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)
What the hell was wrong with me? I was never flustered like this! I was going into law because I was good at finding the right words under pressure. And here a good-looking, straight-male, porn star rattled me so much, I could barely form a coherent sentence?
And that’s when he burst out laughing, deepening that tiny dimple by his mouth. “I will, buttercup. And you enjoy your weekend too. Let me make a wild guess, law student conference?”
I had started to walk around him but stopped when I heard the clearly condescending nickname and the amusement in his voice. “Yes, actually. Is there something wrong with that?”
“No, not at all. Looks like we’re both here to hone our skills when it comes to getting people off.”
My brows snapped down. Ah, a double entendre. How clever. “Well that’s…that’s a disgusting way to put it.”
He moved closer to me until I was forced to step back. “Why? Getting people off is such a rush, buttercup. Don’t be ashamed of wanting to do it well.”
I coughed and narrowed my eyes. Eww.
I tapped his nametag with my index finger. “I do a lot of things well, Carson, none of which I’m ashamed of,” I said, leaning into him so that he knew I wasn’t going to be intimidated by his blatant, juvenile, sexual innuendos.
He stared at me for a beat, that amused glint still in his eyes, and then grinned, slow and sexy as his eyes dipped to my cleavage. “I bet.” He took that full bottom lip between his teeth and looked back up at me.
I gawked at him for a second because I felt my nipples get hard under my white blouse and I did not appreciate that. Not one bit. I was going to have a talk with my body later and lay down the law. There was absolutely no getting turned on by porn stars purposefully trying to shock and intimidate for no apparent reason. Porn stars! People who had all kinds of sex in front of cameras! It was indecent. The fact that any small part of him turned me on pissed me the hell off. I saw his eyes travel downward again, this time to my puckered nipples showing easily through the thin material of my blouse, and his smirk got bigger. I flushed in irate humiliation.
I made a frustrated, angry sound in my throat and marched away from Carson Stinger, Straight Male Performer.
__________
A cool shower helped me calm down from my lobby run-in. When I felt levelheaded again, I toweled off and then changed into my brand-new black bikini and white crochet cover-up, before heading out to the pool. My conference didn’t officially start until the next morning, so I planned on spending several hours lying in the sun, reading and relaxing. The life of a law student didn’t leave a lot of room for R & R and so I was going to take advantage of it while I could.
It took me about twenty minutes to simply walk through the pool area and decide where I wanted to sit. There were five pool courtyards, luxurious cabanas, umbrellas over plush seating, and rows of lounges, all with the same Mediterranean design. It was breathtaking and I tried my best not to walk through with my mouth hanging open at all the opulence.
My dad was a police officer and a single parent, who raised me and my two sisters on his own after he and my mom divorced. We never wanted for anything, but we certainly didn’t have the money to vacation. In fact, until I left for college, I had never been out of Dayton, Ohio, where I grew up.
After stopping at the bar for an oversized virgin daquiri, I parked myself on a lounger with some shade and started lathering my pale skin with sunscreen. I had been holed up in libraries and classrooms for months, not to mention the desert sun was no joke.
I had just read a couple pages of my book when my phone rang. Abby came up on my screen.
“If you saw where I was right now, you’d be so jealous,” I said in greeting.
She laughed. “Well, hello. If you saw where I was, you so wouldn’t be jealous. I won’t make you guess—I’m still an itchy, calamine-spotted vision of loveliness, splayed out on the couch.” I groaned on her behalf. Poor Abby had gotten poison ivy while hiking with her boyfriend, Brian. “But back to you,” she went on. “Let me see… I swear I smell coconut and hear the gentle lapping of water—poolside with a drink in hand?”
I laughed. “Bingo.”
“But wait, what is that? What is that I see? A textbook in your hands instead of a steamy romance? The horror. Please tell me I’m wrong.”
I looked down at the large textbook sitting open in my lap, Concepts & Insights Series: Administrative Law. “Oh stop, you know that I have to study this weekend if I’m going to ace this summer course. Anyway, this place, Abs, it’s outrageous. Truly. We have to come back here and stay for longer than a weekend. And I’ll promise not to bring my textbooks, okay?”