as the path cleared, and he slowed to guide her up next to him.
He led her into a large restaurant with the walls pushed back on three sides to allow air to flow through. Lush foliage inside provided privacy between the tables. The hostess took them to an empty table on the edge of the restaurant and left them with the menus.
“I’ve heard from the locals that work at the hotel that the crayfish are amazing. I understand that’s a New Zealand dish I should try? The restaurant buys the seafood from local merchants,” he shared.