Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
She rolled her eyes, and my cock twitched. Geez, this woman didn’t even know how much she affected me.
She held her hand out toward me for the croissant, and I gave it to her. As she took a bite, she moaned with delight.
Do that again, Hails.
“You didn’t moan like that when I had you on the steps,” I complained.
“Yeah, well, you weren’t slathered in butter.”
“Note to self, bring sticks of butter next time Hailee has me over to her place.”
She laughed. “You need to get the idea of us doing the tango together out of your head because it’s not going to happen.”
“A man can dream. And trust me… I’ve been dreaming about that a lot.”
“Yeah. A few of your fangirls overheard your daydreams.”
“How does that feel knowing that I was thinking about you as I did it?”
“I refuse to answer that.”
“Want to know how long it took you to mentally get me off?”
Her cheeks rose and reddened. “Having a guy in an IT clown mask asking me that question makes it extremely ridiculous.”
“Five minutes.”
“You shouldn’t wear that as a badge of honor.”
“What can I say? The Hailee in my mind just turns me on so much that I can’t hold out. Just like the one in real life.”
“I don’t think that’s the flex you think it is, buckeroo.”
I laughed. “Give me another run at it, and I’ll show you how long I can keep going. That was a first time in a long time for me. I had to knock it out.”
“I’m sure you’ve had plenty of women in Hollywood to keep you busy.”
“No one since you.”
She raised a brow. “I was your first and only back then. I’m sure you’ve had—”
“No one since you,” I repeated, this time a bit more serious.
Her breath caught as she paused her steps. “Say swear.”
I stepped in front of her and pulled up my mask so our eyes could lock. “Swear.”
“Pinkie promise?”
I linked my pinkie with hers. “Pinkie promise. What about you? How many suitors have been lining up at your door since I left?” The second the question left my mouth, I regretted it. Truth be told, the last thing I wanted to know was how many people she had been with since I’d been gone.
Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers.
Any answer other than none was the wrong one.
“We just renewed our friendship, Tom. Don’t push it.”
“What can I say?” I bent down and took a bite of her croissant. “I’m a pusher. I’m not going to lie, though. These are some of the best croissants.”
“I swear, my parents have the best bread in the world. I know I’ve never been to Paris, but I bet these give them a run for their money.”
Before he could reply, he started greeting and chatting with passersby on the sidewalk, holding full conversations with the individuals. After they left smiling, Aiden turned back to me.
I smiled. “You do that a lot, don’t you? Talk to people.”
“I find people fascinating.”
“Are you looking at us all as some kind of characters you can play one day?”
I laughed. “No, but good idea. Every person is some kind of character, I suppose.” I gestured around toward the random people on the street. “We have background characters. Side characters. Main characters. Villains, heroes, fairy godmothers. The whole world is one big film if you really think about it. And a lot of the footage is just mundane stuff, but sometimes, you get some amazing moments that create a great story. I’m still debating if it has a happy ending or if this turns into some kind of zombie apocalypse thing.”
She licked her fingers as she finished her croissant and then tilted her coffee cup toward me. “Here’s hoping for zombies.”
I held out the croissant I got for me to see if she wanted it. She shook her head, so I dove in.
“What kind of character am I?” she asked. “What’s my story?”
“You’re definitely, definitely the gravedigger. The weird one who lurks in the shadows,” I joked. Luckily, she picked up on my teasing and shoved me.
“Jerk.”
“A little.” I took a sip of my coffee before saying, “Main character.”
She huffed. “I’m no main character.”
“That’s exactly what every main character would say. Any person who said they were the main character would never truly be the main character. They’d probably die in act two.”
“Oh, how I wished I would’ve died in act two.” She sighed, tossing her hand up in dramatics.
“Ah, yes. You’re the dramatic main character. It’s clear as day.”
“I know who you are, too.”
“Oh? What’s my role?”
“You’re like the person who randomly gets hit by a bus when they step into the street, and they are never seen or heard from again.”
I laughed and hovered over the curb of the sidewalk toward the road. “Don’t tease me with a good time, Jones.” I hopped off as a car was coming my way, and before it could get too close, Hailee grabbed the sleeve of my jacket and pulled me back onto the sidewalk.