Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 142214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 711(@200wpm)___ 569(@250wpm)___ 474(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 711(@200wpm)___ 569(@250wpm)___ 474(@300wpm)
“What if it never happens?”
“It’s happening!”
Wren sighed, not sharing her friend’s optimism or confidence. “What can I do?”
“What can you do? Wren, honey, you’re beautiful. You’ve got tits and a great ass. Use them.”
“To do what?”
Jocelyn pinched the bridge of her nose. “For the love of orgasms, read some romance. Help yourself to anything in my library.”
“This isn’t fiction. It’s real life, Joce.”
“Real life can be hot and romantic too, Wren.”
“How? How do I make it hot when he still sees me as off limits?”
“This sort of reminds me of chapter twenty-three of Ravished by the Fjord King.”
“That doesn’t help me.”
“You’re dealing with a slow-burn romance. The excruciating sort, since I’m pretty sure he’s carried a torch for you since kindergarten.”
“No, he hasn’t.”
Jocelyn rolled her eyes. “He absolutely has, Wren. I’ve watched him watching you. The man is completely enamored by you. Why do you think he’s always hanging around The Haven?”
“He’s our contractor.”
“When’s the last time he accepted money for any of the work he’s done?”
“What do you mean? I pay him.”
Jocelyn gave a disbelieving look. “Really? Has he cashed the checks?”
“Of course, he has.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t like she reviewed every statement with a fine-tooth comb, but she wrote the checks, and he took them. “I mean, wouldn’t the bank notify me if he didn’t?”
“The bank wouldn’t know the checks even existed if he didn’t deposit them.”
She frowned. “That’s ridiculous. Why wouldn’t he cash the checks I pay him?”
“Because he’s in love with you.”
“He is not, Joce!”
“See if he cashed them. Where’s your phone?”
“I’m not going to check—“
“Because you know there’s a chance I’m right!”
“Fine.” Wren pulled out her phone and logged into her bank app while grumbling, “I don’t know why I’m friends with you.”
Jocelyn sat back and swirled the rocks in her glass. “I keep your life spicy. I’m like a vitamin that gives you a little edge. You need me for moments like this when your sweet, little granola vibe isn’t savage enough to get the job done.”
Wren rolled her eyes.
Once logged into her business account, she scrolled down. “I just paid him last week for plowing the parking lots, but he probably hasn’t deposited that check yet.”
“I’m sure that’s it,” Jocelyn said dryly. “Go back a few months. When did you pay him for the studio fit-out?”
That was September. She scrolled back, reviewing each statement for images of checks cashed. She saw deposits from the food supplier’s checks, the plumber’s, the vet bills, the payroll checks for the massage therapists and estheticians, but nothing cashed for Greyson Hawthorne.
Her stomach twisted. She went back further. In June, he’d done some work on the Zen garden for her. That was a few thousand dollars. “What the hell?”
“Find anything yet?”
Not a single check had been cashed. Her fist tightened around her phone as she lowered her hand. “I’m going to kill him.”
“Because I’m right?”
“You’re not right... I mean, yes, he hasn’t cashed any of the checks, but you’re wrong about him being in love with me. It’s because he doesn’t need the money.”
“Really? That’s what you’re taking from this? Chalking it up to him being a Hawthorne?” Jocelyn tsked. “How the hell are we ever going to get him inside of you if you keep making excuses?”
“I’m not making excuses!”
“Wren—” She sat up and set her whiskey aside so she could grip her shoulders and look her in the eye. “I love you, honey, but sometimes a girl has to take the Viking by the horns.”
“I can’t with Greyson. He’ll see it as manipulation. The moment anyone tries to control him, he purposely goes in the opposite direction.”
“Then that leaves you one other option.”
“Which is?”
“You’re gonna have to fuck the yogi.”
She scrunched her nose. “How is that the solution?”
“You said you can’t go there with Logan.”
“True, but Noah does nothing for me. He’s sweet and handsome enough, but he’s just not my type.”
“Then Soren.”
“No.” She, once again, thought of the kiss, the way he’d looked at her like she was something precious and carnal. Something about Soren felt…dangerous.
Jocelyn snickered. “I see Soren’s not an instant no.”
But he was. She couldn’t go there with him. Not unless she was really considering his offer. Maybe she was so afraid of Soren, because part of her was considering it. “No, I can’t.”
“I think you don’t want to involve Soren because there’s a chance you might actually like him.”
She pressed her lips tight, and Jocelyn gasped.
“I knew it! Ooh, it’s that billionaire energy. He’s so cocky in all the right ways.”
“I don’t care about his money.”
“That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about his essence. Soren goes after what he wants, and he doesn’t stop until he gets it. He’s the total opposite of Greyson.”
“That’s very true.” And, according to what he’d said last night, he wanted Wren, not just as a girlfriend or possibly a future wife, but he was actually attracted to her. And it felt really nice to feel wanted. “We did have some chemistry.”