Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
“I had to pee,” I lie easily, internally sighing at how naturally being deceitful has started to become. I’m starting to fear that if I don’t set myself free with the truth soon, I’m not going to know who I am anymore.
“Again? You just went before we left the condo. Do you have a UTI?” She glances back to her parents, quieting her voice just slightly. “You know if you’re having sex with someone, you should always pee right after you’re done, right?”
“I don’t have a UTI, Avery.” I sigh, but I don’t mention that I pee right after every time her brother and I bang.
“Irritable bowel?” she questions, and Beau laughs out loud.
I don’t hesitate to snag a pillow from the chair beside mine and lodge it at his head.
He returns the favor, and before we know it, the three of us are in a full-blown pillow fight. Which, if you’ve seen the Bankses’ big-ass, cozy sectional, you’d know there’s a hell of a lot of pillow ammunition.
“I thought you were going to calm things down, June!” Diane shouts from the kitchen. I blow my hair out of my face, breathing hard, and Beau pulls me into a headlock while Avery wrestles to free me.
It’s just like old times—except, it isn’t.
“Come on, you hooligans!” Neil calls. “Come eat before you destroy my house.”
Beau holds on to me but loosens his arm on my neck, pulling my back to his front instead. Avery tosses her pillow down and heads for the dining room table, and I work to even my breathing as Beau whispers directly into the shell of my ear.
“I can’t fucking wait to wrestle you later. Though, I’m going to make damn sure we’re wearing a lot fewer clothes.”
“Beau,” I breathe back, my chest tightening around how long we’re taking to join everyone.
But he’s cool, calm, and collected, offering a little smirk in my direction and a secret squeeze of my ass with his hand. “Sit beside me, Juni.”
He lets go of me, and I rush to the dining room, taking a seat on the side of the table with two empty chairs. Avery laughs at me as I sit down across from her, eating a piece of asparagus like it’s a French fry.
“Your hair’s a mess.”
I try to brush it out of my face, but before Beau sits down, he reaches in from behind me and pulls the full length of it behind my back. My eyes cut up to him quickly and then to Diane, Avery, and Neil, but they’re all preoccupied by their own thing. He winks.
One of the catering staff puts a plate full of food in front of me, and I smile up gratefully as Beau takes the seat beside mine, immediately reaching out and touching my thigh under the tablecloth.
My nerves stand on end, sizzling with the mix of guilt and excitement. I never thought I’d be the type of woman to enjoy clandestine sneaking and hidden touches. And I definitely don’t know what it says about me or how to make sense of why it feels so damn electrifying.
But it wouldn’t take a genius to deduce why it’s got me all flustered. I’ve been into Beau since the moment I was old enough to notice boys in the first place. This isn’t some extramarital affair—this is my ultimate fantasy come to life.
“How’s your presentation for Midnight coming, Beau?” Neil asks, cutting a piece of turkey with his gold-bladed knife and sticking it in his mouth.
Beau clears his throat, his voice changing noticeably from the playful boy in the pillow fight to a businessman with his sights set on success. “It’s going well. We’ve had some holdups on the branding, but Laura told me they’ll have a finalized concept for the logo next week and three potential styles for the app design the week after that.”
“And your pitch? What about that? I assume you’re going for—”
“Neil,” Diane says on a groan, cutting her asparagus and shaking a piece of it toward him on the tip of her fork. “Do you think we could save this absolutely riveting shoptalk for another time?”
“Yeah,” Avery complains. “I’m not supposed to fall into a turkey coma until after the meal.”
“Sorry,” Neil apologizes on a chuckle. “Beau and I can talk later.”
Diane nods, turning to me. “Where are your mom and dad these days, June?” Her voice is soft, compassion for what she already knows the answer will be in her tone.
I shrug. “Last I heard from her, she was headed to Bali. Something about the spiritually healing power of the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary and a hike on a volcano. Nothing like some monkeys and lava to help you find God, amirite?”
Beau snorts, but I don’t dare glance toward him. I feel too raw to do it without exposing everything I’m feeling for him and then some.