Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
When I returned to the bedroom, she was wrapped up in my white sheets, turned on her side with her eyes closed like she was ready to fall straight to sleep. I watched her for a second before I poured two glasses of water. I set one on the nightstand for her before I moved to the other side of the bed.
She opened her eyes and looked at me, a slight smile on her lips in satisfaction but also a look of exhaustion in her pretty eyes. Then she pushed the sheets aside, inviting me back into my bed.
I put on my boxers then moved beside her.
She clearly had no intention of going home tonight.
But I didn’t mind.
Once I was comfortable beside her, she took it a step further and cuddled into my side, hooking her leg over my waist. Her face rested beside mine on the pillow, her fingertips feeling my warm chest. She was affectionate with me, wanting to touch me at all times. She said she wasn’t ready to move on to a new relationship, but she treated me like she never wanted to lose me.
“Can I get you anything?” I’d slept at her place because everything was new. I’d wanted more sex, as much as I could get it, and she woke me in the middle of the night just to have it. We were perfect for each other.
Her hand glided over her stomach. “I’m hungry…”
I’d been too busy fucking to think about dinner. Now that she mentioned it, I was hungry too. “Yeah? What do you want?”
She shrugged. “I’m not a picky eater.”
Patricia knew me well enough not to bother me when I came home with a woman. Normally, she would knock on my door with a tray of dinner or leave it on the dining table. I grabbed my phone and texted her.
“That’s all you have to do?” she asked. “I thought we’d order a pizza or something.”
“I can have Patricia make you a pizza.”
“No,” she said with a laugh. “Anything is fine. I’m just impressed it’s that simple.”
I was surprised it impressed her at all. “You didn’t have a maid before?”
“Well, yes,” she said. “But I cooked dinner most of the time.”
“You can cook?”
She nodded. “And I’m pretty good…not to be braggy.”
“Let me get this straight. You can fuck and cook?”
She chuckled. “I’m a woman of many trades, I guess…”
“The two trades that matter the most.”
“I don’t know about that.” She stared at her fingers as she caressed my chest. “I’m not good at making money, and that’s pretty important.”
“For now.” She seemed bright, resourceful, and possessed a good amount of pride. I could imagine her being perfectly independent on her own. “You’re starting over, and that’s rough for everyone.”
“True. But I don’t have any skills or a university degree. I suspect it’ll take a while for me to find my footing.”
“Nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I’m not,” she said quickly. “It’s just scary. Pretty much everyone told me to stay with Liam because with him, I had more money than I knew what to do with, and I had a strong man who could protect me against everything. But I just…couldn’t look at him the same. I didn’t want to settle if I wasn’t happy.”
Anyone else would have taken the easy way out, especially since he seemed sincere in his regret. But I admired her for refusing to settle for less than what she deserved, for knowing that he shouldn’t have cheated on her in the first place. The fact that she was perfect in every way imaginable just made his infidelity worse.
What was the asshole thinking?
“I think you made the right decision, but I’m incredibly biased.”
She chuckled. “I guess you are.”
We never talked about the time when I hid in the bedroom. Once he was gone, I left because I needed to get to work. There wasn’t much to say anyway. The guy was still in love with her and couldn’t face the harsh reality of losing her. I never told her that he and I had butted heads at the bank when he was in my office. She might stop seeing me if she knew we’d crossed paths.
Patricia knocked on the door moments later, and I answered it half naked to take the tray from her. She didn’t blink an eye over it because she’d seen me in just a towel many times. She was in her late forties, moving here from Greece after her husband passed away. She didn’t have any children, so she enjoyed making a home for me. I was nearly half her age, so she probably looked at me like a son.
“Thanks, Patricia.” I set the tray on the table and listened to her shut the door behind me.
Annabella got out of bed and helped herself to the dresser against the wall. She found a t-shirt of mine and put it on. “Do you mind?”