Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 70092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“No, actually,” Shelby says, grabbing her coffee cup back from Clarabella. “It's been a quiet week. We don't even have any scheduled appointments."
"Great," I say, clapping my hands and grabbing the phone. I dial the number and wait for the man to answer. “How is my favorite brother-in-law?” I look over at my sisters, who just look at me, wondering which one I’m talking to.
Luke laughs. “Yeah, right. What can I do for you?”
“Would it be possible to order lunch for two?” I ask him.
“Hey, baby!” Clarabella yells from the couch, and Luke laughs even harder.
"Is the lunch for my woman?" he says, and I put my finger in my mouth and fake vomit.
"It's for your woman's pregnant sister and her man," I say and look over at my sisters, seeing them shake their heads and laugh.
"I'll fix something up," he huffs. “Come by at eleven." I look at my watch and see that it's just after nine. "Tell my woman if she joins you, I'll give her something special."
"Eww," I say and hang up while he laughs. “He said if you go there, he'll give you something special." She smirks at me.
"Where are you taking lunch?" Shelby asks, and I smile at her.
"I thought I would surprise Bennett and take him on a picnic." I watch my sisters’ faces in shock.
"Whatever you do,” Shelby says, “leave your phone in the car." She closes her eyes, and I can't help but laugh. A while ago, she had a picnic with Ace, and well, one thing led to another, and by accident, she butt-dialed us in the middle of her adventure. Needless to say, there was enough panting and moaning for us to get the gist of it.
"I still have that voice mail saved,” Clarabella says, and Shelby hits her. “It's called leverage."
"Okay, you two, I need for you to get out so I can do all my work for the week in two hours." I shoo them with my hands. I leave a little bit after eleven, and when I walk into the restaurant, I see Luke behind the bar.
"My favorite sister-in-law." He laughs, and I take out my phone from my purse.
"Can you say that again while I film you?" I ask him, laughing, and he walks around the bar grabbing the picnic basket from one of the stools.
"Here you go." He hands me the basket. “Everything is in there."
"Look at how pretty this is," I say, holding it up and checking it out. “It's very Wizard of Oz," I say of the brown wicker basket.
"It's Shelby's. She got it when she had that picnic with Ace." He rolls his lips when my smile turns to disdain.
"Eww." I cringe. “They probably had sex on top of this."
Luke throws his head back and laughs. “And let's hope she's the only one," he teases. “Also, I don't want it back." Now it's my turn to laugh as I wave goodbye to him and walk out of the restaurant. I make my way over to Bennett's office, and when I park my car, my stomach starts to flutter as I pull open the door. I've never just shown up at his office in the middle of the day, let alone to take him out to lunch. My feet move before I chicken out and get back into my car.
My palms get sweaty as I smile at the receptionist and ask to see Bennett. Maybe I should have called before I came in, I think to myself. My stomach feels like it’s going to throw up when I hear shoes coming toward the area. He smiles big when he sees me, and all the nerves I had before are gone. He's wearing dark blue dress pants with a white button-down shirt with the collar open. His hair looks like he just ran his fingers through it, and his eyes light up. He's everything. "Well, this is a surprise," he says to me, and I take two steps to him and kiss his lips, surprising him. I've never, ever kissed him in public before. I mean, minus a couple of drunk kisses in the bar or at the car when he was driving me home.
But out in the open? Never. “I thought we could have lunch together," I say softly. “I mean, if you aren't too busy."
The smile on his face says it all. “Well, isn't this a coincidence since I'm free."
My face fills with the same smile that is on his face now. “Well, isn't this my lucky day," I say to him.
"Come on back while I close up a couple of things." He motions with his head as we walk down the hallway. My hand itches to hold his, but by the time I've talked myself into holding his, we are in his office.