Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“You sent me directions to a park . . .”
I looked up into the curious, mesmerizing gaze that stole away my thoughts. My heart felt thick and heavy in my chest at the thought of her going back to Houston. We hadn’t talked about it yet. “Yeah.” I cut into my steak, swallowing when the perfectly medium rare meat glistened in the low light. “I wanted to take you somewhere after a short walk.”
She giggled, the sound melodic and strangely soothing. “Did I mess that up for you?”
I looked up from my cut. “No, not at all.” But she was still smiling, and I let go of the breath that hadn’t left my lungs. My shoulders fell with it. “Just thought it might be nice.”
“Maybe next time.”
“About that ...” I chewed my bite thoughtfully while I considered where I wanted to take this conversation, then swallowed. I was barely five years older than her, if that, but I still felt like we were from different worlds. Sex with a random woman was one thing, but we did it again, even after she found out about what was happening in my life. Did that mean something? Or was sex just sex?
“Ryan, are you okay?”
I stopped mid-chew. I’d never finished what I started to say. After swallowing my next mouthful, I ran from my thoughts and tried using words instead. “You go back to Dallas tomorrow?”
She nodded, but a question lingered in her soft gaze. “I’m not sure whether I’ll be coming back now. I still haven’t received a call.”
“Do you want to?”
She folded her hands beneath her chin, her eyes hardening as they stared deeply at her untouched panini. “I want a job. I don’t want to go home empty-handed, but I don’t want this thing that happened to be the start of a miserable career.”
“So don’t take it.”
Her cheeks flushed a soft pink. They hadn’t completely returned to normal from earlier, but they were noticeably warm now, her eyes bright with surprise and wide.
“Don’t take the job.”
“Then what’ll I do?”
“Get another one?” I nodded, sure I’d made my point despite her lack of response. But I selected my next cut carefully, choosing the more tender side of the ribeye so I wouldn’t have to chew too long in case she came at me with another question.
“It’s not that simple, Ryan.”
“Why not?” I barely caught the bit of meat that tried to fly out of my mouth. She noticed because she smiled, and instead of being embarrassed, I was glad it happened. I hoped she’d smile again.
“I’m new. Not a lot of companies welcome people who don’t have a long list of businesses they’ve helped scale to expectations. All I have on my resume is a mom-and-pop, and they didn’t want to do anything but have someone posting on their social media with pictures of their dog running around the store.”
“Are they good pictures?”
She laughed softly, but it wasn’t as genuine as the one from earlier. “Not something I’d make a living selling prints of. I helped out with their SEO and, of course, did a lot more than post dog photos, but they weren’t looking to expand. Just to remind people they were there.”
I chewed the leaner bite slowly, clutching the knife and fork as I stared at the single bulb dangling a foot or two above our heads. Wasn’t she someone I needed for my business? I wasn’t sure how weird it would be to hire someone I was sleeping with—slept with—but if she needed a job, I had one.
“You didn’t answer when I asked if you were okay.”
The offer died on my tongue as my thoughts drifted back to the reality I was returning to once she and I said our goodbyes. I felt like I could trust her. Like she would be honest and tell me the truth. Once I told her everything, though, our fun would end.
“I told you about Darlene. Somewhat. Did I mention how we met?”
She shook her head; her lips pursed softly as she waited.
I nodded at my plate and cut my next bite of meat. She took that moment to finally bite into her sandwich. Her face scrunched with the crunching sound of toasted bread, and I couldn’t help smiling at how she chewed the large bite. “Good?”
She nodded, but she blinked around another mouthful as if to tell me to continue.
“We met in high school in Waco. Normal stuff. Had a class or two together. We became friends but didn’t start dating until college. She was getting into pharmaceuticals—selling medicine and junk to doctors—so she wasn’t in college long, but I quit before the first year. Just wasn’t my thing.”
“You said you worked for a corporation?”
“Yeah.” I leaned back in my seat, dusting off my shirt, only to realize nothing was even on it. “Just sales stuff. I was a pretty good talker. Didn’t sell a lot, but whatever. Paid the bills. She moved to Dallas with me. It was a bigger town, bigger clientele.”