Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
I shook my head. “Just that I was going to back off because it’s apparent you’re not interested.” With that said, I really did need to go. Three guys at the bar were headed my way, and I didn’t want to get stuck talking football for the next hour. I touched a hand to her side, and Billie sucked in her breath. I gently squeezed her there. “It was good seeing you again, Billie. I hope you watch the game on Sunday.”
I stepped past her.
She whirled with me. “Brett—”
I paused, looking back, waiting. We were close. Her head was at my chest level, and she dropped her eyes, staring at my shirt. “Why are you wearing a sweatshirt?”
I fought back a grin. “That’s what you wanted to say to me?”
She looked back up, and embarrassment flooded her face, which made her all the more adorable and made my dick stand up straight, like a lapdog hoping to be petted.
“No. I—why didn’t you call me the next day?”
I frowned.
“You said you wanted to see me. Then you said you would call. Then I got a text.”
My frown deepened. “I’m not following.”
“You texted me.”
“Yeah, I did.” I cocked my head to the side, trying to understand.
“It was late.”
“Did I wake you up?”
“No.” Her eyes skirted around, and she moved even closer, her chest lifting. “It was late, like late.”
Comprehension flared. She thought—I looked around for a side door or an exit, because I felt those guys behind me. More had joined them, and they were only holding back because it was obvious I was talking to a woman. A guy didn’t interrupt those conversations, except they would eventually. Football fan code would override bro code.
I didn’t have long.
Callie’s friend figured out what I wanted and gestured behind her.
I touched Billie’s side again and herded her in front of me, my other hand finding her other side.
“Wha—huh?”
“Let’s have this conversation somewhere more private.” We rounded a group, and I ignored a few people calling my name as I steered Billie past Callie, who was grinning broadly.
“Back door through the kitchen,” her friend said, lifting up a part of their bar so we could step through.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Good luck,” she called after us as we went through the kitchen doors.
I moved past the startled kitchen staff until we were out the back door. Once there, I moved Billie around the corner and back against a wall. I had to be close. There was something about her. It felt like I was fighting gravity if I wasn’t moving to her side or pulling her to me.
She sucked in her breath, flattening against the wall. Her hands tucked behind her, and she swallowed, looking up at me.
Jesus. Those eyes. A man could get lost in those eyes and never want to come back up for oxygen.
“You thought I only wanted a booty call?” I rasped.
She swallowed again. “Yeah,” she whispered. Hurt flared in those dark eyes again.
“Thought I’d made my interest real clear.”
“Me too,” she whispered again, her gaze falling to my chest. “But you didn’t call.”
“I didn’t call because I was on a flight to California, and I was using my phone to track down a half-brother I’ve not spoken to in almost twenty years because I had to ask him to wade into family drama he probably never wanted to deal with.”
Her head jerked up. “What?”
“I wanted to call and talk you into dinner at my place or yours, and if you didn’t want either of those, since it would’ve been a first date, I would’ve been happy to take you somewhere else in town. Somewhere private.”
“Really?”
I nodded, losing the battle not to touch her. My thumb went to her chin. There was a little dent there, and it was cute as fuck. She drew in a breath at my touch, but I couldn’t stop. My hand smoothed down her throat, feeling her pulse, loving how it sped up, how her chest was rising. I knew she felt what I was feeling. My hand slid around to cup the back of her neck, and I struggled to keep from moving even closer.
My head bent, needing to be in her space, in her air. My forehead went to hers, resting there.
We were both trembling.
Her hand went to my stomach, and I sucked in my breath, holding still, not wanting to scare her away. I wanted all of her against me.
“It was a family crisis sort of thing.” My voice was still rough.
Her fingers curled around my waistband, taking a firm hold. She was hanging on to me. “I’m sorry.”
I raised my head, needing to see her better, but I didn’t move, loving the feel of her fingers against my stomach. “It was a day.”
Guilt flared over her face, tightening around her mouth. “Didn’t say I was rational. My feelings were involved.” She mumbled that, her gaze falling back to my chest, and she leaned in. I wasn’t sure if she was even aware of what she was doing as she rubbed her cheek against my chest, a contented purr leaving her body. She stepped away from the wall, her arms moving to slide around my waist, and then she was plastered against me, hugging me.