Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 143(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 143(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
“Roberta’s son has a history of failing grades. A C is a remarkable outcome for him. The board will immediately want to review his test results, and there will need to be proof that he worked out the solutions on his own. The essay portion will need to be in his writing, and he will have to show his work in his own hand in the math portion.”
“I’ll help you where I can, but Lauren isn’t part of any solutions.” I get to my feet. “Call me if you need me.”
I spend the rest of the morning with a lawyer going over Mick’s situation. The lawyer has a lot of suggestions, and all of them are pretty good. I’m eager to share this with Lauren.
When I arrive at the salon, the goth girl squints up at me in confusion with her fingers poised over her keyboard. “Sir, your appointment is not for another three weeks.”
“I know. I’m here to pick up Lauren.”
The black brows shoot up. “Are you guys a thing now?”
I plant an elbow on the marble counter top. “Yup.”
“Since when? The hair cut?” The receptionist has abandoned all pretense of working. We’re gossip pals now.
“We met before that, and I came here because of her.”
“Tell me more.” The girl’s enthralled.
I’m happy to mark my territory. Everyone should know Lauren is mine and they should keep their hands to themselves. “Ran into her while she was on the job and knew she was the one. Basically love at first sight.”
Lauren bursts through the curtain separating the front desk from the waiting room. “Let’s go. I’m starved,” she shouts. She grabs my arm and drags me out of the salon and toward the elevator. She punches the elevator buttons with way more force than necessary.
“What’s the problem?”
Without looking at me, she says, “I think we should break up.”
“No.” I should’ve skipped the meeting with Evers and gone to breakfast. She can’t have time away from me because negative thoughts creep in.
“I’m serious.”
“That may be, but it’s still not happening.” I step into the elevator car and pull her next to me. She doesn’t push me away. That’s a good sign.
“You can’t keep me from breaking up with you. That’s not how it works.”
The elevator arrives on the first floor. I hold the door open and wait for her to exit. “Even if you wanted to break up with me, you wouldn’t be able to.”
She frowns. “You can’t stop me.”
“I don’t need to because you won’t leave me. The sex is too good and you love me.” I gently nudge her toward the Ducati.
“You don’t know I love you.” But her words don’t come with conviction.
I plop the helmet down over her head. “You had sex with me and you’ve never had sex with anyone else before. That’s how I know.”
She knocks my hand away. “Back at you. You’ve never had sex with anyone before either, so you must love me.”
“I do.”
Her jaw drops. I push it closed and buckle the strap. “We’re having seafood for lunch.” I pinch her cheek and then climb onto the bike.
“I thought seafood was a euphemism,” Lauren admits as we take our seats.
“That was originally my plan, but you work late and need a little fuel inside of you. While I know my loving is magical, it probably won’t sustain you like a good dish of lobster mac and cheese.”
“You’d be surprised what I can survive on,” she murmurs with her eyes downcast as she throws that bomb on the table.
It’s a good thing this place has tablecloths. “Now you’re taunting me and you’re going to pay for that later, but I have enough self-control to last until the end of your workday.”
She makes a disappointed face. I’m going to have to fuck her about ten times tonight for that.
I wait for her to finish the meal before bringing up Roberta Ware. “I didn’t want to spoil your appetite, but I need to tell you some about my friend Evers. He loves this woman named Vasey Hamlin. They met when they were young kids in the system. Evers wanted to marry her, but he had no money, so he joined the military so he could get a free education. That’s where we met. Anyway, we ended up serving several years together, and then we got out, invested some money and made a little more. Evers bought this academy because Vasey dreamed of being a teacher.”
The waiter comes by asking if we want dessert, but Lauren waives him off. “Dreamed? Like past tense? Don’t tell me she died.”
“No, she’s alive, but she’s not a teacher. She’s a nanny. She was at a beach several years ago and ended up saving this girl named Jasmine Ware.”
“Jasmine Ware as in Thomas Ware’s daughter?”
The wheels are turning in her head. “Right. Thomas Ware, the billionaire industrialist.”