Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 61286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
She took a drink of the vintage rosé and sighed. “A girl could get used to being spoiled like this.”
“That’s what the weekend is all about,” he said with a flirtatious wink, though he’d spoil her for the rest of her life if she let him.
They ate their dinner, enjoying the delicious Chilean sea bass, sauteed vegetables and rice pilaf, and when they were done and she sat back with a satisfied and content sigh, Tripp decided it was time to broach the subject of her ex-husband.
He hated to shatter the tranquility of the evening, but the conversation was just too important for him to let it go any longer. If he and Skye were going to embark on parenthood together, then he needed to know that she, and any child they had together, were always safe and protected, and he couldn’t do that without knowing what he was dealing with when it came to Jack.
As if instinctively sensing a shift in the air, she glanced across the table at him. Holding her gaze, he softly, carefully said, “You know I have to ask about Jack.”
She visibly stiffened. “No, you really don’t. I don’t want to talk about my ex.”
He’d expected that immediate guarded response. He also recognized the stubborn tilt of her chin and knew he was taking a huge risk of fucking up this entire weekend by pressing the issue. But he also knew, after witnessing her gut-wrenching reaction to Jack’s passive-aggressive tactic, not having this discussion wasn’t an option for him. Not any longer.
“Sweetheart, I’m not giving you a choice.” He kept his tone calm and gentle, despite his resolute words.
Her lips pursed, and she stared at him almost angrily, as if that defense mechanism would dissuade him, which it didn’t.
Instead, he pushed forward. “I’m not asking about your past with your ex to be invasive. I’m asking because as the man who is going to father a child with you, and be a part of your life, I need to know what happened with Jack and what he’s capable of. The fact that he can still rattle you so badly just by sending you a drawing is a cause for concern.”
“And that’s exactly why he did it. To rattle me,” she said bitterly, her fingers gripping the stem of her champagne flute way too tight.
He nodded in understanding, and when she didn’t offer anything more, he persisted, trying a different approach. “I know this isn’t a conversation you want to have, but it would mean everything to me if you would trust me with what happened. I need to know, Skye, because like you told me that first night at the bar, you’re not the same girl you once were.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes, and she turned her head, looking back at the city skyline.
She looked so vulnerable, and his chest tightened at the knowledge that if he’d never ended things with her back then, he could have saved her the pain and misery she’d gone through with Jack. His choices had changed a part of her life and future, and not for the better as he’d thought it would.
Reaching across the table, he took her hand in his, and while she let him touch her, she didn’t glance back at him yet. Which was okay, because he knew she was listening.
“I would do anything to go back in time and do things differently with you,” he said, his voice a bit hoarse with his own emotions. “But I don’t have that choice and that’s my regret to live with. But I do have the ability to be the best version of myself for you now, in whatever capacity you need. All I ask is that you open up and trust me because the last thing I would ever do is hurt you in any way. You have to know that.”
She nodded and finally met his gaze, the lingering pain in the depths of her eyes feeling like a knife to his heart. “I do know that.”
Her assurance relieved him and he gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “And with us potentially co-parenting a child together, I don’t want any secrets between us. I don’t want to be blind-sided by something your ex might be capable of doing.”
He watched as she swallowed hard and seemingly gathered her thoughts but didn’t speak immediately. He waited patiently, because that’s what she needed from him—his patience—and he was more than willing to give her the time she needed to dredge up what had to be traumatic memories and share them with him.
After a few long minutes passed, she finally pulled her hand from his, exhaled a deep breath, and spoke. “When I first met Jack, everything between us was great. Honestly, from our first date he said and did all the right things and swept me off my feet, and I was stupid enough to fall for his confidence and attention and the charismatic man he pretended to be, which I now know was nothing more than a lie.”