“Does he really hate coffee?”
“Ron? Yeah. Although not sure if he hates it because everyone expects him to like it or because he really doesn’t like it. Ron’s a mystery.”
Fuck, she smells good, too. I’m losing it. “Look, you better get going, or Justin’s going to come out and demand you pay for his gas or damages for mental distress.” More than that, I need to get the hell away from her, and I’m not leaving until I’m sure she has.
She runs a hand over her glossy blonde hair. I avert my gaze to the sky because even that is turning me on. “I guess it’s a good thing he’s getting me kicked off the dating app. I knew that was going to be a disaster. Novak warned me against it.”
Novak…the architect. I remember that he moved here a few years ago to do an art project in the next town over. A couple of billionaires bought up a whole town to install a modern art collection. Not my thing, but it’s pretty famous. I’ve never met him, but Cane has been working with him for the last six months to redo Astor Callaway’s home.
“Guess he knows from experience.”
“Doubtful.” She scrunches her nose at me. “Thanks for the assist inside. I didn’t need it, but it’s nice to know that I wasn’t alone.”
“‘Course. You’re always welcome to give me a holler if you run into Justin again,” my dumb mouth babbles.
“Then you’ll have to give me your number and name. Mine’s Reese, by the way.” She sticks out her hand. It’s slender and soft, and I swear if I touch it, I’m probably going to never let go.
“Nice to meet you, Reese.” I doff my Stetson and step back. “You take care now.”
And with that, I climb into my truck and speed away, leaving behind a bundle of temptation that is going to haunt my dreams.
CHAPTER 4
REESE
I scan through the million texts in my group chat with the Sew Be It ladies as I wait for my coffee. I stop in every morning to grab my boss Novak and me a cup at the coffee shop a few buildings down from the office. I don’t have to even order. When they see me, they put the order in, knowing what I want.
The ladies are trying to talk me out of deleting the dating app. I’m the one that’s actually in trouble over the whole ordeal. They said I should have told them who I had a date with so they could have warned me off of him. If Justin is an example of the types of men on these apps, then why would I want to keep it? 'Cause that’s scary.
I’m too young to already be tossing in the towel on dating. Aren’t I? I hate the idea of one man's behavior scaring me off. But I also don’t want to waste my time going on dates with other men like Justin. Maybe the Sew Be It ladies have a point about them screening the men before I go out with them.
What is bothering me most of all is that Justin isn’t the man I’m still thinking about. I’d woken with Blake on my mind. That small hurt I’d felt when he wouldn’t even bother to shake my hand is still lingering. I thought it was sweet how he came to my defense. Not that I needed him to, but still. It felt good to have someone have my back. It’s been a long time since someone stood up for me.
It’s my fault for letting my head get ahead of me, thinking of him as a bit of a white knight. I should have gone with my gut and stuck with what I thought when I’d first seen him. That he was too handsome and normally that’s followed with cockiness. At least that had been my experience in the past. I know they say don’t judge a book by its cover, but in this case it had held true.
“Reese,” Donna calls, sitting my two drinks in the pick-up area along with a small bag with our breakfast sandwiches inside.
“Thank you.” I drop a few dollars into the tip jar before I grab our stuff and head toward the office. My mind is already going through what needs to be done today.
Being an architect had never been my dream, but it was all I really knew. My mom is an architect, and so was my stepfather. My mom is actually a brilliant architect and one of the most sought after in New York. It had never really been a question of what I might want to do with my life. My mom had already mapped out that I too would follow in her footsteps one day and take over her and my stepfather’s company. Now maybe Angel can do that. If she can get it together and get her degree.