Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Even his handwriting was sexy. Lord, I had it bad for this guy already. I grinned all the way to the shower, thinking about this completely adorable guy I had somehow snagged up all for myself.
THERE WERE SOME things I had to take care of before our date tonight. Lia hadn’t dated until now, so I had to make it special for her. Hopefully she would go along with what I’d had planned. After a trip to the sporting goods store and the supermarket, I had everything all set.
As I was loading the rest of my purchases into the truck, my phone rang. Hoping it might be Lia, I answered quickly but was stunned into silence when my dad began speaking.
“Hello, son. Listen, I know it’s been a while, but I wanted to let you know that your homes have been featured in the Austin Homes magazine. I didn’t even know you were building homes since you stopped calling your dad, but I’m proud of your achievements, Cale. Roger from the country club said that you built one for his sister. They said it was impeccable work.
“I know you never finished your education—or really started it for that matter—but I think you should move back to Austin and work here at the firm with me. We need another good architect, and with your experience, we could really use you. Of course I’d pay you well and even pay for you to finish your education.
“Also, Gordon and Becky’s daughter Vanessa just moved back in with them. She is going through a divorce, but I always thought you two would—”
“Dad, that’s enough!” I yelled through the phone, interrupting his long-winded speech. “I’ve made a life for myself. I’m doing just fine without you planning every step of the way. Things are finally going the way that I want them. I even met a girl, Dad. So please just stop trying to run my life. You think that, after this many years, you’d be interested in what’s going on with me. But no, you would rather pick up right back where you left off—with you controlling my life,” I spat. I was seriously close to hanging up on him.
“Cale, you always were ungrateful like your mother. Don’t forget that, even though we weren’t talking, it was ‘Daddy’s’ money and friends that helped get you out of that mess a few years ago,” he spewed back at me.
Damn, so it was my dad.
I had hoped and prayed the judge would go easy on me, but the charges had been stacked a mile high from that accident, so it hadn’t looked promising without facing some sort of jail time. Miraculously, it had all seemed to settle pretty simply. I’d just thought my luck had finally been turning. That fucker hadn’t even let me deal with my problems on my own.
“Dad, I don’t have time for this. Maybe one day we can talk when you aren’t trying to force me to do things your way. You clearly have my number, so try harder next time,” I growled before ending the call.
I knocked on Lia’s door, holding one arm behind my back and a backpack slung over my other shoulder. I heard the click of one, two, three locks before she swung the door open with an ear-to-ear grin. The smile on that beautiful girl was enough to erase the shitty conversation with my dad.
I pulled the flowers from behind my back—well, the plant, actually. “Lia, I got you a plant. Since you seem offended by flowers, I wanted to get it right. You can think of me when you water it,” I winked.
She took the plant from me and chuckled, “What will I ever do with you Cale Reeves?” before she set the plant on the table by the window. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked. “Are you taking me to a movie? Dinner? I’ve been going crazy wondering about our date!”
She was dressed in a sparkly, black top, a sexy pair of dark skinny jeans that hugged every curve of her ass, and some impossibly high heels. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, accentuating her high cheekbones. My dick was going to hate me for what I was about to say.
“Lia, I told you to dress comfortably. You’re going to have to change,” I sighed, not really wanting to see her in anything but those badass jeans.
Her lips formed a sexy, little pout that made me want to throw her across the table right then and do very dirty things to her.
Holding the backpack up, I smiled reassuringly at her. “Babe, you look hot as hell, but you aren’t dressed appropriately for our date. I bet those heels cost a fortune and they won’t help you where we’re going. I took the liberty of bringing some stuff for you to wear on our date. Throw on some jeans that aren’t so nice. Everything else you’ll need is in here.”