Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Daphne let the words sink in. “Boomer’s not with MaeBe?”
The last week and a half came into focus. Not once had she seen Boomer and MaeBe do anything beyond hug. And she’d thought it was weird that Mae kept disappearing into what was obviously the guest room.
Noelle nodded, a slow smile coming across her face. “Nope. Never have been. Not even once. They’ve always been like brother and sister. Unlike a bunch of that crew, Boomer’s never dated anyone at work. He’s actually very picky when it comes to dating. Most guys I know at his age will hook up with anyone. My husband certainly did before he settled down. From what I know, Boomer’s had a handful of women he’s dated over the years, and always exclusively. It’s also obvious he’s got it bad for you.”
“No, he doesn’t. That’s silly. He’s so…” How would she describe Boomer? Kind. Funny. Open to new things even when he didn’t entirely understand them. “Beautiful. That’s a weird word to use for a man, but it fits him. He’s not interested in me. I think I’m his latest project.”
If there was one thing she’d learned about that gorgeous man it was that his kindness was not limited to taking in dogs. He seemed to take in strays of all kinds. Cats. Foul-mouthed birds. Single moms who needed a hand.
He was even working on hatching three bird eggs some kid had found. Lou was fascinated with the little incubator Boomer had created. Even she was waiting for the little eggs to hatch. Boomer had a whole plan on how to raise them until he could release them back into the…not the wild, exactly, but the park across the street.
She was a bit worried now that she might be the latest stray he was taking in.
“Oh, I don’t think he works that way,” Noelle countered. “I know he’s a good guy. He’s the best, and there’s no one you want watching your back more than Boomer. Unless there’s a sandwich on the line. He’s serious about food. And he offered you the last egg roll the other night. Didn’t you notice how shocked everyone was?”
She hadn’t because she’d been too busy staring into those deep blue eyes of his. She hadn’t even truly been hungry, but she’d eaten the whole thing because he’d given it to her, insisting she got the last one. “No, but I have noticed the man can eat.”
He’d eaten a large pizza by himself one night, and she’d watched him down three of her Danishes before he’d walked Lou to school the other day. Yet there wasn’t an ounce of fat on the man.
“Are you not interested in him that way?” Noelle asked softly. “Is it because... I know Boomer is not the most book smart man in the world, but his intelligence is different.”
“He’s smart.” She knew Boomer didn’t have the same level of education she had, but he wasn’t dumb. He asked a lot of questions and that was proof of curiosity, which was all a part of having an active mind. “Who says he isn’t smart?”
“So you do like him,” Noelle said with a grin.
“It’s impossible to not like Boomer. He’s amazing.” Daphne’s head was whirling. Boomer didn’t have a girlfriend. “But I asked him about Mae a million times. At one point I even asked if he and Mae were planning on having kids.”
He’d been explaining to her that he paid into the group’s daycare system. He’d told her it didn’t cost much, and he wanted it to stay around even when there weren’t many kids. They would need it later for the younger employees when they started families. She’d asked about him and Mae.
“And what did he say?” Noelle asked.
“He said he wasn’t sure about Mae, but he’d like to have at least one. At the time I thought it was weird that they were living together and hadn’t talked about kids,” she admitted. “I even asked him how long he and Mae had been together, and he told me they’d been close for two years.”
“Yeah, that was when she joined the company,” Noelle pointed out. “Did you ask him straight out if Mae was his girlfriend? Sometimes Boomer misses subtext.”
“No.” She hadn’t thought she needed to. Did she need to? Was she seriously thinking about making a move on that big, gorgeous man?
It didn’t matter if he had a girlfriend. There was no way he would want her. He was nice. That was all.
It wasn’t his fault that her heart beat faster when he looked at her. He would likely be horrified if he knew she thought about him at night. He would be completely shocked if he knew he was the star of her sexier dreams lately.
The very fact that she was having sex dreams was shocking. She hadn’t had one in years.