Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“We’re friends, babe.”
“Yeah? I could really use a friend. My closest friend was my sister-in-law, but I’ll never see her again now.”
“Well, you’ve got me. And I bet I cook better than she does.”
I released a quick laugh. “You’re right about that. Whenever I came over, she served cheese and crackers.”
“Does she think you’re a mouse?” Scarlett deadpanned.
A bigger laugh escaped my lips. “I know, right?”
We finished our dinner then enjoyed the rest of our wine. Scarlett had ordered a bottle and refused to leave until it was empty. We each got a slice of tiramisu and continued to talk about all facets of life.
“You miss your kids?” I asked.
“God no,” she said with a laugh. “My tits are finally put away, and I don’t have spit-up all over me.” She took another drink. “I mean, Axel prefers my tits out even if there’s a baby sucking them raw.”
I smiled. “He seems like a good dad.”
“Yeah, he is,” she said warmly. “He really stepped up. Walked away from business and came into parenthood full time. Sacrificed it all for us. It was his decision. I didn’t have to ask him.”
I tried not to think too far into the future because I couldn’t see where that road led with Theo. But I hoped our destination would be the same, with Theo holding our children in his big arms, taking to fatherhood seamlessly. “That’s great.”
“Axel wanted kids more than I did. He was the first one to bring it up.”
“That’s cute.”
“So, it’s nice that I can go out and not feel guilty about leaving him with childcare.” She tapped her phone on the table so the screen would light up and show the time. “They should be asleep now, so he’s probably watching the game on the couch naked, waiting for me to come home.”
“Wow, that’s something to come home to.”
“I know,” she said with a grin. “God, he’s so hot.”
I wouldn’t dare compliment her husband, but yeah, he was. Not as hot as Theo, but still. “Can I be honest?”
“Always.”
“I was a little jealous when Theo told me about you guys.”
She chuckled. “Axel is still jealous about it.”
“I know it’s stupid because it was a million years ago, but you’re really hot, so…”
She winked. “Thanks, babe.” She clinked her glass against mine. “I was so depressed at the time. All I wanted from him was sex. Something to make me forget about the man I really wanted but couldn’t have.”
“Theo told me that whole story. I’m surprised you forgave your father.”
She shrugged. “He’s my dad, you know?”
“But what if you and Axel hadn’t found each other again?”
She paused for a while, looking at her wineglass as she pondered the question. “I think nothing was going to stop Axel from getting me. I wish our story hadn’t been interrupted the way it was, but I think it was worth knowing that Axel would move heaven and earth to have me.”
“Yeah.” Theo had come to me, not once, but twice. He wasn’t good with words, but he strung them together to fight for me. He’d extended his hand, and I should have taken it right there on the spot. Should have run away with him without looking back. I didn’t trust him, but he proved how trustworthy he was after the fact. “I know it’s too soon to feel the way I do, but I still do.”
“Who says it’s too soon?” she asked. “I was in love with Axel within the first week. Maybe the first day.”
“When do you think he was in love with you?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “He’d probably tell you he was in love with me the moment he saw me. Even when I had a boyfriend at the time. Even when I told him it would never happen between us. That man was not deterred.”
I’d had that, and I was a fucking idiot.
Now I wanted to kill Bolton myself. What if Theo was the man I was supposed to be with, and Bolton nearly destroyed that?
She took another drink of her wine. “We should do this more often. Girls’ night out. No kids and no dicks. We can sit on those dicks when we get home.”
Another laugh burst from my chest. Every time I felt like shit, she pulled me from the brink. Made me laugh. Made me smile. That was exactly what I needed during a time like this, and I could never thank her enough.
When the waiter walked by, Scarlett got his attention. “Could you bring the tab, please?”
“It’s already been taken care of,” he said.
“What?” Scarlett blurted. “By whom?”
He turned toward the corner, the far side of the room. “That gentleman there.” He walked off.
My eyes narrowed far across the room, and I spotted Theo sitting at a table with a group of guys. He was in a short-sleeved shirt, his muscular arms covered in ink, a glass of scotch on the table. He seemed deep in conversation, listening to the guy he’d introduced to me before, Octavio. Even when he just sat there and listened, he was the sexiest hunk of man meat I’d ever seen.