Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
When they pull apart, Baker’s eyes meet mine. “Hey, Chloe.” His voice softens. “Hey, Cassie.”
I force a smile to my face. “Hey, Baker.”
Brook is unaware of anything happening and smacks Baker on the arm. “Guess what? I got the job!”
He holds his fist out for her to bump. “Awesome. I knew you would! Congratulations! So what does this job entail exactly?”
She pauses for effect. “I’m going to be Walker’s assistant.”
“Wow! That’s pretty impressive. Good job, sis.”
I cringe when he calls her sis.
A man comes up, and Brook knows him. They talk for a second, and then she gets up. “I’m going to dance. I’ll be back.”
She disappears in the crowd, and I look at Chloe. She holds her hands up. “I uh, need to go to the bathroom.”
I shake my head. “You just came back from the bathroom.”
She gets up anyway. “Yeah, well, I need to make a phone call.”
She looks between Baker and me and gives us a thumbs-up before disappearing in the crowd.
Baker comes to stand next to me. “I hate this.”
I smile and wave at one of the moms from school as she passes by. “Hate what?”
“I want to touch you, Cass. I want to kiss you and let everyone here know you’re taken.”
I bite my lip at the images he provokes. I don’t have to answer him because he changes the subject. “I hear Colby was at school today. Did he seem okay with everything?”
I turn, surprised that he asked about him. “Yeah, he actually seemed really good. His hair was combed, his clothes were clean. He brought a lunch to school, and he participated in class. I’d say today was really good for him.”
He lets out a breath, and I realize he’d been worrying about him. For the first time since he walked in, I make eye contact with him. “I’m sorry, Baker. If I’d known you were worried, I would have called you and told you he was doing good.”
He shrugs. “I went by the school and talked to Mrs. Daniels. She told me he was there and seemed fine.”
I don’t try to hide my surprise. “You came to the school today?”
He nods.
I tilt my head. “You didn’t come see me.”
He rubs at the scruff of his chin. “I wanted to, but I didn’t think you’d want me to. I wasn’t sure what to tell them to get down to your classroom. That day I brought you lunch, I got the tenth degree of questions.” He sighs and almost sounds angry. “I know how important it is for you to keep this hidden.”
“Baker, that’s not fair.”
He leans in, and I can feel this breath on my cheek. “No, what’s not fair is I had my tongue in your pussy the other night and now I can’t even touch you. That’s not fair.”
CHAPTER 18
BAKER
As soon as I walked into the bar, my cock was hard for her. Standing here, this close to her and unable to touch her is pure hell.
Her eyes are dilated, nostrils flared, and the pulse at her neck is vibrating. At least she’s affected by me, that much is obvious. But her words say otherwise. “Baker, we’ve been through this. We can’t.”
“Fuck that. We can. We’re grown-ups.”
She slaps her hand on the table and then loudly whispers to me, “Think about your dad. Somehow, I’m not sure how, but he’s happy with my mom. Do we want to be the ones to screw it up for them?”
“It won’t screw with them. You know my dad. He loves me and above anything else, he wants me happy. He loves you too, Cassie. He wants you happy. He would never begrudge us happiness.”
Chloe comes back to the table, takes one look at us with raised eyebrows, and shakes her head. “Uh, I’ll go make another phone call.”
Cassie turns on me. “Can we talk about this some other time? Please, Baker. Don’t do this now. Not here.”
I hang my head and grit my teeth. “Fine. I need to go check on things anyway. You okay here?”
For the first time since I walked in, she smiles. “Yeah, I promise no more bar fights.” She points at her glass. “And I’m drinking water.”
I’m about to go when I stop. I lean down and whisper in her ear, “Are you going to dance with anyone while you’re here?”
There’s a softness in her voice when she answers me, and it reminds me of the times we’ve been in bed together. “You mean with a man?”
I growl. It comes out before I can stop it, and she’s lucky I don’t throw her over my shoulder and carry her out of here in front of half the damn town. “Yeah, Cassie. Are you going to dance with a man?”
“No.” She lifts her big green eyes at me, and I see the sincerity in them. “The only man I want to dance with is you. No one else.”