Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
“I haven’t,” Cora admitted. “But when your hair is curly like mine, unless you’re going to straighten it, you don’t brush your hair. Otherwise it’ll knock all your curls loose.”
Cora’s eyes cautiously slid to mine, and I felt my heart hitch.
God, she looked beautiful, even if she looked sort of tired and well…rough.
“Why are you here?” I rasped.
She looked down at her fingers. “Will you believe me when I say that I was in a bad place, and now I’m not?”
I shook my head.
“Coke, you scare the shit out of her,” Janie supplied, finally looking up. “You represent everything that she wants, but you also come with your flaws. She wants kids, and you can’t have any. She also thinks she’s going to smother you when you find out that she loves you. She thinks you’ll hate her just as much as your crazy ex-wife…which also scares her. She’s an introvert, and you come with baggage that’s going to cause her to see people she doesn’t necessarily want to see.”
Cora looked annoyed. “I can speak for myself.”
But she didn’t deny any of it.
Not even a little shake of her head.
“I can’t have kids,” I said softly. “I had that vasectomy, and honestly? I’m done raising kids. My daughter is seventeen!”
She looked away. “A person like me—who has problems like I have? I probably shouldn’t have them anyway.”
For some reason, hearing her admit that fuckin’ hurt.
She should be able to have kids. She should be able to do all of the things a normal woman does—including having a baby.
Yet, I didn’t want any more kids. That ship had sailed for me, and it wasn’t fair to her to continue a relationship with her if she actually did want kids.
However, I was a selfish man.
These last five days had been a living hell.
I hadn’t realized how starved I was. I hadn’t realized exactly what I’d been missing…until she wasn’t there anymore.
I wanted…no, I needed her.
I needed her in my life, and I was selfish enough to be with her despite knowing that she wanted a family that I couldn’t give her.
“Honey…”
“But that’s not it,” she continued. “I decided that…I’m okay with not having any. I’ve had five days to think about it. And I can’t miss something that I’ve never had. But I have had you. I had you, and I spent these last five days without you. It made me realize that I don’t want to live without you. I don’t want to live the rest of my life how I was living. I know, deep in my heart, that you’ll give me everything that I need. And I can pour my love into you. I can give you everything that you’ve been missing, and you can have me…if you want me.”
I looked at her like she was crazy.
“I’ve spent five entire days trying to get you to come back. How could I not want you?” I whispered fiercely.
“Awwww,” Kayla sniffled. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard you say, Cora. And oh my God. Are y’all going to get married?”
Janie leaned back in her chair and cried out in frustration. “Shit! Shit, shit, shit! I almost had her!”
Kayla, June, Cora, and I all looked at her curiously.
“Almost had who?” Cora asked.
“This Beatrice bitch.”
“What?” Cora and I both asked at the same time.
“She’s getting money from somewhere, and I want to know from what,” Janie said, looking determined.
“She’s likely getting money from her father,” I offered. “He may not like her, but he also gives her things despite her awfulness.”
“Like a corner office at a business that he owns where she doesn’t do a damn thing?” Cora teased.
I winked at her and pulled her closer to me, dropping a kiss on her forehead. “Yeah, kind of like that.”
“I don’t think that’s how she’s getting it,” Janie admitted. “I see his account, and though he is giving her a paycheck, he’s not giving her anything extra. Do you know how much she paid those men to ‘abduct’ her daughter?”
“No,” I admitted.
“A hundred thousand.” My brows rose at Janie’s words. “Each.”
I whistled.
“Though that’s a lot of money, I’ve seen Beatrice blow a hundred grand on a shopping trip to Dallas,” I explained.
“Well, since you left, Daddy hasn’t been paying her enough to shop like that,” Janie murmured distractedly. “I can see your ex-father-in-law’s account, and then there’s this different account. I can track it to the Cayman’s, but it’s under a dummy corporation. It’s listed under Bright-Light Productions.”
“Sounds like a movie company,” I frowned. “Did you look up the company?”
Janie gave me a glance that told me exactly what she thought about that question.
“Hey,” I held my hands up. “I was just curious.”
She pointed her finger at me, then went back to typing away.
“I have to leave in about twenty minutes to pick my daughter up from Rafe. He has a meeting with a potential client in an hour,” Janie explained. “But I’m really close. I may have him look at this tonight and see if he can find anything. Every time I get a lock on it, or think I do, I find one more fake name or company.”