Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 128260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“Babe, your stomach was growling so loud I thought it was a plane flying overhead. I couldn’t exactly sleep through that racket.”
She laughed, putting a hand over her mouth so that she didn’t spew the sip of coffee she had just taken. “It was not!” Her laugh dwindled. “Was it?”
“Okay, maybe not that loud, but my buttercup clearly needed food.”
She smiled over the lid of her coffee cup and took another sip. “So, what about you? Are you going to be in trouble for skipping your show? I mean… you know, assuming you are?” She looked suddenly uncertain. We hadn’t really made plans about how much of the weekend we were going to spend together.
“I am skipping,” I told her. I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Night and day. And I was ecstatic that she apparently did too. “As far as whether I’ll get flack for it? Probably. I don’t know. I haven’t turned my phone on since you showed up at my door. My agent has probably been calling me nonstop.”
She stared at me silently for a couple beats. “Carson…if this weekend isn’t a good idea for your…career, I don’t want to cause trouble for you.”
“Grace, I’m not exactly broken up about spending time with a beautiful, sexy buttercup, rather than throngs of porn fans.” Why did I hate talking about anything that reminded her what I did? It was part of the reason she was here—my experience. And yet I found myself steering the conversation away from my job whenever possible.
She laughed a little uncomfortably and then got a stricken look on her face. “Last night…in the middle of the night, did you…” She looked around and her eyes landed on the empty condom wrapper on the bedside table. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, okay.”
I paused. That sinking feeling again before I specifically addressed what she was obviously—rightly—concerned about. “We have to get tested every month,” I told her. “I just got a clean bill of health a week ago. You’re probably safer with me than some random guy you might pick up at the pool.”
She shifted the sheet over her chest with the hand not holding her coffee. “Well, that’s…good. Still, I’m not on birth control. I guess we should have talked about that.” Another shift of the sheet. “I’m usually more…”
“Responsible?”
Her eyes met mine and I couldn’t read exactly what was in them. “Yes.”
“We’ll be really careful, okay?”
She nodded, taking another sip of her coffee.
“So, what do you want to do today? The city is our oyster.”
“The first thing I want to do is take a shower. I’m a mess.” She used one hand to smooth her wild hair.
“You’re beautiful. But how about you finish your breakfast and I jump in for five minutes, and then you take one after me. Is that all right?”
“Yes, sounds good.”
“Okay.” I smiled and leaned in and kissed her lips. “Out in five.”
_________
Grace
Carson handed me the bag of pastries and some napkins and I sat in bed drinking my coffee and nibbling on the sweets, considering the situation at hand. I felt sort of stricken and sort of blissful. I choked down the giggles rising up my throat. I didn’t know if they were giggles of hilarity or hysteria. Or both. I was eating in bed—which I never did—sweets—which I never ate—after letting a gorgeous porn star give me multiple orgasms through the night. And now I was blowing off my conference—unheard of—so that I could spend more time with him. And hopefully later he’d give me more mind-blowing orgasms. Who was I? And why exactly wasn’t I heading for the hills? Because you like him, a small voice said.
I took a bite of pastry, chewing thoughtfully. Yes, I liked him. But that was good, right? I had always planned on liking my Guy Number Two. Yes, it could be argued—pretty well, most likely—that what I was doing was ill-advised on a few levels. But if I didn’t even like the guy, it wouldn’t make sense to deviate from my plan so drastically. You couldn’t have fun with a person you didn’t like. And as it turned out, Carson was very likable. He was funny—I never knew exactly what was going to come out of his mouth. And there was a sweetness to him that I didn’t think he showed very many people. And he was sexy as hell and the things he could do with his mouth and his…
“What are you daydreaming about?” Carson asked. I blinked, startled to see him standing in the bathroom doorway wearing nothing more than a towel.
Mmm. You, as a matter of fact. “Oh, just, you know, stuff…” I said, standing up and stretching. Carson watched me, a slow smile stretching across his face. I liked that smile—a lot. But there was time for more of that later, and I really did need a shower. I scooted past him and closed the bathroom door, standing still for a moment. God, I was really out of my element here. It kept hitting me. Get it together, Grace. He said he’d take charge. Just relax and let him. Stop thinking so damn much. It seemed to work out just fine last night. Heat rushed through me as the slideshow of our night raced through my brain. My breathing evened and my nerves evaporated, at least for now, and I went about the business of brushing my teeth and showering.