Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 75720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Well, and that heart-stopping kiss he planted on me last night. I still felt tingly all over just thinking about it. The passion that drove our bodies together, it was undeniable and uncontrollable. I didn’t know how he managed to break the kiss because I was ready and willing to go all the way. The dam had broken, and my basement had flooded. Maybe it was a good thing he’d stopped the kiss, or we would need Noah and his big old boat to come and save us from the flooding.
Just friends, that’s all we are, I tried reminding myself as I left the guest bedroom and walked down the hall, following the mouthwatering scent of a fresh breakfast being served.
Friends who make out and wear each other’s underwear…
Just friends.
“Morning,” I said, turning the corner and spotting my friend with his back to me, his focus on the frying pan in front of him. He wore a light blue tank top with the sides cut to be wider, showing off the rippling muscles that went down his side, leading toward a delicious-looking V-shaped dip that disappeared under the gym shorts he had on, cut about three inches above the knee so that his meaty thighs were on full display.
Friend, friend, friend, friend.
“How’d you sleep?” he asked, turning to me and giving me the warmest damn smile I’d ever gotten. As if his morning was made just by seeing me.
“Like a baby,” I answered, shuffling over to his side. “Need any help?”
“Nope, just pour yourself some coffee or orange juice, and take a seat. I’ll have this done in a couple minutes.”
“Smells great,” I said, reaching for the coffeepot and pouring it into a mug he must have gotten from a trip to Disney. I slipped my fingers through the Mickey-ear handle and went over to the fridge, where Jake mentioned his creamer would be. Next to the fridge, Jake had his iPad propped up with the morning news playing.
A grim headline took over the bottom portion of the screen as the reporter interviewed a police officer, yellow crime-scene tape surrounding the home behind them.
“Another one?” I asked, slightly shocked as I read the headline: Third murder in Atlanta leaves residents fearing a serial killer.
“Yeah, I’ve been watching all morning. Crazy shit.”
I sucked in a deep breath. Not exactly the best news to wake up to the day after receiving a bloody threat at your doorstep.
“I’m sure they’ll catch whoever it is,” Jake said, tapping on the screen and switching over to a playlist of chill pop songs. I appreciated the change. My anxiety was already running on overdrive. I felt like I’d chugged the entire coffeepot, and it wasn’t all because of the threat either. There was something else on my mind, making it all infinitely more complicated.
That kiss. The kiss.
Holy shit was that a kiss. I’d never felt such an intense explosion of chemistry before, and I’d kissed my fair share of boys in the past. What happened between Jake and me was almost paranormal. Yes, I was partly being dramatic, but I was mostly being honest. It was the kind of kiss that made you want to do extremely dirty things for. I was ready to give it all last night; I didn’t care that we’d be going to work in the same office come Monday.
All I really cared about was coming before then.
But—thankfully—one of us had more sense than the other. We stopped before any more bodily fluids were swapped, as frustrated as that made me. I knew it was the right thing to do.
But fuuuuuck, that kiss. I wanted to shoot up from my seat, grab his face in my hands, and go in for round two.
Instead, I grabbed the Mickey Mouse mug and sipped on my hazelnut-infused coffee, the cream swirling in light honey-gold circles.
“You know, I was thinking about your, well, situation—”
“Situation,” I said with a chuckle. “Good way of putting it.”
“I was thinking that I wanted to help you get to the bottom of it. I’m not a professional detective by any means, but I think we might have a better shot than the people that had us on hold for forty-five minutes last night. I know it’s nothing like the books we like to read, but I’ve had to have absorbed something from the Fletchers and Hawkins of the world.”
I leaned back, looking up at the thunderstorm of a man who’d come crashing into my life from a random trip to the grocery store. “Jake, you really don’t have to get involved. You were already nice enough to let me crash here for the night. That’s honestly more than I was ever expecting.”
“So don’t expect anything, then. Consider whatever I do from here on out unexpected.”
I arched a brow, licked my lips. Honestly, the smell of buttered toast and cheesy, garlicky eggs wasn’t the only thing that made my mouth water. He set the plates down on the table, sitting down across from me, a smile playing on his lips.