Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 128742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
“You had to work. It’s not like you ditched her on her birthday to go joyriding or kangaroo hunting or whatever it is you Australians do down there.”
“I could’ve said no to my manager. I didn’t.”
“Your family needed you.”
“So did Lara. It was her birthday, for fuck’s sake. Anyway, that was one sin among many. I made heaps of promises to her that I didn’t keep.”
I reach for his hand, lacing our fingers. “You had responsibilities. If she couldn’t understand that, that’s on her, not you.”
“Either way, I hurt her. Badly.” Regret flickers through his expression. “It felt like shit, hurting somebody I cared about.”
“And you’re scared you’ll do it again?”
“Sort of, I suppose.”
I rub the inside of his palm with my thumb. “Want to know a secret? You will.”
“I will what?”
“You’re going to hurt someone again.”
He looks startled. “What?”
“You are,” I say simply. “We all are. I’m sure I’m going to hurt many people during my lifetime. Not maliciously. Or maybe, sometimes, it might be malicious. Maybe I’ll say something in anger that I’ll regret afterward. But it’s going to happen. Human beings are wired to hurt each other.”
“Well, aren’t you depressing,” Jack says with a smile.
“But you know what else humans are wired for? Forgiveness. So yeah, you’ll probably hurt someone again the way you hurt Lara. But if you’re lucky, they’ll forgive you.”
“Bloody hell, Abbs. Why do you have to be so…”
“Amazing?” I supply, waggling my eyebrows.
I’m joking and expect him to respond in kind. Instead, he pulls me into his arms and lays a deep, blistering kiss on me.
“Yes,” he agrees when we break apart. “Amazing.”
“Jackie boy had a bird over last night,” are the first words to exit Lee’s mouth when I saunter into the kitchen the next morning.
Man, he’s such a gossipy snitch.
At the breakfast bar, Jack eats his pancakes and ignores Lee’s announcement, but I notice the way his broad shoulders tense.
“Holy shit,” I exclaim, conveying the appropriate amount of shock and awe. “Wow.” I raise one eyebrow at Jack. “She must be really special if you invited her here.”
He bites his lip, slowly meeting my gaze. “She might be.”
My heart almost bursts in my chest.
Oh no.
I’m catching feelings.
Okay, that ship sailed a long time ago, I have to amend.
But before this moment, those were basic-level feelings. The I -really-like-you tier of emotion.
This is the next tier. I’ve officially graduated to that floaty, happy cloud between the two L words.
God. I’m in over my head.
Luckily, Lee distracts me from my troubled thoughts by grilling Jack with the kind of steely determination rivaled only by the KGB. To his credit, Jack holds his ground, but Lee is still badgering him when I duck out of the kitchen after breakfast.
I get ready for school, gathering all my research notes for the Tulley project, which I’m supposed to update Professor Langford on this morning.
Speaking of the Tulleys, a text pops up as I’m zipping my school bag.
Sophie: Abbey, Sophie Brown here.
Me: I know. I saved your contact info :) What’s up?
Sophie: I need to arrange to ship that box of documents to my office. Benjamin’s father has agreed to donate some of the documents to the museum in Surrey. Benjamin said you already made copies and have no need for the originals anymore, correct?
Me: Yes, that’s correct. Are you in the office this morning? I can drop the box off before class if you’d like. Saves you the shipping costs.
She doesn’t seem enthused at the prospect of seeing me in person, but Ben’s office is literally around the corner from the building that houses my morning classes. We agree to meet before my first class, and I grab Ben Tulley’s box and leave the house a few minutes later.
Lee and I take the Tube together. I’m worried he’ll want to gossip about Jack’s new lady love, but he simply chatters on about Eric and the weekend trip they’re taking to some spa in Paris. They’re getting hot and heavy, those two. I like seeing Lee happy.
A short while later, Sophie meets me in the lobby of Ben’s office, a converted three-story town house with a nondescript white exterior. There’s a lift, but we’re only going to the second floor, so Sophie gestures for us to take the stairs. Despite wearing high heels, she ascends the steps like she’s walking on air, while I struggle to carry the box and at the same time try to keep the strap of my messenger bag secure on my shoulder.
“How is the research going?” she asks.
“Not well,” I admit, hating the reminder. The Josephine portion of my project has completely stalled, leading me to a maddening dead end.
Upstairs, there’s a large reception area and a pair of mahogany doors leading to what I assume is Ben’s office. Beyond the doors, I glimpse a commanding desk, built-in bookshelves, plush chairs, and expensive carpeting. A second office is tucked off to the side of the waiting area, and it’s there that Sophie takes me. This space is smaller but actually appears lived in, whereas Ben’s office looks like a room in a model home that nobody uses. All for show.