“Not if we want to continue to be—friends. Ellie, I see myself definitely wanting more than friendship. I wanted to throw that out there.” Not knowing how to respond, I leaned my head against the couch to contemplate the information and ended up resting my head on Wes’s arm. His hard, warm, muscular arm. He placed it on the back of the couch without my realizing it. I jumped forward. “I’m sorry!”
He chuckled sexily rather than comically. “It’s okay, Ellie. You’re always welcome to lay your head on me.” My blush answered his question. “Okay. I’ve embarrassed you enough for one day. I’ll go. I’m meeting the guys for dinner to discuss a case and the depositions we took today. I’ll text you later?”
“That sounds good. Todd should be here soon. We will plan our coffee date soon?” I enjoyed myself every time I was with him. I wanted more time with him.
“I’d love it.” He got up from the couch, and I made a move to follow. “No, don’t get up. I know the way out.” I nodded my head, and he let himself out. I squealed once I knew he couldn’t hear me. How romantic! He brought me every book he’d read to help me get to know him better. It was personal and a bold move.
Before I started combing through the book list, I called Todd.
“Todd, please tell me you have five minutes to act like a teenage girl with me.” He always enjoyed wigging out with me.
“I always have time to act like a teenage girl with you, pumpkin. You know that.”
“Perfect. Guess what Wes brought me?” He’d never guess such an unusual gift. The gift showed Wes put a lot of consideration into what I appreciated.
“A kitten?”
“No.”Dork.
“A sub sandwich and a pint of vodka?”
“No, and what the hell?” He was weird sometimes.
“It’s what I’d like to have right now.”
I threw myself onto the couch, phone clasped to my ear. “No! He brought me a tablet!”
He gasped. “It’s full of dirty movies isn’t it?”
“No! What’s wrong with you? I mean… I guess itcouldbe. I haven’t checked. But, no! It’s full of every book he’s ever read.” How did he remember every book he’d ever read? I certainly couldn’t remember each book I’d read since childhood.
“How many books is that?”
“I only glanced at the list, but it’s incredibly long.”
“Why would he bring you that?”
“Because he wants me to get to know him better, and since I love to read, he thought this would be a great way.” He was right.
“Well, that’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. Jesus, these guys are too damn good to be true.”
“Todd, how am I going to pick one of them? They’ve all three made it clear they’re interested.” I prayed they weren’t too good to be true.
“Cross that bridge when you come to it. Get to know them. You’ll lean more toward one of them as you learn more about them.
“You’re right. I know you’re right. You’re always right.” He was right a frustrating amount of the time.
“Damn skippy. Now go pore over his books and learn more about this hunky lawyer.” He disconnected without letting me say goodbye. Typical Todd.
The tablet was chock full of books. Long books, short books. From wholesome, family friendly books to books you could never let your grandma know you read. From classics to… well, not classics. He even had an entire section devoted to digital comics. I could get lost in his tablet for weeks.
His variety impressed me. It said a lot about him as a person. He had to be open-minded, and his career was probably easier to come by for him than for others. After spending the evening browsing, I fell asleep with his tablet on my chest and a smile on my face.
The next morning, I opened my front door to grab my newspaper and came face to face with Arch. He stood outside his apartment with a ravishingly beautiful woman. He wore a robe and slippers, but she was dressed like she was prepared to go to an exclusive night club. Standing next to her in my owl pajama pants andI Read for Pleasuret-shirt made me feel inadequate. But then, half the supermodels in the world would feel inadequate next to this woman.
I pulled myself together enough to speak. “Good morning.” I scooped my paper up and scurried into my apartment, switching on my security monitor.
If anyone watched me after I closed the door, they would’ve committed me. My hair was in a messy bun, mascara smeared under my eyes, and my hands pressed against the wall on either side of the monitor. I leaned in to try to take in every moment of their exchange.
