Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Was it all tainted?
I sighed heavily and got out of the car, handing the keys over to the valet.
I was late. Ed was waiting for me.
“Oh, cut the shit, Walker. This is truly not necessary.” Ed sat back as the server brought in dessert. “You’ve wined me, you’ve dined me, and you’re certainly not trying to get into my pants. Are you leaving me?”
I chuckled and winced, and I waited till the server had left again. Then I took a deep breath. It was time to be honest. “I belong in DC.”
“And there we have it.” He released a breath and dropped his napkin next to his cheesecake. “This is about your husband, isn’t it?”
I nodded with a dip of my chin. “I’m not gettin’ over him.”
I’d tried for several years. I’d given a few other men an honest chance—but all it took was a glimpse of Macklin on social media and I’d be sucker-punched back to where I’d started.
The boy had a solid grip on my heart. As he’d had for over ten years.
Evidently, not even what Dean had shared with me was enough to hold me back. No matter how furious I was.
“As your friend, I’m ready to drive you straight to the airport,” Ed admitted. “Hell, take the company jet and go after him. But goddammit, Walker, you’re such an asset to me—to Westwater. How can we compromise? How can we keep you? Should I sic Peyton on you? He’s good with guilt. Or better yet, Julia.”
I grinned and shook my head. “I appreciate you sayin’ this, but I’ve waited long enough.”
I was going home, and I was going to fight for Macklin.
I was going to fight with him too, because I was under no illusions. We had major problems to solve; we had hurt each other deeply, and we tended to get defensive. Not to mention possessive.
Ed’s stare tightened the way it did when he tried to find a solution to a problem. “You can work remotely. Or we can set up a small branch in DC—provided you can come up to Boston once a month or something like that.”
I lifted my brows. He couldn’t possibly mean that.
“I’m serious,” he told me. As if he could read my mind. “I’m serious about the company jet as well. Everyone’s still recovering from all the Christmas food. Work is slow for another week or two. Go after him. But this isn’t over, Walker.”
1
Lane Sawyer
I made a face at the snow falling outside the window.
“I’m ready to beg you to bring me with you to Florida,” I muttered, lowering my gaze to Noodle’s terrarium.
Come on, sweetheart. You know you want to.
I held my hand still a few inches from where he was stretching out, slowly but surely shifting closer to me.
Macklin chuckled and stepped into his pants. “I don’t think you wanna be there, to be honest.”
Why the fuck wouldn’t I? I could think of nothing better than spending a week in South Florida where snow didn’t exist.
I opened my mouth to respond, but Noodle got over his shyness and slithered into my hand. There we go. Like clockwork. For about twenty minutes, approximately twenty-four hours after he’d eaten, he liked being held so he could coil up around my wrist and fingers. That was literally the only moment he was interested in interaction with humans.
Macklin came up behind me and dropped his chin to my shoulder. “He’s gorgeous. Too bad he bites.”
He was gorgeous. And tiny. Just about twelve inches and very slender, his skin ranging from blue and gray to yellow and orange.
“He doesn’t bite,” I murmured. “He just nips a little when he’s done being social.”
I could relate.
Macklin wouldn’t go near him or my other ringneck, Blue. I’d adopted them at the same time two years ago. They were the smallest snakes I had, and Mack plain refused. But he had no problem screwing my brains out while Frank, my five-foot-long rainbow boa, roamed free on the floor.
Heaps of studies had been done on the calming effect aquarium fish had on people with autism or, in my case, ADHD. It was like meditating, just sitting there peering into a tank full of fish. And I had a fifty-gallon in the living room. But reptiles…? Reptiles captivated me more than anything.
“Look at that curious little face.” I brushed my lips against the top of his head, causing Macklin to shudder and back away from me.
I grinned.
He wasn’t being overly serious. And he knew how much they mattered to me, how many panic attacks they’d spared me from. Not just because they had a calming effect on me, but because I had a responsibility toward them. Snakes were simple and instinctual creatures, but they could pick up on some energy. If I was restless and antsy, they wouldn’t come near me.