Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Lauren sighed. “Yeah, I understand.”
I had no idea what to expect from Bennett when I hung up, but what I got, I knew was sincere.
“Thank you for including me.”
I nodded. “You’re welcome.”
He took a few steps toward my office door and then turned back. “Why?”
I wasn’t sure I understood the question. “Why what?”
“Why do you want to win fair and square? Is it because of what’s going on between us?”
“I actually thought about that earlier.” I smiled. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’d be going about things the same way even if you were a sixty-year-old, happily married man.”
“Wow.” He shook his head. “And here I was thinking you were just a good person. But you’d let a sixty-year-old, married dude go down on you in his office?”
“That’s not what I meant!”
Bennett winked. “I know. But let’s pretend so I don’t have to admit you’re a fuck of a lot better person than I am.”
Chapter 33
* * *
Bennett
“Do you like Star Wars?”
I hit mute on SportsCenter and looked over at Annalise. She had three different newspapers spread out in sections all over my bed. I preferred my news in the form of CNN or ESPN, but over the last few weeks, we had settled into a Saturday-morning routine I liked.
We’d have early-morning sex, and then I’d go for a run while she made us breakfast. On the way home I picked up three different newspapers, and after we ate, I’d watch SportsCenter while she read the papers for hours.
Did I mention she cooked and read while wearing one of my T-shirts with no bra or underwear underneath? Yeah, so that’s my favorite part.
I slipped my hand under the hem of the white tee she had on and rubbed her thigh. “I like Star Wars. I’m not one of those freaks who walk around dressed up as Yoda or Chewbacca at an annual convention of freaks, but I go see the movies. Why?”
Annalise shrugged. “No reason.”
But something about her response—maybe it was too fast or too curt—told me she was full of shit. “You’re not one of those freaks, are you?”
Her cheeks shaded pink. “No, I’m not.”
I pointed to her face. “Don’t even try it, Texas. You’re halfway to tomato already.”
She put down the paper. “Fine. I used to like to dress up as Princess Leia.” Her voice lowered. “And maybe sometimes Aayla Secura and Shaak Ti.”
I laughed. “Who?”
“Forget it.”
“Oh, no. You opened this can of worms. Now that I know you’re a Star Wars dork, I want to know what I’m dealing with. Are we talking Halloween costumes only, lunchboxes, and you have the entire Klingon language memorized, or full-on crazed fan who dresses up and goes to conventions?”
“Klingon is Star Trek, not Star Wars.”
“The fact that you know that tells me a lot.”
Annalise rolled her eyes. “Why do I share anything with you?”
I laughed. “Okay. I won’t tease, my sexy little dork. What made you ask?”
She pointed to an article in the paper. “I’m reading about movie merchandising that outperformed box office sales. Star Wars has had almost thirty-five billion in merchandising.”
“Guess you have a lot of potential buddies out there in dorkland.”
She whacked my stomach with the back of her hand. “Shut up.”
“You know there’s a new land coming to Disneyland soon: Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.”
“Duh. I know. I can’t wait.”
This afternoon was my annual trip to Disney with Lucas—his birthday weekend was the only overnight trip Fanny allowed me. Every year, we drove down on Saturday afternoon and spent the night and the entire next day going on rides. Lucas always wrote up a list of the rides that were new each year, and this time one of them was Star Wars-themed.
“Do you go on rides at Disney?” I asked.
“I used to. But I haven’t been in years.”
I hadn’t mentioned my trip with Lucas, yet I’d been toying with inviting her all week. “I’m actually driving up to Disney with Lucas this afternoon. It’s his birthday this week, and we take an annual trip.”
“Oh. That’s awesome. You do such fun things with him.”
I’d never really brought women around Lucas, mostly because the relationships I had didn’t seem to fit with my weekly visits with him. I took women out to dinners where they wore nice dresses, and then I took them home, not fishing or go-kart racing. But Annalise and I were different. We spent hours working together every day, and when we weren’t fighting or make-up fucking, we actually had a pretty good time sitting around doing nothing on mornings like this.
Even though it had only been about a month, I’d gotten to know her far better than anyone I’d dated for six months. Plus, she’d like the new Star Wars ride they’d put in. So now I felt almost obligated to invite her. It was the right thing to do.