Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
I take another bite of pancake. “Of course, Emmy. That sounds like fun.”
I haven’t showered. I barely slept last night. And I have to go to a stupid work event tonight with people I can’t stand.
But for once, I don’t care. I’m having the time of my life with Aus.
First he took me to the Lincoln Park Zoo and then to an improv show at Second City. Now we’re at the Sky Deck looking down on the city’s famous high-rises and colorful parks. Aus has held my hand the whole day like we’re schoolyard crushes. Our fingers fit together perfectly.
We’ve done so much in the three hours since we had lunch at the Golden Cap, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. I’m sad for it to end. We’re going to meet back up at Wrigley Manor, where the gala will be held.
Although… Aus is showered and shaved, and he looks great as he is. He doesn’t need to get ready. We can just rent him a tux. It won’t take long. If I eat into the first fifteen minutes of the cocktail hour, it won’t kill us.
I suggest it to him and he grins. “It’s a great idea.”
“Would you mind driving me to my place? You can just hang in the living room while I get ready. I have a pet cat, Dodo. You can hang out with her, turn on the TV, whatever. I hope you won’t be bored.”
“How could I be bored”—he tips my chin up so my eyes meet his—“when I’m in the company of the most beautiful woman in the world?”
Another rush of warmth to my cheeks.
God, how stupid could I have been last night to think that Wick was even a tenth as dreamy as this man?
We stare into each other’s eyes for a moment in the glass lookout area of the Sky Deck. We’re up so high that a few low-hanging clouds are at eye level. For a moment I feel like I’m in heaven.
And then I know I’m in heaven when Aus leans in and softly brushes his lips against mine.
They’re softer than I expect. Soft, but firm. And I love it.
We’re in public, so we can’t hold the kiss as long as I want. But that doesn’t stop the sparks all over my body as our lips part.
“You’re a fantastic kisser,” I breathe out.
“Only because I was kissing you,” he replies.
We take the elevator back down to the ground floor and cross to Aus’s car on a nearby side street. Within twenty minutes we’re back at my place.
And a thought crosses me.
I invited him back to my place.
He’s going to think—
I don’t care what he’s going to think. If he thinks I want to hook up with him here and now, I’m okay with that.
I’m not irrationally horny like I was last night. I haven’t had anything to drink today.
Though I’m definitely getting a buzz off this man.
We walk up the stoop and I fumble with my keys for a moment before I can get us inside my townhome. Dodo immediately approaches, rubbing her body up against my leg before stopping and staring at Aus.
He kneels and gives her a scratch on the back of her neck. “Hey there, kitty.”
“This is Dodo,” I say. “Her given name is Rosanna Donatella Storm, but I started calling her Dodo when she was a kitten because…well…she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. But she’s a sweetie pie.”
“I can tell.” He looks up at me with a grin. “Just like her mom.”
My heart gushes. When did my life become a romantic drama?
It’s been nearly twenty-four hours since I was in this house. Since then I took a stranger’s car to a Technicolor wonderland, got stood up on an online date, went home with the bartender of said Technicolor wonderland, passed out in his bed and overslept, nearly missing my news broadcast. Then I choked through forced pleasantries with my coworker, and then ran into the man who owns the Technicolor wonderland, spending the rest of the day with him despite having gotten very little sleep, kissing him a thousand feet from the ground, and now getting ready to bring him as my date to my work event.
All within one measly turn of the planet.
Crazy shit.
Aus gets back to his feet after giving Dodo a few more scratches. He traces a finger down my cheek. “So… I guess you have to get ready now.”
I suck in a breath. All I want to do is strip naked and let this man take me the way a woman dreams to be taken.
But the clock is ticking.
“Yeah, I really should.” I lean in, press a hand against his chest. “But know that I’d rather be cuddled up with you.”
“That can certainly be arranged when we have time.” He pulls out his phone. “Do you have a rec for where I can get a tuxedo reserved?”