Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 61532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
He hangs up without me saying another word. Pulling my phone from my ear, I see a message from Darby telling me what time my shift starts tomorrow and nothing else.
What more do I expect, though, we’re doing what we both talked about.
No feelings.
26
Darby
My hands touch the letter, a part of me wants to throw them out and never see them again. The other part also wants to know why. I got some answers from Cleo’s friends, but it’s just not enough. I need to know more, even if I really don’t want to find the answers.
The sweet sound of Charles’s snore next to me puts me at ease. I turn my head to check on him, and the letter that sits unopened next to his crib, where it has been for way too long. No one will open that, it’s solely his, and we don’t need to know what it says because it’s for his eyes only.
Mine, on the other hand, plays tricks with me. One voice screams at me to open it constantly. The other tells me to throw it in the bin and never fucking think about it again. Things are the way they should be, why fuck things up with a letter from a dead woman.
I cringe at that thought. She isn’t just a dead girl, she’s Charles’s mother, and no matter what that will never change. My finger slices it open, and I carefully place the envelope on the rocking chair I’m sitting on and take a deep breath, telling myself I can do it. That this letter is just something I need to read to move on. Move on from what, though, I’m not sure. I was never with Cleo, we were never a thing. A one-night stand was the extent of our relationship that produced this beautiful boy.
My name is the first thing I read, and as my eyes go to skim down the page, Charles wakes up, pulling me from the letter and taking me back to him.
I slide it into my back pocket, pick him up and chalk it up to another day.
Another time.
Maybe.
Olympia’s here when I arrive, her now normal-colored hair is the first thing I spot. She runs her hands through it, and I think to myself maybe she isn’t used to it yet. How long did she have the blue for? Definitely for as long as she’s been here, and that’s been a few months now. She turns and my heart skips a beat when her eyes lock onto mine. The bar is closed, and the place is about to open in a few minutes. For someone who comes from money and lots of it, she works damn hard, especially when she doesn’t have to. She’s been one of the most dedicated employees we’ve had for a long time. Olympia’s eyes glance up to mine then lock on while a small smile touches her lips, and she looks down again.
I want her right now, I want her all the time. I like the way she makes butterflies fly in my belly, and the way when she’s near I want to be touching her.
Lord fucking help me, I want to touch her.
“Hey, big man, long time no see.” She winks at me jokingly, and I have to restrain myself from reaching over and grabbing her by the hair like a caveman.
“I think you may be required to come to my office later, wouldn’t you say?”
She nods her head and watches me. Her tongue darts out and licks her lips ever so slowly.
Fuck it.
Walking around to the opening of the bar, I stalk toward her fast. She stands still, knowing what I’m coming for, and there’s a hint of a smile. My hands stake a claim on her hips, pulling her to me. She giggles like a school girl, and I fucking love the sound when it leaves her lips.
“You ran away the other night.”
She shakes her head. “I had places to be, and if I stayed, we both would’ve never left.” My eyes scan her face down to her perfect lips, to the soft edges of her jawline that I want to lick all the way to her neck. “Now, if you keep looking at me like that…” Her hands cup my face, lift my head to eye level, and she leans in kissing me. She taste like sugar, it’s her lip gloss, but I don’t give a fuck because it’s her and any part of her I’m touching is a good thing.
She pulls away, her forehead touching mine. “What are we doing?” she asks in a breathless whisper.
“Kissing,” I answer. But I know there’s a real question behind her words, I just don’t acknowledge it.
“That’s not what we’re really doing.”
I nod pulling away.
“Blue,” Falcon yells as he walks over.