Page 36 of The Rules of Dating a Younger Man

She rolled her eyes. “Chad’s a nice guy. He’s not interested in me in that way.”

“Uh-huh.”

“He’s not.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Care to put your money where your mouth is?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll bet you that Chad asks you out before this project is over.”

“What are we betting?”

I grinned. “Oral sex.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “That’s crazy.”

I lifted a brow. “Doesn’t matter what you bet if you’re sure you have a winning hand, right?”

“Fine. But he’s not going to ask me out, so you won’t be getting a blowjob.”

“You’re right. I won’t be. Because when I said oral sex was the prize, I meant giving it.” I whispered in her ear. “You have no idea how badly I want to taste you, sweetheart.”

***

“Hey, Charlie?”

He stopped setting up his makeshift house at the far end of the parking lot and turned around. “What’s up, Brayden?”

I extended a hotel room keycard. “Room two-eighteen.”

His bushy brows dipped. “You need help carrying stuff?”

“Nope. It’s your room. I prepaid it for a week.”

“Why would you do that?”

“You have a job interview next week. Figured you could use some good sleep, and you need to be able to shave and stuff before your appointment.”

“That’s very nice of you. But I can’t accept it. It’s a few hundred dollars a night for a room here.”

“You told me why you give to Ryan’s House. But I didn’t get to tell you my story. My buddy Ryan had leukemia. He had a lot of time on his hands during treatments and hospitalizations. We were both engineering students. I kept him company, and during that time we developed a technology that sold for a lot of money after he died. His half of the profit goes to build houses to help cancer patients. So I’m not giving my money to a charity. I’m giving his away to honor him.” I extended the key in my hand again. “You’re honoring your wife by donating your time. Let me honor my buddy this way. Please.”

Charlie’s eyes welled up. He nodded and accepted the keycard. “Thanks, man.”

“I also made you an appointment at a suit store a few blocks from the project house. Tomorrow at ten AM. Whatever you pick out is prepaid, and the tailor said he can get the alterations done in twenty-four hours. I’ll go with you.”

“I don’t know what to say, how to thank you.”

“No thanks necessary. Just tell your Arlene to keep an eye on my Ryan.”

He smiled. “You got it.”

I helped Charlie pack his stuff, and we walked into the hotel together. Alex was at the desk, so I told Charlie to have a good night and went over to see what she was up to.

“You’re not checking out, are you?”

She shook her head. “No, my key isn’t working. My wallet has a magnetic closure, and it keeps deactivating the swipe card. I need to remember to keep it in my pocket.”

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