Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“Well, it sounds nice. I hope you have a good time.”
He glances over at me in a way that makes me wonder what he’s thinking, but doesn’t say anything more.
We drive in companionable silence for a while. His focus seems to be mostly on the road, so I imagine he won’t notice me stealing glimpses of him out of the corner of my eye.
When he first approached me by the side of the road, I was singularly focused on getting help and getting back to Brady’s house as quickly as possible. I wasn’t thinking much about my roadside savior or what he looked like… even though it was impossible to miss how handsome he was.
Somehow, he’s even more handsome in the dark. It’s an odd thought to have, I suppose. I haven’t actually seen him in the light, but the dark suits him like he was born there, like he’s lived there all his life.
There’s an air of something not completely comfortable about him, but I can’t put my finger on it.
He catches me staring, and when he looks over at me, the flash of danger in his beautiful blue eyes…
Well, I’m glad I didn’t look at him too closely when he first approached me. If I’d been less distracted, I might have sized him up and misjudged him. I may not have been comfortable enough to get into his car.
Once I’m sure his gaze is trained back on the road, I steal another peek at him.
His dark hair is long enough to push your fingers through. It looks damp, like he’s showered recently. That doesn’t seem right, though. He said he was just coming from work—what kind of job could he have where he’d shower before going home?
It could be from the snow, I suppose. It was coming down pretty hard and he’s not wearing a hat, so maybe it looks damp from all the snowflakes melting now that we’re inside his warm car.
My gaze drifts lower to his strong, hard jaw. I’m a sucker for a good, strong jaw, and he has the most perfect lips. They’re plump and almost naturally pouty, the kind of lips that make me bite my own. Lips that make me wonder what it feels like to kiss him.
A flush creeps up my neck and this time, it’s not from embarrassment. It probably should be. I have no business checking out my roadside savior. So what if he’s really handsome with a curiously intense vibe that makes me want to know more about him? I’m taken.
Remembering the boyfriend waiting for me at home while I’m riding around Chicago with a striking stranger, I draw my cell phone out of my purse and try Brady again.
Still no service.
That’s really odd.
“I hate to ask, but my cell phone still isn’t working. Would you mind if I used yours to give my boyfriend a call? He must be getting worried.”
After the briefest of hesitations, Jasper nods wordlessly and reaches into his pocket for his cell phone. I thank him as he hands it to me with the keypad already open. I don’t know Brady’s phone number by heart yet, so I have to open my own phone to dial it.
Even though he agreed to it, I can tell Jasper is uneasy about me using his phone. I feel his eyes on me more than they’re on the road, making sure I’m only doing what I said I needed to do and not poking around, I guess.
My heart starts to beat faster at the strange tension in the air. I’m torn between hoping Brady picks up so I can tell him where I am immediately, and handing Jasper’s phone back and telling him never mind, I won’t make the call if it makes him so uncomfortable.
Turns out it was all for naught, anyway. Jasper’s phone doesn’t seem to be working, either. It won’t allow me to dial out.
A haze of suspicion starts to settle over me as I draw the phone away from my ear and absent-mindedly look down at the screen to push end call. The phone automatically returns to the ‘recent calls’ screen. Jasper grabs the phone out of my hand so hastily, I gasp and draw away from him.
I look at him, faintly accusing, my breath caught in my throat. There’s another flash of that dark look in his eyes, the one that made me wary.
My stomach begins to tie itself in a knot as I look out the window and see we’re getting on the interstate.
“How much longer until we’re at your friend’s shop?”
The words burst out of me with curious violence. It’s my tone Jasper responds to more than my words when he looks over at me. “Just a bit farther.”
I swallow, looking out the window and hoping he’s telling the truth.
I hold onto that hope for the next half hour as my mind wanders to the deepest, darkest crevices of my imagination.