Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Great. Just great.
What the hell was that about?
“So, what did you do?”
“Do?” I demanded. “I didn’t do anything.”
Court snorted. “I highly doubt that. What else could have happened?”
“I don’t know.”
I’d thought she was being strange, but I hadn’t put much more thought into it. There had been at least one or two ex-flings at the event. It was an occupational hazard at this point. I had been a serial dater, but Whitley knew that, and she’d never cared before.
“I’m sure I had a few exes there.”
Court laughed and clapped me on the back. “You must truly be that deep with Whit if you didn’t even notice who else was there.”
“Who was there?”
“Marissa.”
“Who?” I asked, mystified.
Court shook his head. “Fuck, dude. The model you took to my engagement party.”
“Oh. Right. No, I remember her.” I did remember sending her home and never talking to her again. “What about her?”
“She was eye-fucking you all night.”
“So? Whitley isn’t going to be upset about that.”
“Maybe not, but she was part of the group of people you were talking to for at least a half hour earlier.”
I blinked. I had no recollection of this. “What are you talking about?”
Court just shook his head and pointed at the car. “Get in. You’re a goner.”
I wanted to ask more questions. Did Whitley think that I’d been hitting on someone else? That didn’t sound like Whitley. Not when our relationship had started by pointing out the attractiveness of everyone else in the room.
That was beside that point. I hadn’t even noticed Marissa in the crowd or apparently her being in my vicinity for a long stretch of time. Surely, it wasn’t something this ridiculous. I’d have to clear this up with Whit because I hated the sudden strain when everything had always been so easy with us.
I piled into the car, taking the backseat next to her. I slung an arm across her shoulders, and she settled her head against my chest. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as we drove the narrow lanes back to the Percy house.
Katherine and Camden hurried inside to see the kids. Whitley was hot on their heels when I grabbed her hand.
“Hey,” I said, pulling her against me. “Come down to the beach with me.”
“I’m kind of tired,” she said with a yawn.
“We’ll bring blankets. You can nap out there.”
She bit her lip. “I was just going to pass out.”
“Come on,” I said with a laugh, tugging her closer and running my thumb across her bottom lip. “What happened to having sex with me all over the Hamptons?”
She rolled her eyes at me, but I watched the tension leave her shoulders. “You sure know how to charm a girl.”
I flashed her a wicked grin. “What can I say? Charm is my middle name.”
Her lips tilted upward and she had a devious look in her eyes. “Fine. But let me change first.”
“Nope,” I said, drawing her toward the back door. “Booze and blankets are all we need.”
She opened her mouth to object, but I was already rummaging through the hall closet. I found two giant blankets, and she took one out of my hands. I used the other hand to loosen my tie as we headed into the kitchen. I dumped a few beers into a cooler and hoisted it over my shoulder.
Then, I took her hand and headed outside, past the pool and down toward the sand beyond. I spread the blankets out. Whitley hiked her dress up to her knees and sank down. I dropped my jacket, rolled my sleeves up to my elbows, and took the seat next to her.
I passed her a beer, which she took gratefully. While we both took swigs of the drinks, our gazes swept out to the dark sea beyond and the clear view of the stars. I could never see the stars in the city. The Hamptons still weren’t close to what I could see from Texas, but it felt a sliver closer to home. Big, vast, and eternal.
“This is nice,” she said finally.
“Thought you might like it.”
She shot me a rueful smile. “I really was tired. I could curl up right here and sleep the night away.”
“You might wake up with sand all over you,” I said with a laugh.
“Worth it.”
She moved her rainbow hair over to one shoulder and then lay fully back on the blanket. Her eyes were still wide open, staring up at the endless night sky. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her. There was a whole wide world out there, but she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“You’re staring at me,” she pointed out.
I chuckled, ditching my finished beer and coming onto my side next to her. “Wondering how I got so lucky.”
“You fake proposed.”
“This doesn’t feel fake.”
“No,” she whispered, but she sat up, hugging her torso.