Wild Forces: A Friends to Lovers Romance (O-Town Book 2) by Karen Renee (summer reads .TXT) 📕

but make no mistake. Us short girls fight dirty. Dirt-tee!”

“Yeah, but you’re not short.”

“Don’t argue with me, Gabe Sullivan!”

IN THE MORNING, GABE ordered room service. After he tipped the hotel employee who delivered it, he arranged it so we ate in bed.

He bit into a strawberry, giving me an odd look. After he swallowed, he said, “When you mentioned having your dad or one of his partners look over my plans, were you gonna mention who he was?”

I smiled. “Be hard not to, since I intended for you to meet him.”

“Mm-hmm,” he said.

I shrugged a shoulder. “Offer still stands. I’ve mentioned you to him before.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. Let’s just say he’s curious about you.”

“Me?”

I nodded. “He’s sort of a romantic and has always believed friendship leads to lasting love.”

Gabe nodded. “Don’t know about that, but he might be right.”

“Might be,” I said, and rolled out of bed.

I padded over to my bag.

“Unless you’re hunting for a condom, Cassandra, you need to get back here.”

I straightened from my bag and looked over my shoulder at him. “Gabe, I have a shift at the shelter today.”

He set his plate on the nightstand and tossed the covers aside. “No, you don’t. I called Nona and told her you were ill yesterday. Better to—”

I turned to face him. “You did not!”

He grinned. “Okay, no. Your incessant need to tell the truth would have been a problem. But I did call her to cancel your shift. So, we’re taking advantage of the late check-out.”

Gabe had slept naked next to me, and only threw on a pair of gym shorts to deal with the room service. I had slept in my underwear and a cami. Until he prowled my way, I forgot he’d shucked his shorts before getting into bed with me. His body deserved to be sculpted in bronze, except I hated the idea of anyone staring at him in the buff.

He grabbed my hand to lead me back to the bed. “Gotta say, I love how your thoughts are written all over your face. Especially when you see me naked.”

“Don’t get arrogant, Sullivan.”

When we were even with the bed, he stopped. “Not arrogant, baby. Just stating a fact.”

My chin dipped a fraction. “Said with blatant cockiness.”

A slow smile spread on his handsome face. “Gonna give you some of my blatant cock, is more like it.”

I laughed as he guided me to my back on the bed, enjoying all of his blatant cockiness.

20Poof! You Disappear

Cassie

JUST AFTER ELEVEN IN the morning on Monday, a slight knock sounded at my office door. I looked up and saw my mother leaning in the doorway, wearing a designer plum-colored suit with black pumps.

“Mother? What are you doing here? And how did you even know I was here?”

“Cassandra, really. We may not speak as frequently as you do with your father, but he tells me about your master’s degree progress and any new venture you take on.”

I dipped my chin in agreement. “So, what brings you by?”

“I’m taking you to lunch, if that’s all right with you.”

I double checked the clock on my computer. “It’s pretty early, wouldn’t you say?”

She grinned. “For any place other than the Kres Chophouse, you would be right. But we have a reservation, and we’ll have to find parking.”

Mother insisted on driving us, and I didn’t know if it was because she needed the control or if it was so she could listen to the local public radio talk show, which I always thought was a ruse so she didn’t have to talk to me.

I shouldn’t have been surprised she dropped by for lunch. She attempted to spend time with me at least once between terms. During semesters, she left me be. Nevertheless, our infrequent mother-daughter time always felt stilted.

The hostess led us to our table, and we silently perused our menus. Mother snapped her menu shut and set it beside her plate. I glanced up to see her sitting with a smug smile on her face.

“Don’t be like your father, Cassandra. Do order something other than the club sandwich.”

I fought crossing my arms on my chest. When Dad showed me his investments, he also made it clear that in order to have a healthy portfolio one couldn’t overindulge in luxuries. And eating out was always –but always– a luxury in Dad’s eyes. Subsequently, my mother made the most of her outings with me by taking me to places my father would reserve for special occasions only. The first few times she did it, I had felt special. Then she pointed out my tendency to order the most inexpensive menu item and made me feel bad for it.

“If it helps you, dear, I’m ordering the Duck Pepperpot to start, and my main dish will be the New York Strip. The mashed potatoes here simply cannot be beat.”

I shifted in my chair so I could re-examine my menu, but a well-built, dark-haired man caught my attention across the restaurant. He turned just as I glanced toward him, but I caught enough of his profile to know it was Brock.

“Have you decided?” Mother asked.

“Yes,” I fibbed, glancing at her.

I turned back and lifted my hand to wave at Brock, but he wasn’t there.

“What are you doing, Cassandra?”

I looked at her. “I saw someone I know sitting over there, and now he’s gone. That’s really strange.”

The next time I looked to Brock’s seat, an older gentleman sat there. That was bizarre. I wasn’t prone to seeing things, but I knew I saw Brock, especially since my first instinct was that he was Gabe.

After the server brought our drinks to us and had taken our food orders, mother spoke.

“Your sister told you about your cat, right?”

I did my best to keep my expression neutral. “Yes. She did. In fact, I’m picking up Mom’s ashes after work today.”

Mother shook her head, none of her perfectly-coiffed dark hair moving. “How you’ve managed higher education is a riddle, seeing as you couldn’t name a cat when you were a