Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Sunrise was different. Maybe it was the atmosphere, or maybe it was because the place was Law’s, but I enjoyed my time there.
“Hey, you!” Mary Beth said as I was seated in her section. It was a Friday, and the barbecue at Law’s was scheduled for the next day.
“Morning,” I replied with a smile.
“Still reading the same book?”
“Oh, yeah. The Picture of Dorian Gray.” I fumbled with the worn cover.
“I just finished Little Women for about the hundredth time. My ex-husband used to get so grumpy when I would read because I could ignore him for hours. He was teasing, of course.” She looked sad for a moment, then continued, “Anyway. Coffee and cranberry juice, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I figured. You get something different to eat every time, but except that first day, you always drink the same thing. I’ll be right back.”
Mary Beth was great. I liked her. For some reason, she seemed to make it a point to be extra friendly with me.
I looked over the menu as two women sat at the booth in front of mine. I glanced up to see they looked to be in their late twenties or early thirties, both beautiful. My eyes found the menu again.
Mary Beth came back, and this time I went with an omelet. Once she went to the kitchen, I opened my book. But then I heard one of the women ask, “Have you seen Law lately?” That got my attention real quick. Any thought of reading fell right out of my head as I became a nosy asshole and tried to listen.
The blonde replied, “I’ve seen him a couple of times at Griff’s. He doesn’t seem to be around as much. If you’re talking about sex, it’s been a while, but that’s how we are. We get together when we want to have a little fun. Nothing serious.” Surreptitiously, I hoped, I studied her more closely. She was beautiful, with dark-red lipstick on her plump lips, and her hair in a bob she pushed behind her ears.
There was no reason this information should come as a shock. Law had a sex life. He was bisexual, so he had sex with women. But that didn’t stop the discomfort sliding down my spine. That part of me that wanted him to be mine and no one else’s, even though I couldn’t truly offer him what he deserved.
We hadn’t touched again since that kiss in the park, and while it was likely a good idea, I couldn’t deny I wanted it.
“Speak of the devil,” the brunette said. My head shot up, and I turned around to see Law smile at me. I returned it, before his eyes found the women’s table and he slowed a bit, as if he hadn’t expected to see them there.
He tapped my table as he walked by, then stopped in front of theirs. “Mornin’, ladies. Haven’t seen you around here in a while.”
“Funny, Cynthia was saying the same thing about you.”
“Because she asked. Stop trying to start shit, Becca.” She looked up at Law. “How you doin’, sugar?”
His eyes darted toward me, looked away. “Not too bad. Been a little busy, is all. Doing my morning rounds. How you both been?”
The three of them chatted for a moment. I could tell by his stance that he was uncomfortable. I didn’t think anyone else would notice, though. He laughed and flirted teasingly in that way that was just him.
“Here you go.” Mary Beth set my plate in front of me, and I jumped slightly. Christ, I hadn’t even realized she was there. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
I ripped my eyes away from Lawson, to see Mary Beth looking over at her employer, then back at me.
I lowered my cap and said, “Thank you, ma’am.”
As she walked away, I heard Law say, “I should get back to it.”
“Give me a call sometime,” Cynthia said.
Law cleared his throat, nodded, avoided my table, and kept going around the room.
“Ugh. I hate you,” Becca said. “He’s so pretty. It should be illegal to be that sexy.”
She wasn’t wrong. When he was in the room, it was impossible to look at anyone else. He had this light about him that drew everyone in. I’d been caught in it since the first time I saw him.
I leaned forward and dug into my breakfast, trying to stamp down the jealousy gnawing at my bones. I opened my book but didn’t read. In the background I heard Law making his rounds and speaking to everyone.
Eventually, I felt him there, standing at the table, before I saw him. “Good book?” I looked up, and he had a brow cocked. “You’re not really reading, are you?”
Asshole. He knew I wasn’t.
“How’s the breakfast?” he asked, not waiting for me to answer the other question.
“Eh. It’s okay.”
He laughed quietly, shaking his head, then dropped his voice and said, “I’ll talk to you later, nosy.” Which meant he knew I’d been listening to his conversation with the women.