Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 744(@200wpm)___ 595(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 744(@200wpm)___ 595(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
“Baby, you like it?” His voice is so low, my chest aches.
“Are you joking?” I whisper.
Crew chuckles, reaching for me, but I’m frozen, my eyes snapping to the left corner, where a three-tier rolling cart sits, stacked to the nines with all the things my nerdy heart loves—paper, pens, folders, labels, sticky notes, and on top… snacks.
His hand finds my cheek, tucking my hair behind my ear as he eases my eyes to his. “Is it too much?”
“Is that another joke?”
Crew smirks, but his gaze is a little tense, so I press my hands to his chest, and his muscles settle beneath my touch.
“You did this for me?” My voice cracks. “Changed your office, got all this… for me?”
His nod is slow, eyes pinned to mine.
“But… why?”
“Isn’t it obvious, Sweets?”
I shake my head, and his soft laughter wafts over my skin, causing my eyes to close for a few brief moments.
“Baby, I want you to have a comfortable place to be when you come here, and on the chance you want to keep working your way through my mess, I wanted to do what I could to make that easier on you.”
My lids open and his lips curve to one side.
“I’m shit at all the things you’re good at, but I want to be good at giving you all the things you need.”
“I just need you.”
“So you don’t want the bag of Cheetos over there?”
“Hey now, don’t get crazy.”
Crew skims his tongue over his lower lip, grinning, and I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him down for a long, slow kiss. His forehead falls to mine once he breaks away.
“Being what you need is all I want, Sweets, so to hear you say that has me all twisted.”
“How about we twist up the sheets over there?”
Crew smirks. “Love to, baby, but I’ve got a twenty-first birthday party in the reserved section downstairs who booked for fifteen people and showed with twenty-five. Shit’s getting wild. I’ve got to get back down there before Drew beats someone.”
Laughing, I pull back, but Crew hesitates.
“What?”
“I don’t want you to feel like you have to touch any of that shit.” He jerks his head to the bookshelf. “That’s not why I like you here, and that’s not why I did this. My hours are fucked up and unfair, so I wanted you to have a spot to sleep on the nights you come to me.”
“Thank you, but this is good for me. I’m bored at home. Without school, I need to keep my mind moving or I’ll go crazy, but the way this room was, was okay with me. I didn’t need any of this, Crew, but the fact that you did all this just for me… I kind of feel the need to bow to a king right now.”
“Wait until you open the drawers.”
Excitement blooms, my grin stretching.
Crew steps closer, pressing another quick kiss to my lips, smacks my ass and heads out the door. “Love you, Sweets.” My insides turn to mush and I nod. “Be back up to check on you in a bit.”
He walks out, and I rush right over to the desk, smiling down at the drawers.
I tug the first drawer open, laughing at the perfect rows of Pixy Stix, then pull open the second to find it full of mini boxes of Red Hots and Lemonheads.
Last, I pull the large bottom drawer out, practically stomping my feet at the dozens of individually wrapped candy necklaces.
A deep, happy sigh leaves me, and I shake my head. “I fucking love this man.”
“Oh, yeah?” Layla’s voice has me whipping around. She smiles at the room, laughing as she meets my gaze. “He should so get his dick sucked tonight.”
A laugh bursts from me, and she smiles wider, her hands folding over her growing bump.
“I’m headed home. I just wanted to say bye, and… thanks.”
“For?”
She shrugs coyly, her eyes flicking to the ceiling. “I might have made an appointment with a friend to talk loans and permits.”
“What?!” I gape, running to her. “Oh my god, that’s amazing! But don’t pay a fee. I can help with the permits part, or the filing, anyway, and figuring out what kind you would need. You’d just have to pay the filing fees, assuming there are some.”
“Davis, no. I don’t want to take advantage.”
“What? No. Oh my god, Layla, my mind is so bored. You have no idea how much I used to study. I basically need this.” I laugh.
She chuckles and then says, “What if I hired you?”
My face falls. “What?”
“I pay you what I planned to pay them. It’s fair.”
“But I want to help, not take.”
“You are helping, Davis. Don’t make me feel like a snaky broke bitch and take my money or I’ll find someone else.”
Okay, I understand where she’s coming from, but. “Okay, I get it. What if… what if we make a deal?”