Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 97525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“We’ll escort him out,” Jillian said quietly. “You should go with him. Now, before anyone sees him. We can use the service elevator.”
“Have you seen the weather?” Lee dropped into one of the soft chairs in front of my desk and threw one leg over the arm. “It’s fucking perfect. We should go to the beach.”
I saved the email as a draft and stood, locking my computer, my mind racing through how to handle this. Brant was under a stiff deadline, and had spent most of the week in his office, spending the nights working and taking catnaps on his office couch.
Jillian reached for his arm and he gave her a look that stopped her cold. “Let’s move this outside, shall we?” She glanced at me. “You know that Brant is under deadline. He has specs due by the end of the week.”
I ignored her and grabbed my keys from the desk. “The beach?” I moved around until I was in front of Lee, then bent forward and kissed him, right in front of her. “Let’s go.”
Her disapproval reeked in the room, but she said nothing.
I patted one of the security guys on the arm as I opened the door. “I got this, Tommy. It’s all good. Lee’s not going to cause a scene.”
They clung to us, Jillian and the two suits, as we walked through the executive level and past Brant’s office. The door was closed and I grabbed Lee’s arm just before we passed it, getting his attention and kissing him on the neck. He grinned at me, enjoying the attention, and I let out a sigh of relief when we made it onto the service elevator without passing any other employees.
As soon as we got in my car, Lee leaned the passenger seat back and put one of his shoes up on the dash. “So, what do you think? Which beach?”
I considered the question as I backed out of my assigned space. “We could go to Linda Mar. There’s a nice restaurant there that overlooks the water.”
“Yeah, that’s cool. I don’t have my board, but I know the guys there.”
I tried to process the image of Lee surfing and maybe it’s because he’s currently shirtless in pants, or maybe it’s because I’m used to Brant, who hates the beach… but my mind is having a mental stutter at the thought. “You can surf?”
He snorted. “Of course I can surf. You know any proper Cali boy that can’t?”
Yeah, Brant. I put on my turn signal. “I can’t surf.”
“You can’t surf yet,” he amended. “But I’ll teach you.”
There wasn’t a chance in hell of that, but I still smiled at the idea and headed to my house so we could change.
I laid back on a striped red and white towel and watched as Lee tilted back a beer, his abs popping. He stood in a group of four guys, already somehow friends, and I watched as one of them laughed and shoved at Lee’s arm.
“Hey.” A blonde with long wavy hair dropped onto her knees in the sand beside me and smiled. “You like Karin Slaughter?” She nodded to the hardcover on the towel beside me.
I propped myself up on my elbows. “I just grabbed it from one of the shops. Too early to tell.”
“I’m in the book biz,” she laughed. “I mean, kind of. I work at a bookstore, on Venice Beach, in case you’re ever in Los Angeles. And that one is…” she kissed her fingertips, “perfecto. You’ll love it, if you can get past the gory parts.”
“Oh, good to know.” I followed her gaze to the group of guys that Lee was with. “You know them?”
“Oh yeah. We’re all in town for the tournament this weekend.”
At my blank look, she elaborate. “It’s a surf tournament. My boyfriend is Paul Linx.” She grinned when I didn’t recognize the name. “He’s a pro surfer. Really good. But uh, your boyfriend said you don’t surf?”
“No.” I winced. “Barely swim. And he’s um… not really my boyfriend. Not yet.”
She rolled onto her butt, and she was staggeringly pretty, wearing a turquoise blue bikini that showed off her toned body and golden tan. “Ha. Well. Paul is my second boyfriend, so if you ever need one to borrow, I’ve got two.”
“Your second boyfriend?” I sat up all the way, curious. “What does that mean?”
“It means half the time I’m at the beach with Paul and the rest of the time I’m with my other half.” She twisted a lock of hair around her finger as she watched Lee set down his beer and jog back a few steps, leaping into the air to catch something that one of the men threw his way. “Paul is the one in the yellow shorts.”
I could have guessed that. Paul was gorgeous and so was she. One day, they’d make beautiful babies, assuming her second… boyfriend… didn’t have an issue with that. “So, uh—do you worry about getting caught?”