Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
“I sure do, sir,” the man replies. “Twenty-five bucks for an hour, any more than that and you–”
“An hour will be fine,” Russell replies, handing him his card. Still smiling, the man takes it and swipes it.
“All right then! Helmets are optional, pedal backwards to brake, use the little dingy-thingy on the handle bars to let pedestrians know when you’re passing, and you are liable for any damages, but I’m sure you two won’t do any of that, right?”
“Of course we won’t,” I chime in.
The man hands Russell back his card and points to a row of low, two-seater bikes to our left. “Take your pick and have a good time!”
“Thank you.” Russell smiles and walks over to the bikes. I follow him and gaze over the selection laid out before us. He turns to me and motions at them. “Pick one.”
“Me?”
“No, Rebel Wilson,” he snorts. “Yeah, you.”
I laugh and lean into him, wrapping an arm around his muscular chest. “Umm…” There’s a blue one, a red one, a yellow one, an orange one, a pink one, and a bunch of boring black and gray ones. “I’ll do you a favor and not pick the pink one. Let’s go with the red one.”
Laughing, Russell takes the back seat of the red bike. “Hey, I’m secure in my masculinity. I would have ridden the pink one.”
“No, no, it’s okay,” I reply, taking my seat. “Red is actually my favorite color.”
“Is that so? Well, gorgeous, off we go!”
In unison, we each take hold of the handlebars and start pedaling. The bike lurches forward, and we start moving quickly down the boardwalk. It’s a lot easier than I thought it would be, and we’re zipping up on the pedestrians in no time.
I reach out and ding the little “dingy-thingy,” alerting a high school couple to our presence. They move aside to let us pass, and I suddenly feel like a beach VIP. I glance back at Russell, and we both smile.
“This is great!” I exclaim.
“It sure is,” he smiles. He leans up for a kiss, and we both stop pedaling. Somewhere behind us, a few people clap and cheer, causing us both to smile. “Looks like we’ve got an audience,” he whispers.
I glance back and see it’s a few regular suburban people, just some friends out to have a nice day at the beach, and although I couldn’t be happier with Russell, I feel myself blushing at what they just saw us doing.
It’s so strange. I couldn’t have cared less the other night leaving his house if someone had seen me in the lingerie I was wearing at the mansion, but today when I’m not even lying out in my bikini, I’m feeling shy just being seen kissing Russell in public. What’s that all about?
We ride up and down the boardwalk and return the bike after just over a half hour. On our way down to the sand, Russell gets us both Italian ices. He orders a lime and strawberry, and I get a blue raspberry.
“I used to love these when I was a kid,” he says as he takes his first spoonful. “Used to make my mom get them for me whenever we came here.”
“Must be nice having parents who actually care about you,” I reply, but when I see the look on his face, I instantly regret it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring the mood down.”
“No, that’s fine. That’s not your job.”
As our feet hit the sand, Russell wraps a comforting arm around me and kisses me on the top of the head. It’s incredible how safe and protected I feel when I’m with him. It’s as though my life has completely shifted in an entire new direction now, and it’s all thanks to him.
We find an open patch of sand and lie down. I strip down to my bikini, and Russell takes off his shirt, and we continue to munch on the remainder of our Italian ices as they rapidly melt in the warm summer sun.
“What a day,” I say as I lean over and kiss him gently on the shoulder.
“Enjoying yourself?” He smiles.
“You know I am.”
Russell kisses me back in the same spot, then gently runs his hand up my back, tracing the lines of my body like a sculptor memorizing them for a later project. “Can I ask you something, baby?”
“Of course,” I reply. Russell locks his eyes on mine like he has something very important to say.
“I know this is probably a very stupid thing to say, but…you aren’t going to be going back to the mansion, right? To work?”
I can’t help it, but a smile comes over my lips. I kind of want to screw with him – tease him a little – but I can see just how protective of me he is right now, and I just can’t bring myself to do it.