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)
How’s the sex?
Before my mind could follow that line of thought, my phone rang again. Alex. Perfect timing.
“Hi,” I answered quickly.
“Hi yourself. What are you up to?”
“Actually, I’m getting ready. I ran into an old friend today and I’m going to dinner with…him.”
“Him?”
I nodded and then realized he couldn’t see me. “Um, yeah. I ran into him at Trilogy today when I was there with Kate Powers on a case. I met him at a law conference I went to years ago and he asked me if I wanted to grab a bite with him tonight. Of course, he knows I’m engaged. Do you mind?”
“No. That’s fine. I’m going to turn in early anyway. I have to be back in court early again tomorrow.” He yawned. “Have a good time, okay?”
“Oh, okay. Love you.”
“Love you. I’ll see you in the office tomorrow afternoon.”
“Bye, Alex.”
I hung up and sat chewing my thumbnail for a few minutes longer. Then I got up and did my makeup. I wasn’t sure what to wear since I didn’t know where Carson was taking me, so I pulled on a pair of dark jeans, heeled boots, and a dressy top. It’d work pretty much anywhere.
The doorbell rang and I ran a brush through my hair quickly, took a deep breath, and went to answer it. When I pulled it open, Carson Stinger was filling my doorway, six feet of male, every inch of him beautiful. I knew. I remembered every inch of him. I almost shivered but forced myself still. This was already off to a very bad start.
“Hi,” I said, opening the door so he could come inside. I backed up and hitched my thumb over my shoulder. “I’ll just grab my coat.”
He didn’t say anything, just gave me a smile that was decidedly tight. Tense. Is there a problem?
Coat and purse in hand, I rejoined Carson, who remained standing in my doorway, glancing around as though casing the joint. He still hadn’t said a word to me.
He waited as I locked up and then we walked in silence down my front path to a black truck. He held the door open for me as I climbed inside. As his truck roared to life, and he pulled away from the curb, I glanced at him again, wondering at his stoic demeanor, and feeling like I was going to dinner with a total stranger.
_________
Carson
I glanced over at Grace sitting in the cab of my truck. She looked beautiful, and my blood was humming with her proximity alone. But as much as I wanted to enjoy dinner with her, I had worked myself into a shitty mood over the fact that there were roadblocks between us again that were going to make it very challenging for this to go anywhere.
Engaged ain’t married.
Dylan’s words had rung in my head as I’d driven to Grace’s address, and though at first they’d lit a fire of hope, the more I thought about the reality, the grumpier I’d gotten. What the fuck was I doing? It had been hard enough to get over her the first time. And now I was willingly putting myself back in the same situation? Where I pined for her and she was unavailable? The reasons were different now, but the results would be the same. I was some kind of masochist when it came to this girl. The first time, I hadn’t known how she would end up affecting me. This time I did, and I was back for more. It had really become obvious to me when she opened the door, her cheeks all flushed and her hair flowing over her shoulders, and everything in my body yearned to rip her clothes off and take her up against her wall. I needed to get a handle on that. She was engaged. Shit. And I was unavailable for a relationship anyway, for all intents and purposes. So why did I have this suspicion that when it came down to it, I was going to act like a fucking idiot and push all those very good reasons aside? I didn’t trust myself with Grace Hamilton, plain and simple. So much had changed in my life, but evidently that remained the same.
Grace looked uncertain, her hands fidgeting while she chewed at her lip. I let out a slow breath. God, I hadn’t even greeted her properly. I forced myself to relax. “Sorry for the mood,” I told her. “It’s been a challenging day.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I have those too.”
“Let’s start again. Hi, Grace.”
“Hi, Carson.”
“Guess what,” I said.
“What?” she asked, tilting her head.
“I live about five minutes from you, in this same neighborhood.” When I had gotten into my truck and put Grace’s address into my GPS, I had almost laughed out loud. She hadn’t written her zip code down, so I didn’t realize until that moment that she too lived in Summerlin, a neighborhood northwest of Vegas. Something about it struck me as funny. Apparently, her pull even spoke to me in some psychic manner. I was fucked. Either that or fate was just messing with me. Again.