Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Before I could oblige, he grabbed the towel by the sink and started patting the champagne off my chest.
What the hell?
Tearing the towel out of his grasp, I countered, “I got it.”
“Right,” he replied with a sudden anxious tone that made me peer up at him through my long thick lashes.
I sucked in a light breath when I locked eyes with the guy I least expected.
Surrendering his hands in the air in front of him, he acknowledged, “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to cop a feel.”
I mindlessly stood there for a few seconds, not knowing how to proceed with him.
“You okay?” he asked, snapping me right out of it.
“Yeah.” I shook off his apology, looking down at my soaked outfit instead.
“Oh!” he chimed in. “I got it!” He quickly jumped into action, opening the cabinet under the sink.
Once he had a blow-dryer in his hand, our eyes connected again for the second time in years. Our intense stares didn’t match the lightheartedness of our situation, and within seconds, we bursted out laughing hysterically.
“How did you know that was going to be in there?” I questioned, catching my bearings.
He shrugged. “Lucky guess.”
“Yeah, so it seems.” I grabbed the blow-dryer out of his hand. “I don’t think this will save the stain in my skirt that’s already setting.”
“You’re probably right.” He stepped away, rubbing the back in his head. “I didn’t see you standing out there. You know,” he teased with a nod. “Despite your six-inch heels, you’re still pretty short.”
My eyebrows rose. “I resent that. You’re actually still a giant.”
“I’m just a growing boy at six-four.”
“There’s nothing boy about you anymore.”
He smirked, leaning against the counter.
“I mean…” I shook off the unease of the effect he’d always have on me. “This isn’t how I thought we’d eventually run into each other.”
Cocking his head to the side with a wicked grin, he asked, “You still think about me?”
Immediately feeling called out, I cleared my throat and turned on the sink faucet. After I sprayed some water on the towel, I stated, “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then how did you mean it, Bay?”
Bay… why did he have to use that name?
I squeezed out the water from the towel. “I just meant it nonchalantly, that’s all.”
“I see.” He paused for a second. “Did you forget I know you like to fidget when you lie?”
I swallowed hard, nervously chuckling before turning to face him again. “What is this? Fifty questions?”
In the blink of an eye, the heady expression on his face was almost too much to witness. With a pointed regard, he shamelessly eyed me up and down.
Unable to hold back, I blurted, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He didn’t falter in replying, “Because you’re gorgeous, Bay. You’ve always been a beautiful girl, but now…” His stare raked over me again. “Now, you’re just stunning.”
I scoffed, shaking my head. “Charming as ever, I see.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Is that what you think I’m doing? Charming you?”
“No,” I said with certainty. “I think you’re flirting with me.”
He chuckled, pushing off the counter. “There she is. I always preferred it when you were feisty. You’ve always been too nice for your own good.”
He was right.
He was always right.
Especially when it came to me.
chapter two
Bailey
For a moment, I took in his handsome appearance. Without a doubt, he was simply dressed in jeans and a hoodie with a hat that hid his face. It was his signature look. He hated the red carpet, and most of the time, he never attended award shows because he hated getting dressed up.
It was his bright blue eyes that still held so much mischief in them—as if no time had passed between us—that truly captivated my attention. He looked older and more mature with a beard, yet the familiarity of standing there with him truly messed with my mind.
He was insanely sexy in that rugged bad-boy kind of way in which the media labeled him at far too young of an age. I knew it was the main reason he played into that wild card demeanor he was known for.
It was the same for me.
Sometimes it was easier to give people what they wanted than to try to find our own identities, if that made any sense. I think it was why so many child actors were sadly jaded before becoming adults. This industry chewed you up and spit you out if you let it. It was important to try to stay as levelheaded as you could, and thankfully, I had a loving and supportive family who kept me grounded at all times.
Giving in to what he obviously expected by the cocky smirk on his face, I complimented, “You look good, Aires.”
“Just good?” he baited.
“Handsome.”
His grin quickly shifted into a sincere smile. “How is it that this is the first time we’ve run into each other after all these years?”