Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
I furrow my brow. “Their mark?”
He nods. “They figured I’d be a shoo-in to buy them a round of drinks.”
“And were they right about that?”
“What do you think?”
I burst out laughing. “Oh, Grayson.”
“I didn’t do it because I was interested in any of them, if that’s what you’re thinking. I did it so I could get past them as quickly as possible and talk to you—the hot brunette at the bar.”
I flash him a look that says, “Sure.”
“It’s true! Okay, yes, I probably also did it out of sheer force of habit and politeness. It’s not like me to say no in a situation like that. But, mostly, I was trying to get my ass to the bar to talk to the smoking-hot brunette in the red dress who’d commanded my full attention the minute I laid eyes on her.”
“Will you introduce me, Gray?” the slick guy interjects. He motions to Grayson and me. “I take it you two already know each other?”
“Yes, Grayson and I met online earlier today,” I explain, deciding that’s all the man needs to know. “He invited me for a drink, and I found him way too charming and handsome to refuse, even though I don’t usually date men his age.” I flash a seductive smile at Grayson, not only to give Grayson a little tingle in his trousers but to let Mr. Slick know he should find someone else to hit on.
“Selena, this is Max,” Grayson says. His cheeks are flushed. Clearly, my seductive smile a moment ago hit its target.
“Would you boys like to join our table?” I ask. “There’s plenty of room.”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Grayson replies. He looks at Mr. Slick, who nods enthusiastically, and a moment later, Grayson is placing the remaining drinks on my table while his buddy drags over two chairs.
In short order, both men get settled at my table— with Grayson sitting next to me and his friend next to my gregarious friend, Marnie, at her invitation. Easy conversation among the full table ensues for a while, and through it all I can’t stop marveling at how funny and darling Grayson is with my friends. Indeed, throughout the energetic group conversation, my best friend since college, Victoria, keeps shooting me secret winks and smiles, letting me know she finds Grayson every bit as yummy and likeable as I’d described to our group earlier at dinner.
After a bit, individual conversations begin breaking off from the group, with Marnie and Max chatting together and Grayson and me leaning in and talking intimately for about a half-hour.
“Tell me something,” I say to Grayson after we’ve been conversing one-on-one for a while. “What if the brunette in the red dress—the woman you were bold enough to buy a drink before ever saying a word to her—hadn’t turned out to be Hot Teacher?”
“I knew you were Hot Teacher.”
“But what if it turned out you’d been wrong about that? What if the real Hot Teacher had walked through the front door while you were buying all those drinks? What if she beelined up to you and said, ‘It’s me, Grayson!’? Would you have ditched Hot Teacher to bring me that martini or the other way around?”
Grayson scoffs. “This is a pointless hypothetical because I knew, instantly, you were Hot Teacher. I knew it in my bones. On my skin. In my gut.” He leans forward. “And in my pants.”
Whoa. When did this slightly dorky dude get so fucking hot?
Before I’ve decided how to respond to Grayson’s bold comment, my friend Marnie stands at the other end of our table. “Max and I are going outside to smoke.”
As Max rises from the table, he shoots a sly little wink at Grayson that practically screams, “Someone’s gonna get lucky tonight!” before turning and gesturing to Marnie. “After you.”
And off they go. First, to smoke. And second, to fuck, if I know Marnie.
“Well, damn,” Victoria says, snorting. “I didn’t see that one coming.”
“Max is really smooth,” Grayson explains earnestly, obviously not realizing Victoria’s comment was sarcastic. Unbeknownst to sweet Grayson, she wasn’t complimenting Max’s prowess with women but, rather, making a joke borne of love and admiration about our darling Marnie’s propensity for unabashedly going after whatever and whomever she desires.
“I was being sarcastic, sweetie,” Victoria explains to Grayson with a smile. “This ain’t Marnie’s first rodeo with a young cowboy. She just went through a bad breakup, so she’s been getting over that guy by getting under—and over, and in front of, and sitting on the faces of—some young, highly energetic cowboys.”
Grayson looks absolutely stunned. “Oh, yeah, no. Good for her. I’m all for sex positivity.” He awkwardly fist-pumps the air, making all the women at our table giggle. He continues, “I just meant Max always seems to be catnip to women, wherever we go, so I’m not at all surprised Marnie decided to leave with him.”