Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 103102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
She has a boyfriend.
Grandma’s words echo in my head.
I refuse to believe that. Lexi is a lot of things, but she’s not a cheater. If she’s interested in me, she’s ending things with him. I’ll ask her, point blank. If she hasn’t ended things, that’s it. I’m a strong enough person to resist her charms.
I go downstairs, then outside, and sneak out of the house. I go the other way, around our side yard—away from the party, so Deanna doesn’t see me—to the perfect cul-de-sac. Identical to a hundred other perfect cul-de-sacs in the city. Well, except for the sheer size of the Huntington place.
A valet stands at the front of the Huntington place and older people linger by the entrance, smoking (cigars, of course) and sipping bourbon from short glasses.
The rest of the street hums with the sort of Friday night activity I expect in Huntington Hills. Families watching movies on the couch or playing games in the backyard. Moms sipping wine as they chat about their kids. Dads talking football. People who choose to live here do it because they believe in family values. They don’t go out of their way to defy gender norms.
I walk toward the neighborhood park down the street. It’s a big space, with a soccer field, a handful of eucalyptus trees, a small plastic playground (it was wood when I was a kid), and a parking lot.
There’s Lexi’s car, the flashy red thing.
And there’s a woman standing there, in heels and a short dress.
This is it.
Destiny.
I step into the light, and I see her in all her glory.
Lace-up boots, short dark hair—
Son of a…
That’s not Lexi.
That’s Deanna.
Chapter Seven
Deanna
River stares at me with disbelief in his dark eyes.
Does the poor guy really still believe he and Lexi are meant to be? After all this time?
“Deanna.” He studies me the way I imagine he studies a landscape he’s drawing, noting every detail.
“River,” I say, mimicking his tone. Then recall our conversation earlier by the pool. “Ida’s not coming?”
“No. Is Lexi all right?” He catches himself and bites his tongue. He’s giving it all away. Lexi made plans with him for tonight.
But I already know that. He just didn’t know I knew that.
“Lexi is held up with an investor,” I say. That’s mostly true. “She asked me to keep you entertained in the meantime.”
“Why?”
I feign offense. “Am I not entertaining?”
He doesn’t say yes, but he wears the yes all over his face.
Charm, I tell myself. I have all of Lexi’s charm. “An hour or two, max. We’ll go to a bar. She’ll meet us there later. I’m sure you don’t want to wait around here, at a stuffy party.”
He stares at me with apprehension.
“Unless you’d rather reschedule? You are on East Coast time.”
“I’m fine.”
“Great.” I pull Lexi’s keys from my pocket and tap the fob. The car beeps as it unlocks.
Shit. Am I really doing this?
I fumble with the car door. It takes me three tries to open it.
“Are you all right?” River asks.
No. Of course not. How does anyone keep another person’s date entertained enough he doesn’t bail? “I’m great.”
“You are?”
“A bar.” That’s what I said. “One in Anaheim.”
His lips twitch. “The one bar in Anaheim?”
“It’s your kind of place. I promise. And Lexi loves it, too.” She loves any place with music and alcohol, especially one with a theme, so she must love the place I have in mind. “Trust me.”
He stands there, at the trunk of the car, and studies me again. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Keep me away from Lexi.”
“Why would I do that?” I ask innocently.
“I don’t know,” he says, likely recalling the advice I gave him at Lexi’s Sweet Sixteen party, before he left for New York. “Why would you do that?”
“I wouldn’t.” I motion to the passenger side. “Get in. We’ll have fun. A ton of fun.”
He raises a brow. “You know how to have fun?”
“With the best of them,” I quip.
He stays still. I’m losing him. Or maybe I never had him.
“Do you want to bet on it?” I ask, and I can hear the desperation creeping into my voice.
He chuckles. “You don’t have to manipulate me.”
“Okay. I’ll ask nicely. Will you go to the bar with me, River?”
He smiles, victorious, and slides into the car. “Of course. All you had to do was ask.”
River gets in the car, and I do, too. We both buckle up.
No turning back now.
Lexi’s favorite slow jams fill the car as I drive away from the park and make my way along the rows of strip malls and walled neighborhoods filled with three- and four-bedroom houses worth a fortune.
River sways along with the music. Maybe because he enjoys the beat. Or because he imagines himself making love to Lexi here. I’m not sure.
He’s a romantic, but he’s a man, too.