Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 125020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
I bite my lip, hearing the seduction in his deep voice.
“I’m great.” I laugh.
“That’s more like it. I’ll be back soon. Why don’t you order something to eat and take another bath? I’m sure another soak is needed after all that dancing we did.”
“Dancing?” I say and lift a brow as if he can see it.
“You know what I’m talking about. Don’t make me spell it out.”
“Or you can show me your moves,” I tease.
“I can do that. Trust me, I plan to do that. Take that bath, baby. You’re going to wish you had.”
I sigh and my smile returns. “I’m just glad everything is okay. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Shawna?”
“Yeah.”
“I love you. See you soon.”
My heart nearly explodes. The smile on my face has my cheeks hurting. I feel like I’m in a dream.
Falling back on the bed, I squeal and kick my legs in the air. When did I get so lucky? The scent of his cologne surrounds me. I pull the sheets to my nose and inhale deeply.
I smile wider. He was such a gentleman about changing the sheets and taking care of me. Last night was perfect.
Kelex
I carry a sleeping Vernice back into the kids’ room. She’ll be fine. Although I freaked the fuck out when Rosy called to tell me what happened.
A smile comes to my lips as I find Shawna with True and Cat playing UNO. Something about seeing her with them fills my heart. She could have stayed to herself in our room. Instead, she’s here looking like she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
“Mr. Josh, I’m so sorry,” Rosy says as she stands from where she’d been sitting, wringing her hands.
“She’s fine. It wasn’t your fault. We all know Vernice can be clumsy sometimes.”
“Right,” True says.
“Remember that one time when she walked into the kitchen cabinet?” Cat chimes in.
“Do I,” True replies. “Miss Shawna, she was like five. I still don’t know how it happened. I mean, it was right there. The next thing you know, she was on her butt crying.”
I laugh. It really was crazy. I was stunned because I thought she would stop. I remember trying to help Mary with some paperwork or something, and the next thing we knew, we were all staring with our mouths open.
Shawna laughs. “You guys have some of the best stories.”
“Our memories get us through,” True says.
My heart sinks a little. I’m doing my best to help them make new memories, but I also want them to remember their mom. Sometimes, I wonder if I’m balancing it all. Now I have Shawna too.
“Thank you for allowing me to make new memories with you,” Shawna says, pulling me from my thoughts.
“We like you. J could use someone to hold him down like he does everyone else. Besides, you’re dope,” True says.
“Yeah, come hang with us anytime you want,” Cat adds with a huge smile.
Shawna looks up at me and I wink at her. The smile she gives me makes me feel like I might have this.
Chapter 52
Anything for You
Shawna
A month later…
I love spending time with Josh. Although we don’t get to do it often. I understand he has a lot of responsibilities. It’s one of the things I admire about him. He gives his all to everything he does.
However, he seems more tense than usual. I’ve never seen him like this. He came over to my apartment to spend the night, but his focus has been on his laptop and his expression has been clouded over.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
He looks up from his laptop and gives me a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Give me a minute and I’ll give you all my attention.”
“You’re okay. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do. You look stressed.”
He rubs the back of his neck. “This deal is turning into a nightmare and I’m trying to figure out why,” he replies, squinting at his screen.
I get up from the accent chair I’m sitting in and go to sit on the couch he’s on. Shifting to my knees, I start to massage his neck and shoulders. He always works so hard.
He groans and rolls his neck. “Baby, you’re a lifesaver. That feels so good.”
“You’re so tight. Let me work these knots out.”
He closes the laptop and turns to me. There’s a smile on his face. The stress from moments ago is now gone.
“I can get back to this later. I’ve missed you.”
I laugh. “We were just in Chicago together.”
“Baby, I was able to fly you in for a day before you had to get back to work. I’ve taken longer shits.”
“Oh my God, really?” He shrugs. “I hope you’ve seen a doctor about that.”
He laughs. “Whatever, you know what I mean. I spend more time missing you than getting to see you. It’s driving me crazy.”