Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
Binx’s eyes go saucer-wide. Seven steps discreetly away, clearly not wanting to stick around for this kind of sister talk.
“Wow. Woah.” Binx laughs. “That was not what I was expecting you to say, but go, girl.” She lifts a hand for me to high five. “Get you some. It’s about time you let that wild side out to play.”
“I don’t have a wild side,” I say, ignoring her hand as I push my glasses up my nose. “This is a reasonable decision that was quickly, but carefully evaluated. And you didn’t answer my question.”
“Oh, right,” Binx says, blinking as her hand drops back to her side. “No, I wouldn’t trust a condom that old. You’d better stop by a gas station or something. Better safe than sorry.”
Lips pressing into a firm line, I nod. “Absolutely. Okay, thanks so much.” Hopefully, stopping for protection won’t take the wind out of Connor’s sails, but if it does, then this clearly wasn’t meant to be. I’m not about to put my health at risk to maintain an air of spontaneity. “I’ve got this.”
“You do,” Binx says, frowning as she adds. “But if you change your mind at any point, that’s okay, too. Make sure this jerk knows no means no, even if you’re already half naked.”
My cheeks flaming, I roll my eyes. “He’s not that kind of guy. He’s really nice. And gorgeous and an excellent kisser.”
Thankfully, Binx’s whoop of celebration is drowned out by the opening notes of Come on Eileen. Only the guests closest to us hear her holler, and they’re soon distracted by McGuires bouncing up and down all around them, like Irish jumping beans.
I’m about to make a run for the door when Binx pulls me in for a hug and shouts into my ear, “You’re a strong, beautiful, amazing woman, and I hope you have the time of your life.”
I pull back with a grin, loving my big sis even more. But then, she’s always been my biggest cheerleader. If I do end up moving to Boston, I’ll miss her most of all.
“Here you go,” Seven calls out over the music as he returns to Binx’s side. He reaches out, taking my hand in both of his. He curls my fingers around something with sharp plastic edges and says, “These are brand new. Got them from a reliable source.”
My eyes fly wider as I realize what I’m holding.
“Be safe.” Seven winks. “And have fun.”
“I think I will,” I say, grinning like a crazy woman as I wave goodbye to them with my condom-free hand and dash for the door.
Up ahead, I spot my mother camped out by the champagne fountain next to Petey Sinclair and a blonde woman I’m pretty sure is his mother and quickly adjust course. I duck down, shielding my face with my purse as I weave my way through the crowded dance floor toward the exit on the opposite side.
Mom’s been trying to set me up with Petey all night. But I’m not interested in the boy who used to eat his boogers in my sandbox and throw his wrestler figurines at my head when we were kids. I wasn’t interested the first five times she suggested we’d make a “cute couple.” After kissing his smoking hot big brother down by the boat dock, I’m even less inclined to do so much as shake Petey’s hand. Connor sold his practice and is sneaking out of town on Monday without telling his family, all to avoid practicing medicine with his kid brother, leading me to assume that Petey is as insufferable now as he was as a kid.
Hearing Connor get all passionate about protecting his patients from someone he doesn’t feel is ready to be a physician was unbearably hot. Is there anything sexier than a man devoted to excellence in his work? And to protecting the innocent?
No. No, there’s not.
I’d want to get naked with him even if he weren’t the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in real life.
But, lucky me, he is. From his shaggy blond hair to his magnetic eyes to those broad shoulders and strong arms that felt so lovely wrapped around me, Connor couldn’t be more perfect if I’d conjured him with one of my sister-in-law Tessa’s witchy spell books.
The thought puts a skip in my step as I scuttle around a group of bouncing kids who already know every word to our family’s unofficial anthem and duck through the door onto the landing outside the ballroom. Seconds later, I’m down the stairs, through the hotel lobby, and jogging out into the parking lot.
Jogging. I’m actually moving faster than a breezy walking pace of my own free will.
Connor Sinclair is already doing strange things to me.
Things I can’t wait to explore more back at his place…
As he pulls up in front of me in a vintage yellow Mustang convertible with the top down and a summer breeze ruffling his sandy blond hair, I again experience that strange sense of being in the starring role for the first time in my life. Me, Wendy Ann, hyper-protected baby of the McGuire clan, uber nerd, ancient virgin, and girl voted most likely to marry a robot of my own creation by my senior class—they were a cruel group of teenagers—is sliding into the passenger’s seat of a sexy vehicle, next to an even sexier man.