Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Oh yeah?” My eyes stay closed and my face pointed toward the sun, but I can imagine him lying there doing the same with a pleasant smile on his face.
“Jigsaw puzzles,” I clarify. “Helps to slow my brain down after I get off work. It’s how I unwind.”
“Interesting,” he says, and the tone of his voice sounds…really interested.
My head turns and my eyes pop open to look at him, and I see he’s scrutinizing me. His eyes are half closed against the sunshine, but it’s not enough that I can’t see the green-gold of his hazel eyes surrounded by thick lashes. Eesh…how did I not notice those eyes that night?
Probably because I was so pissed.
“I need some help, Reed,” a voice pitched slightly high says from the foot of the chairs. Both our heads turn that way and I’m looking at another Barbie doll. She has to be at least six feet tall, which still makes her shorter than Reed. Her bikini is miniscule…scraps of fabric barely covering her goods. Her waist is tiny and her stomach flat, and it causes me to suck mine in a little. Of course, I’m wearing a conservative one-piece black bathing suit, so it’s probably not necessary.
Just reactionary.
Barbie holds out a bottle of suntan lotion to Reed as she cheerily says, “Can you put some on me?”
Reed pushes up from the chair and takes the bottle. “I thought you’d already put this on at the house.”
“I was going to,” she says in a light, fluffy voice that is sugary and sweet and breathy all at the same time. “But the bottle said for external use only, so I figured I better wait until we get out here.”
My jaw drops and my eyes slide over to Reed. His gaze cuts to mine, and although his facial muscles hardly twitch, I can see the effort he makes not to laugh.
He looks back to Barbie and tells her gently, “That just means to use on your body. Not to ingest it.”
“Ingest?” Her head tilts to the side and her eyes sparkle with curiosity over his meaning.
“Eat it,” he clarifies.
“Oooohhhh,” she drawls out in slow understanding. “Oh gosh, that was so silly of me to think it meant outside.”
Reed ducks his head and I have to bite the inside of my cheek. My face smooths out very quickly, though, when he says, “Kiki, this is Josie.”
The introduction jolts me and I sit up awkwardly. Barbie—I mean Kiki—turns to me and gives me the brightest, cheeriest smile I’ve ever seen. I’m guessing her blindlingly white straight teeth cost a fortune.
“Is that like Josie and the Pussycats?” she asks me with that airy voice.
“Short for Josephine,” I reply as I return her smile and suck my stomach in further.
“Well, any friend of Reed’s is a friend of mine,” she chirps happily.
I’m prepared to lie back against my chair again to relax now that that is out of the way and so I can extricate myself from this conversation, but then Kiki squeals, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. I went to my psychic the other day—who’s also my hairdresser—because I’ve not been very fulfilled in life lately, and was considering a pet. He told me he wasn’t sure if that was in my future, but that he did foresee a cat. I wasn’t sure about that because I have allergies, so I had to really think about it. And let me tell you, thinking’s just hard, right? But I did, and I thought and I thought about it, and it’s just now hitting me…maybe he was talking about you. You know…the whole pussycat thing you got going on.”
I just blink at her, unsure what to say. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Reed turn and bend over the chair to straighten the towel, but I know he’s doing that so she doesn’t see him holding back a laugh.
Before I can respond, Kiki smacks her palm to her forehead and says in awe as if she’s received some new enlightenment. “Or…it could be the stray cat I’ve been feeding the last few days at my apartment.”
“Okay,” Reed blurts out as he pops back up straight and digs into the back pocket of his board shorts. He pulls a wallet out, opens it, and grabs a hundred-dollar bill to hand to Kiki. “How about you go get us some drinks up at the cabana? I’ll take a beer. Josie, you want something?”
I shake my head as Kiki takes the money and gives him a cute shrug and a brilliant smile before turning toward the outdoor bar that’s part of the amenities here at our complex. She totters off with a sway to her ass and I realize she’s wearing high heels.
Who in the hell wears high heels to a pool?