Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68391 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68391 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
“Yeah, you said she would,” I remind him.
“Yeah, and I went to her and told her that if she used your name, she and I would have problems.”
“Obviously she didn’t listen to you. We haven’t seen the article, but at least a hundred people came in today asking for Anna directly, saying they’d read about what she did in the paper,” Chrissie says, and I bite my bottom lip when anger infuses Calvin’s features.
“Fuck,” he growls, jerking his fingers through his hair, and then he turns to me. “I’ll see you tonight.” When I nod, he looks at Chrissie and Gaston. “Later.” He swings open the door.
“Wait!” I call, and he turns to look at me over his shoulder. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll see you tonight.” He walks out, seeming to be on a mission as he storms past the windows and down the sidewalk.
“What’s that about?” Gaston asks.
“My guess is he’s not happy about his woman’s name being in the paper,” Chrissie replies with a dreamy sigh.
“I get that,” Gaston agrees.
“I’m not his woman,” I inform them, and Chrissie slowly turns toward me and grins. “Don’t grin at me like that.”
“Like what?” she asks, still smiling.
“You know what.”
“He’s protective. I think that means even if you’re not his, you still are,” Gaston says, and I glare at him. “Just sayin’.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be leaving?” I ask.
“Are you going to let her kick me out?” he asks his wife, trying to sound offended.
“Absolutely.” She pats his chest. “While Anna and I finish closing down the shop, we’re going to talk about what’s going on with Calvin and her, and she won’t open up if you’re here.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. He’s just coming to my place for dinner. That’s it.”
“That’s how it starts,” she informs me, and I groan. “Trust me. First it’s just dinner, and the next thing you know, you’re living together and having a baby. And if you don’t trust me, you can always ask Leah how things progressed between her and Tyler.”
“Now I really am gonna go,” Gaston murmurs, gaining her attention by kissing the top of her head. “I’ll see you at home.”
“See you at home.” She leans up, touching her mouth to his, and then she watches him walk out the door like he’s going off to war, not running a few errands. I have to admit: they have something most people don’t have. The admiration and love they have for each other is rare, especially nowadays. Even Lance, who claimed to be in love with me, would go days without calling if he was away on business. And even when we worked in the same office building, he never came by to bring me lunch or see if I wanted to grab some with him.
“Now that he’s gone, let’s talk about Calvin,” Chrissie chirps, flipping the OPEN sign to CLOSED and locking the door.
“I didn’t lie,” I tell her, opening the register to pull out the tray of cash so I can do a count. “We’re just having dinner.” I frown. “I’m still not sure how I agreed to have dinner with him.”
“Did he ask you when he was talking to you over the counter with his face close to yours? Because if it was then, I would have been distracted too.”
“You really were spying on us.” My lips twitch into a smile.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” She shrugs, then eyes me with curiosity. “It looked like you enjoyed the kiss.”
“It wasn’t really a kiss—more of a brush of lips,” I say, trying to downplay it, because I haven’t even had the chance to come to terms with the way I reacted to such a small touch of his mouth to mine. I haven’t kissed a lot of men, but even with the ones I have, I’ve never felt it to my toes.
“You really are working hard to make things between the two of you seem insignificant. Why is that?” she asks softly, and I stop what I’m doing to look at her.
“The truth?” I ask, and she nods. “I don’t know if I’m ready to put myself out there with someone, and honestly, I don’t think he will like me very much if he finds out about my past.”
“Your past?”
The only person who knows the truth about my parents, the reason I was getting married, and then why I decided to move here is Edie. Chrissie knows I was engaged, but she doesn’t know the full story. I chew the inside of my cheek, then let out a deep breath, hoping I’m doing the right thing by telling her. I would hate it if she wanted me to quit or looked at me differently.
“My parents are pretty wealthy, and they wanted me to marry someone of the same status. I got with my ex because he had money, not because he was a good guy or because I liked him.”