Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 61851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Even though he was annoyed at their blatant interest, Derek couldn’t blame the guys for staring at the way her hips swayed in the fitted black skirt she wore, and he couldn’t deny she had fantastic legs, especially in those sexy-as-hell heels currently clicking purposefully against the pavement.
She looked like a woman on a mission, with her chin tipped up and her shoulders pulled back confidently, which only served to draw his gaze to the way her sweater top accentuated her enticing breasts. As she neared, he saw something fiery flash in her eyes, and that bold, fearless glimpse of indignation both confused him and turned him on, because he could only imagine all the ways that kind of passion might play out in the bedroom. . .
Don’t say or do something stupid, he silently chastised himself. Her brother is sitting right next to you and close enough to punch you in your dick for your inappropriate thoughts.
When she finally reached them, there was no happy smile on her lips. Just an annoyed glare, directed right at him.
“What is all this?” she demanded, waving a hand randomly toward her house.
He honestly had no idea what had her so riled up. “Contractors to do the work you wanted done around your new place?” he said, stating the obvious.
“That’s not why I gave you the list,” she said, jamming her hands on her hips. “I could have called the damn contractors myself. I didn’t need you to do that for me.”
He shook his head, his own frustration rising. “Then why—”
“Having paid contractors do the work defeats the purpose of me winning you at the auction,” she said, cutting him off. “This was supposed to be payback, not sitting on your ass, delegating tasks while hanging out at the pool and drinking a beer with my brother.”
“Payback,” he repeated like an idiot, his mind still trying to grasp where he’d gone wrong.
“Yes, payback,” she said on a low, husky growl, as if that explained everything, when in fact it left him more bewildered than ever.
“See, I told ya,” Ben muttered beneath his breath beside him.
“Send the contractors home, Derek,” she said, suddenly looking deflated . . . and dare he say hurt. “I don’t want them here, but make sure you pay them double time for inconveniencing them for something you should have done yourself.”
She spun around and marched back toward the house, her silky blond waves bouncing down her back and her sassy, curvy ass twitching beneath the formfitting fabric of her skirt.
In a moment of clarity, it finally fucking dawned on him why she was so ticked off. “Aww, shit,” he groaned, scrubbing a hand along his jaw. “She expected me to do all this work, didn’t she?” he said to Ben, even though he still didn’t fully understand the payback comment, though he intended to find out.
“Ding, ding, ding,” Ben drawled humorously as he put his hand in the air to ring an invisible bell. “Give the man a prize!”
* * *
After sending all the work crews home and making sure they billed him double their rate to make up for cutting their workload short, Derek headed into Jessica’s house from the back deck. He found her in the kitchen, standing at the large, marble island, pouring herself a glass of white wine, her back to him. He’d made enough noise entering that she knew he was there, but she didn’t turn around.
“Hey,” he said, trying to gauge her mood, though he did notice that her stiff posture had softened, almost as if she were defeated. “Can we talk?”
She set the bottle down and turned around, the fire he’d seen outside no longer blazing in her pretty eyes. “Me first. Because I owe you an apology for overreacting,” she said with a sigh. “I just didn’t want this weekend to be easy on you or something your money could buy, like hiring contractors to do all the work on my to-do list.”
He wasn’t going to defend himself or his decisions, because he felt like something bigger was at play, and he wanted to understand why Jessica had been so upset.
“I really feel like I’m missing something here.” He rubbed his fingers across his forehead. “You said this was supposed to be payback . . . for what?”
“Ugh,” she uttered, shaking her head and covering her face with her hands, as if embarrassed. “Now it all seems so foolish and stupid.”
He came around the island that was separating them, and when he stood in front of her, he pulled her hands away. “Look at me, Jessica,” he said, and when she lifted her pained gaze to his, it took extreme effort not to pull her completely into his arms to alleviate whatever was troubling her. “Clearly, it’s not something foolish or stupid to you, and I’m not letting it go until you explain.”