Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“Nothing,” I said with a sudden smile. “Never mind.”
He’d moved his hand from the back of my head to my chest, and now he moved it up to hold my chin. “Don’t be an ass. Tell me what you were going to say without playing silly games.”
I felt suitably chastised. Honestly, I couldn’t blame him. I would have felt the same way if he’d backed away from something like that.
“You’re so fucking changeable. It reminds me of the outdoor shower at my dad’s house the year one of my dads went through a DIY phase. One minute, it was blissfully hot, and the next, it was an icy torture chamber. The unpredictability was worse than either temperature.”
“What way would you like me to be?”
From this close up, I could see his dark eyes glinting, his eyebrows still sleek with water. The warmer light from the house hit the high planes of his cheekbones.
But I could also see a sliver of uncertainty in his eyes. A few rogue eyebrow hairs traveling in the wrong direction. A few tiny sunspots near his temple.
Imperfections. Cracks in the perfect image he tried so hard to maintain in front of the world.
“I want you to stop playing games,” I said evenly. “Just when you start to be real with me, you pull away as if you’re trying to make sure I don’t read anything into it. I promise I won’t. You fucking hired me for sex so you wouldn’t have to deal with relationship expectations. I get it, okay? But can you not punish me for all the people who might have fucked you over? Can you at least let yourself have some fun? You’re paying for it, after all.”
His thumb absently swiped along my jawline, which was hella fucking distracting.
“Everyone always reads into it, Jett.”
I batted his hand away from my face and dropped from around his waist to stand on my own two feet. Unfortunately, the water was deeper for me than it was for him, and our slight height difference became apparent again when the water covered more of me than him.
“Flatter yourself. You’re not the only one who doesn’t do relationships, you know,” I said, feeling the now-familiar heat of annoyance.
“You’re trying to tell me you aren’t searching for a new sugar daddy?”
I couldn’t hold back the bark of laughter. “I can say unequivocally, I’m not looking for a sugar daddy. Or a relationship. In fact…” I hesitated before pressing ahead. “I found a new job when I was in the city. It starts when we get back. I’m sure I’ll be too busy for a relationship. You know how it is when you start a new… Well, you probably don’t know since you’ve always been destined to work at Maris. But most people work their ass off to prove themselves in a new job, and that’s what I plan to do.”
Locke looked suspicious, as if he wasn’t quite able to trust that I was being honest. “What kind of job? Where?”
“It’s a consulting firm. I’m starting in a general admin position, but they try to promote from within. The kind of thing where I start off doing data entry or whatever, and hopefully, over time, I can work my way up to being an executive assistant. Or maybe work in marketing? I’m not sure.”
Shut up.
“What’s the name of the company?”
It was definitely time for me to remember some tradecraft because right now, I was sucking balls at it.
“And give you a chance to come snoop around my work? No way. Besides, I don’t want to jinx it. I have a good feeling about it.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I told you I could’ve found you something at Maris.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “Yes, but then I’d be sleeping with the boss, and what would that do to both of our reputations?”
A strange look crossed his face. “No. That’s… no. I wouldn’t do that.”
I reached out and touched his arm. “I know,” I said softly. “I overheard you giving that guy at the Candy Bar hell about harassing one of your employees. You were fiercely protective, and I appreciated that. I knew you were one of the good guys from the beginning.”
Locke’s shoulders relaxed. “Good.”
The serious nature of this conversation and how close it was coming to blowing the last scraps of my cover needed to end. I quickly dove under the water and yanked his legs out from under him, which wasn’t as easy as I’d thought it would be.
He retaliated by yanking my shorts down and swimming quickly away from me. As soon as I came up sputtering after yanking my shorts back up, Locke dunked me.
The motherfucker dunked me.
We continued the water fight for at least twenty minutes, dunking, yanking, poking, and grabbing until we were both waterlogged and breathless. I finally had to call a truce.