Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
What the hell else was I supposed to do? He was dumping all this stressful crap on me, and I hadn’t had dinner. I needed grief bacon!
When I got home, Elara was still awake. I lifted her out of her crib and sat with her on the glider, just rocking and thinking how much our lives were about to change.
“You like it here, don’t you, peanut?”
She smiled and grabbed my mouth. I pulled my lips over my teeth and playfully bit her fingers while making monster noises.
She laughed and my heart lightened. “You’re getting so big.”
Soon, we would start researching preschools. Hale would only want the best for his daughter and what if the best was in New York? Or Helsinki, Finland?
Slowly rocking Elara, I realized I wanted the best for her, too. But what if the best was simply being surrounded by love? How much did a preliminary prep-school really matter in terms of a happy life?
She babbled and pulled at my hair. “Mah-mah-mah-mah.” I looked down at her and she smiled, reaching for my nose. “Mamma.”
My heart stilled and time stopped. “What did you just say?”
She smiled up at me, that fourth tooth had finally broken through. “Mah-mah-mah-mah.”
It was the first time she said those sounds, and she said them to me. “Mamma?”
She grinned and gurgled in solidarity. “Mamma.”
My eyes welled with tears. “That’s right. I’m Mamma.” I kissed her pudgy cheek. “And you’re my little peanut.”
In that moment I realized, it didn’t matter where we lived. It was the people who created a sense of home.
“We need to work on your daddy and grandpop.”
I wished there was a way to heal their relationship, because while I would go wherever Hale needed to be, I worried about leaving Remington behind. Yes, he had a full staff to wait on him hand and foot, but they weren’t the same as family.
“Dada?” Elara chattered to herself, staring peacefully into Meep Meep’s wooly face as her eyes grew heavy.
“Exactly,” I agreed, stroking her hair and rocking her slowly to sleep.
Sometime later, I awoke to Hale lifting Elara out of my arms and carrying her back to the crib. He quietly returned to the glider, crouching low to kiss me.
He drew back and frowned. “Stressful day?”
“Sorry.” I covered my mouth. “My dinner was vodka, olives, and old cheese.”
He smiled and hugged me, resting his head on my lap as he knelt between my legs. “God, I missed you. It’s good to be home.”
My fingers combed through his hair. It had been a few weeks since his last haircut and his waves were more defined. “I’m glad you’re back. How was the flight?”
We always ran through the same script to break the ice that formed in the distance we suffered. Was this how it would always be, Hale coming and going while I waited for him to return? When he was gone, life had a way of feeling like it was on hold, like I was only fully living when he was with me. I didn’t want that hiatus to become our normal.
“Flight was fine. I slept most of the way.”
Yet he seemed exhausted. “You still seem tired.”
“Tired of being away from you.”
I stroked his hair much like I had done to soothe Elara. “Well, you’re home now.”
He shut his eyes and hugged my waist. “No place like home.”
Sometimes, when Hale’s guard came down, he was so vulnerable our roles reversed. I laced my fingers in his and urged him to stand. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”
I washed up and met him in his dressing room, smiling as he meticulously rolled up his tie. My gaze dropped to his sock drawer, but I didn’t want to think about that right now. I just wanted a moment between us—no wedding talk, no work, no contracts or trust issues, just him and me.
Crossing the room, I stepped between him and the closet. Without words, I reached for him and pulled him down for a kiss. Hale’s mouth met mine in a language that said everything I needed to know at that moment. No matter how far apart we drifted, we always came back to each other.
We fumbled our way out of the closet and tumbled onto the bed. His body glided over mine, our hands stroking and gripping, until he found his way home. There was no rush as we savored the familiarity we found whenever we came together as one. I arched into every intrepid thrust as his body filled mine. Sometimes he held me so tight I wondered if he feared losing me, like a dream that disappeared in a blink or a sudden sound.
“Rayne,” he rasped, pressing his lips to my throat and driving into me with deep strokes. His fingers laced with mine, holding me down as we slowly made love with intense purpose.