Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Sorry about that,” I say, getting up and dusting off my hands. “It’s my fault. She wanted to smell me.”
“Well, she doesn’t like when you talk gibberish to her,” he says, and I tilt my head to the side and pause a second to take him in. He’s wearing shorts and a sweater. He looks to be about six feet tall, maybe a touch taller. The baseball cap on his head doesn’t let me see what color his eyes are, but I do see he has scruff on his face. If someone had asked me if he was hot, I would say no, just because—well, for one—he didn’t even walk over and ask me if I was okay. I was on the floor. What if I hurt myself? Okay, fine, it would annoy me more if he thought I was a damsel in distress, but still, he could have offered. Bottom line, he’s hot in an “I don’t want to think about it” kind of way.
“I’m Vivienne,” I introduce myself, and he just nods. “I’m your neighbor.”
“Good to know,” he replies, putting his hands on his hips.
“Are you docked here all summer long?” I ask him, trying to break the ice. I mean, everyone always likes me. I’m charming and personable. What is there not to like about me? I can tell you—nothing.
“We are,” he says, and I just chuckle, nodding my head.
“Well, good talk,” I say to him. He just nods and walks away from me, going inside. “I like your dog better than I like you,” I declare to his retreating back, not letting his grouchy mood ruin my day.
CHAPTER 4
XAVIER
“Are you docked here all summer long?” she asks, trying to make small talk. Little does she know, I don’t do small talk. I mean, I’m polite, but that is where it ends. Yes, no, maybe, the end, that is the extent of all conversation I have with about everyone.
“We are.” That’s the only thing I say as Beatrice jumps back on the boat and walks toward me slowly. I can tell from the way she is walking that she is doing this under protest and not because I called her over. She stops beside me, turning and looking over at the woman who is my new neighbor.
“Well, good talk,” she says, and all I can do is turn away from the auburn-haired beauty who has rattled me. Walking over to the sliding doors, I open them and step into the cool air.
I close the door behind me before I look over at Beatrice. “What did we say about making friends and talking to strangers?” I ask her as she walks over to her dog bed in the corner and gets on it. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I shake my head and walk over to the fridge, making the stupid mistake of looking out my side windows, which give me a view of the back of her boat. She looks around, smiling as she grabs her suitcase and disappears inside. “Seriously, Beatrice.” I put one hand on my hip. “The last time you tried to make friends, what happened?” I ask her as I open my Gatorade bottle. “Let me remind you of the little girl you thought would share her cookie with you. She put gum all in your hair.” Beatrice just looks up at me. “And it took a week to get it out. I had to cut the hair, and you had patches all over you. That wasn’t a pretty look.”
I walk over and sit on the couch, trying to ignore the need to look out the window by turning on the television. I was upstairs on the top deck, sitting down, enjoying the warm air while I reread one of my favorite books when I heard Beatrice bark. She really isn’t a big barker, even when you walk past the boat, unless you come too close, then she lets me know. I looked up right in time to see her walking over to my new neighbor. I sat up, not sure what was going to happen, and then all I could see was Beatrice getting excited when the stranger fell back as she tried to lick her face. I heard her talk to her in gibberish, and I got up. I put my iPad down, not sure how it was going to go. As I made my way down the steps, all I could hear was her trying to talk gibberish, which annoyed me. Maybe I was more annoyed that I stared at her for a second longer than I should. Maybe I was annoyed because I literally checked her out as she was getting up from the ground. Maybe I was more annoyed because she was fucking good looking and that annoyed me, too.