Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Dammit, why did she have to be so fucking beautiful? Wasn’t time supposed to age women? It was damn time Oakley started aging. Losing some of whatever the hell it was that made my knees weak.
“Wilder,” she said, forcing a smile that didn’t meet her eyes.
I walked farther into the kitchen. “Looks like the two of you are having fun,” I said, focusing on my daughter.
Sarah was grinning from ear to ear.
“Hey, Dad! We are making jack-o’-lantern cupcakes, and then we are going to make popcorn balls and homemade pizza before we watch Hocus Pocus!”
I kept forgetting it was October. Even with all the ridiculous fall decorations the rest of the neighborhood had up, reminding me daily. I hadn’t done anything fall-like with Sarah. Should I have asked her what she wanted to do? Fuck. I had to get better at this.
“Sounds like a good time,” I replied.
“Are you about to leave?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah, I need to head out,” I told her.
I was flying Garrett Hughes and his wife in his helicopter to one of his resorts for the evening. Then, I had to head to Las Vegas to look over security at the casino owned by the family. They’d had a breach, and I was supposed to take over their cyber data security, like I had with the Hughes hotel in Ocala. None of which I could explain to Sarah. She was too young to know what I did. If I could always keep it from her, I would. Working for the Southern Mafia wasn’t something you wanted to share with your daughter.
Sarah wiped her hands on a towel, then ran over to hug me. She’d been doing that more and more this week. I bent down and held her close to me.
“Have fun with your aunt Oakley,” I told her, already knowing that was a done deal.
Clearly, Oakley knew how to entertain a little girl better than I did.
“I will!” she assured me. “We will save you some of the treats we make.”
“Good. I look forward to eating them all when I get home.”
She laughed, then dropped her arms and stepped back. “Have a good trip,” she said before turning to go back to the mixing bowl.
Reluctantly, I looked back at Oakley. She met my gaze.
“If you need anything, call. The emergency numbers are on the side of the fridge. And Sarah can show you how to set the alarm. It’s easy.”
Oakley nodded. “Got it. We will be just fine.”
I had no doubt they would be. Besides, I had security cameras all over the house. I could check on things whenever I wanted. No need for her to know that though.
With one last wave to Sarah, I turned and left them there in the kitchen, making a mess that somehow made the place feel more like home than before. I wasn’t going to think too deeply into that. It was just because Sarah was happy. Nothing more.
Ten Years Ago
I stood, leaning against the white oak tree, watching Oakley walk toward me. The strapless pale blue sundress she was wearing barely hit her mid-thigh. Her feet were bare, and the smile on her face only added to the ethereal appearance.
There were moments she seemed too beautiful. Completely unattainable. And she fucking should be—to me at least. I was too old for her. I knew it, yet I hadn’t been able to stay away. The more I’d gotten to know her, be around her, the crazier about her I had become.
King had joked that I was obsessed. Maybe he was right. It sure felt different. Unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. When I was with Oakley, my world was right. As if nothing bad could touch us.
She stopped a few feet in front of me. Her long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders while strands blew gently in the wind. She belonged on the covers of magazines, the focus of paintings, on fucking billboards. The best part was, she had no idea how insanely beautiful she was. The power she held over men.
I opened the bakery box in my hand and held it out to her. “Happy birthday,” I said, wishing this were her eighteenth and not her seventeenth.
The chocolate cupcake with buttercream icing from Sweeties was her favorite treat. I soaked in the view of her face lighting up as she looked at the cupcake with one candle in it before lifting those incredible crystal-blue eyes to my dark brown ones.
“You remembered,” she said with a mix of awe and shock.
“It’s your birthday, Oakley. Of course I remembered,” I replied, smiling at her.
Was she serious right now?
She shook her head, and her soft, musical laugh met my ears. Those eyes, still wide with a touch of wonder, made me feel things in my chest that almost hurt.
“No one else did,” she whispered.