Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
But the unbelievably pretty girl sitting across from me didn’t know any of that. And she wouldn’t ever know it, if I had anything to say about it.
“Thank you for this. It was a real treat.”
“Can I come back tomorrow?”
She looked surprised. My heart leapt in my chest. I held my breath. But then she nodded.
“I’d like that,” she said shyly. “But you don’t have to bring the whole diner next time.”
“Want to text me tomorrow and let me know what you want? I brought a menu. I just have to order before they close at ten.”
“That would be very nice, thank you.”
“Can I kiss your cheek?” I asked.
She nodded again and I leaned in. I inhaled deeply, wanting to memorize the delicious smell of her skin as I pressed my lips to her silky smooth cheek. She smelled so good. So fresh and clean. She smelled like sunshine.
I was instantly hard.
Thankfully I wasn’t close enough for her to feel it. I was shocked at the impact being close to her had on me. But not ashamed. There was nothing bad or shameful about my reaction to her. Everything about her felt right, even this.
“Goodnight, Sunshine,” I said, my voice thick with desire. It was almost unrecognizable.
“Goodnight, Drake.”
I walked her to the door and inside the lobby. I waited with her. When she got onto the elevator I handed over the box of food for her coworkers. I watched her walk to the back of the massive elevator and stood there watching her until the last possible minute. Until the large double doors slid shut, and then a moment longer. I wanted to run up the stairs after her, drag her into my truck, and run away with her. To sit and talk and make love for weeks, months, years.
But I couldn’t.
She would think I was crazy, and she wouldn’t be wrong. I was crazy. Crazy about her.
And if she had any idea how bad I had it, she would run in the opposite direction. I had to play it cool. I couldn’t risk chasing her off.
I went home to plan my next move.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Dana
“Your boyfriend’s early,” Paige teased, eagerly staring out the window into the parking lot. I hadn’t seen her this excited since we met. She looked like a cute little kid on her birthday, or a puppy waiting not-so-patiently to be taken for a walk.
Come to think of it, I was pretty excited too. I just hoped I was better at hiding it. I did not need Drake getting too cocky. Lord knew, the man was more confident than anyone I had ever met.
And that included surgeons!
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said, but it sounded like a weak protest, even to my own ears.
“Yeah. Right,” she said with an exaggerated eye-roll and a sassy little toss of her hair.
My stomach did a little flip flop when I looked down to see him leaning against the back of his friend’s borrowed SUV. Even from a distance, you could tell he was gorgeous. Not just handsome, but extra masculine in the very best sense of the word.
Drake was a true alpha male. He had a fit, muscular body with broad shoulders and a trim waist. His legs looked like tree trunks. Solid and thick, wrapped in worn in denim. He had piercing eyes, a square jaw and super hero cheekbones.
And he was apparently all about taking care of ‘his girl’ as he’d started to call me. I had no idea if this was his normal behavior when he was dating. He was extremely devoted and attentive, it left no room for doubt, though I managed to worry about everything anyway. I wanted to trust him. Part of me did. But the other part of me, the doubting voice who remembered the last boy I had loved… well, she wasn’t sure what to make of it.
He had told me he was getting his own car, so he could squire me around on my off days. A car. Just for me. That was a big expense and a big deal.
Yeah. So. Paige was right. I kind of had a boyfriend.
Drake had been coming back to visit for all my shifts. Literally all of them. Every single night he came with enough food to choke a horse. Every night we talked a little bit more. And every night he kissed me a little bit longer. That was all that had happened over the past week or so. But it felt like a lot.
It felt like everything.
Part of me was afraid he would disappear. That he just wanted to sleep with me, or something. And that as soon as he got what he was after, he’d be gone. But he was so sweet and patient with me. He hadn’t tried to rush me at all. I had never experienced a courtship quite like it.