Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 119005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
I stiffened. “Callan told you?”
Baird shrugged. “We’re best pals. He tells me and John everything.”
Since that was kind of nice, I decided to let my annoyance at Callan sharing my personal shit slide. For now. It wasn’t Baird’s fault. “Right.”
“I’m sorry, Beth.” Ainsley leaned in, wearing a scowl. “Why let this so-called client control you, though? Do you really need her business so badly?”
“It’s more that she can blackball me and ruin my business if she bad-mouths me for not wanting to date her son. He must have really chewed me out to her to lead her to do this.” I’d thought about it a lot, and Samuel had to have wound his mum up about me. What an arsehole. All because I wasn’t romantically interested in him.
“Men,” Ainsley huffed. “Wankers.”
“Hey!” Baird dramatically clasped his breast. “Not all men.”
“Your friend is a wanker.” Ainsley jerked her chin in Callan’s direction. “Even if he and Beth are only pretending to date, they came here together and he’s all over Amy.”
“Amy?” Baird glanced over his shoulder. “Aye, Amy. You didn’t tell me she was coming.”
“Who is Amy?”
“The only girl who has ever said no to Baird. She’s my friend from school.” Ainsley sighed heavily. “And she just broke up with her long-term boyfriend and is looking for a casual hookup. Looks like she’s found her target.”
“Well, I’m hurt.” Baird met my gaze. “Wouldn’t you rather hook up with me than Keen?”
“Absolutely,” I said without preamble.
Baird grinned. “Fuck, I wish Keen had heard how fast you said that.” Mischief danced in his eyes. “Come with me.” He held out his hand.
Bemused, I cocked my head in consideration. “Where to?”
“Just come with me.”
“I know that glint in your eye. Baird, what are you up to?” Ainsley asked in the beleaguered tone of a big sister. A tone I knew well.
“You’re right. Keen’s being an arsehole. So, let’s play him at his own game.”
Honestly, at the grand old age of twenty-four, I felt a bit old to be playing games, but Baird was fun, and I didn’t like the way I’d felt seeing Callan flirt with someone else.
Baird held my hand in his massive paw as he led me down the side of the kitchen. Beyond the bathroom, there was a door that led up a narrow set of stairs. As light poured down toward us and Baird pulled me up them, I realized quickly that we were about to come up and out into the mezzanine bedroom.
“Wow.” I gaped around at the space and the view from above the downstairs. “This is epic. Is this your room?”
“Of course.”
It was stylishly modern and simplistic. It was all about the bed with its floor-to-ceiling contemporary headboard. The only other pieces of furniture on the mezzanine were bedside cabinets.
“Where do you keep your clothes?”
“In the second bedroom.”
“What about noise and light? How do you sleep if you have people over?”
Baird shrugged, grinning as he pulled me toward the glass balustrade. He released my hand. “Doesn’t bother me. Do you like it?”
“Impractical for most people, but it’s pretty bloody cool.” I stepped to the balustrade, and even though it came past my waist, I experienced a slight rush of vertigo as I looked down on the partygoers. “Whoa. It’s so much higher than you think.”
A hard chest brushed my back and suddenly Baird was leaning into me, resting his hands on the balustrade in front of me as he tucked his chin in the crook of my neck.
“What are you doing?”
“You smell really nice.”
I snorted. “I’m not sleeping with you, Baird.”
“I know. You and I connect in a different way.” He nuzzled my neck, the action contradicting his words. “Bestie.”
My shoulders shook with laughter. “This doesn’t feel very best-friend-like.”
“No, but it’s pissing off Callan.”
I’d been deliberately not looking in his direction, but Baird’s words sent my eyes flying to the sofa. He was no longer there.
“Dining table with Kaito,” Baird murmured before brushing his lips over my cheek. His beard tickled, and my skin tingled from his kiss, and for a moment, it felt really, really nice. It seemed like forever since a man had touched me like this.
My eyes found Callan.
The redhead was nowhere in sight as he stood beside a teammate I recognized from watching their games on the telly.
But Callan wasn’t chatting with his teammate.
He was glowering up at us like he wanted to yank us both over that balustrade.
Discomfort shifted through me, and I pushed back against Baird, shoving past him.
“Beth,” he called after me.
As I neared the staircase, I felt his hand on my arm. When I turned, Baird’s expression was uncharacteristically serious.
“Are you okay?”
“I realized I don’t want to play games,” I offered honestly. “Not with Callan.”
Baird frowned. “Sorry. I … thought he needed a nudge.”
“A nudge for what?” I threw my hands up. “It’s not like that between us.”