Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Digging into my purse while the air conditioning that’s still blowing warm air hits me like a tornado and has my hair flying in all directions, I retrieve my phone. I can’t hide my smile when I see it’s Brooks.
Brooks: Is it a full moon?
Me: Possibly. Bad day?
Brooks: Not bad, just crazy busy. I’m just now eating lunch.
Me: It’s five o'clock. You get off at seven, right?
Brooks: I’m supposed to. It’s a madhouse. We’ve had everything from sore throats to a bad car accident between here and Harris.
Me: Anything I can do.
Brooks: Be naked in my bed when I get home?
He follows his request with an entire row of grinning emoji.
Me: You and I both know you’d be too tired to handle me.
I give him my own line of emoji. Mine is a winking face.
Brooks: Challenge accepted.
I burst out laughing. I should have known he would come back with something like that.
Me: As good as that sounds, I have a ton of edits to get through. I thought I would have the rest of the week, but I added four more shoots to my schedule this week. Today has been crazy busy for me too.
Brooks: Fine. Can I call you later?
Me: Always.
Brooks: I need to get back out there.
Me: Did you even finish eating?
He sends me a picture of his empty container.
Brooks: Yep. You kept me company. Thanks for that. Talk soon.
I don’t bother replying. I know he’s already making his way back to his patients, and that’s where his attention needs to be. Placing my phone in the cupholder, I put my car in Drive and head home.
Brooks: Good morning, beautiful.
I stare at the message on my phone that was sent at six thirty this morning. My heart knocks against my chest. I know he’s trying to be the nice guy that he is, but damn him. All the sweet things he says and does is dangerous to my heart. I knew he was a nice guy, but this attraction I feel for him is on another level. I’ve never dated anyone who cared enough to send me a good morning text to let me know he was thinking about me.
Now, when I finally do, it’s my friends-with-benefits hookup that no longer feels like we’re just about the benefits. My heart is involved, and that pisses me off. Not at him. He’s done nothing wrong. Hell, he does everything right, hence the reason my heart isn’t doing a very good job of staying out of this little arrangement we’ve made.
It’s just after seven, so I know he’s already started his shift. I type out a reply, then erase it. It takes me three tries before I’m satisfied and hit Send.
Me: Have a great day.
Simple, to the point, and completely ignores the way he calls me beautiful. The butterflies in my belly, however, took notice, and they’re fluttering around like crazy. I’m in dangerous territory. I know I need to either end this or just tough it out and let the cards fall where they may when he does. And by cards, I mean the shattered pieces of my heart.
Tossing my phone on the bed, I throw off the covers and make my way to the shower. I’m ready in record time, and I don’t need to be at the studio until nine. I don’t really want to start on edits and then have to stop. I get into the zone when I’m editing, and it goes much faster when I can sit down knowing or hoping I’ll have the least number of interruptions.
With time to kill, I make a stop at our local bakery, The Sweet Side. The smell of sweet, gooey goodness hits me as soon as I open the door. As I stand in line, I ponder what I’m going to order. I’m starving, and it smells so good that I’m tempted to just order one of everything and leave some for my customers. That’s when an idea hits.
“Welcome to The Sweet Side. What can I get for you?” an older woman greets me.
“I’ll take a dozen glazed donuts, a cinnamon roll, and two large black coffees, please.”
“Sure. Coming right up.” I hand over my card, and she cashes me out before boxing up my order. I wait patiently while she gathers my order. She places a box, a bag, and a drink carrier on the counter. “Can you get that? Need some help to your car?”
“Nope. I’m all set. Thank you. Have a great day.” I wave before sliding the bag onto my wrist, taking the box with one hand and the drink carrier with the other.
I don’t know how he takes his coffee. I’m not even sure he drinks coffee, and me dropping by his work isn’t something a friend with benefits would do, but he had a hard day yesterday. When I talked to him last night, it was brief. I could tell he was exhausted, so I made the excuse that I had laundry to fold and ended our call early. Taking a deep breath, I slowly exhale before grabbing my phone and sending him a text.