Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
But the longer I waited before taking a bite, the more hurt Cedric appeared until I couldn't take it anymore. I decided that disappointing this sweet man was worse than a potential poisoning.
So, I scooped up a bite of potatoes and passed it between my lips. The moment the rich, buttery food hit my tongue, I didn't even care if it was poisonous.
I hummed my pleasure at the flavor and Cedric's smile stretched from ear to ear. "This is the most delicious food I've ever tasted," I said as I shoveled in another big bite.
"I'm so glad you like it." Cedric loaded his own fork, but instead of eating, he flapped his hand at me, motioning for me to continue to eat. “Is your steak cooked okay?”
I cut into the meat, finding it to be perfectly red and tender. I stuffed a bite into my mouth and hummed again. “It’s incredible.” I gobbled down several more bites before moving on to the array of vegetables.
It wasn’t until I had tried each thing on my plate that Cedric took his first bite, and bobbed his head back and forth. “Not bad.” Before I could argue that ‘not bad’ didn’t begin to cover it, he requested, “Will you tell me about yourself?”
It was at that moment that I realized we knew very little about each other. It felt so natural and right to be sitting there with Cedric that I forgot that we were practically strangers.
Then I realized how little I wanted to tell him about myself. It wasn’t that I was trying to hide anything, but I knew that Cedric wouldn’t be impressed. For some unbeknownst reason, my physical appearance had been enough to make him approach me, but once I divulged details about myself, I worried he’d lose interest.
“What do you do for a living?” he pressed when I didn’t answer.
Shit. I chewed my bite carefully, savoring it along with the sight of Cedric in case it was my last. “Actually, I was recently laid off from my work.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he replied before placing his fork on his plate and reaching across the table to place his hand on mine. His touch was warm and soothing, and I hoped he didn’t take it away.
“Before that I worked in sanitation.” I waited for the look of disgust that generally followed when I told people about my job, but Cedric only gave me a kind smile. Assuming he didn’t understand what I meant, I added, “I was a garbage collector.” His smile didn’t budge. “Does that not gross you out? Most guys are grossed out by that.”
Cedric’s face folded up into an offended look. “Well most guys are assholes and I’m not.” I snorted a laugh of surprise and his expression softened again. “It’s an important job that should be appreciated. Did you enjoy it?”
I blinked at him as I processed the question I’d never been asked. “It probably sounds weird, but I did. I didn’t mind getting my hands dirty and I liked how physical the job was. Sitting on my ass at a desk all day would drive me crazy. I liked getting a good workout on the job.”
“Mm, I would love to see those muscles in action.” As he spoke, Cedric hungrily roved his eyes over my body. He wasn’t shy and ordinarily I wasn’t either, but I couldn’t deny that I was a bit intimidated by the beautiful man. I also couldn’t deny that it had been a while since I had a good workout and some of the muscles he seemed to enjoy so much had begun to shrink while my stomach had begun to grow.
To take the attention off of my body, I continued on, “But my favorite part of the job was working with my dad. He worked in sanitation all of my life. He was a single parent who didn’t have anyone to watch me, but he needed to work to support me.”
“So when I was little, I used to ride along in the garbage truck with him and he’d let me pull the levers. Back then, nobody cared and I thought it was the best thing ever. When I grew up, I wanted to continue to have that special time with my dad and got a job working alongside him.”
“I’m glad you got to experience that,” Cedric said with a dreamy smile and a squeeze to my hand. “Are you two still close?”
“We are. We talk often, but we don’t get together in person as much. My dad retired a little over a year ago and bought a place on Lake Michigan where he can relax and fish. I’m glad he got out when he did; a few months ago, our company sold out to its rival, which is a bigger corporation. They laid off all of our former company’s employees who had years of experience and had earned higher wages, and replaced them with new employees who would work for bottom dollar.”