Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I bring the bottle to my mouth, taking a sip of the cold water, hoping to everything I don’t throw it up on the back deck. Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I get up and grab the bottle of beer before walking back into the boat. I pour the remainder of the beer down the drain and hang my head. “Do you think they knew who I was?” I look over at Beatrice, who has come to sit in the middle of the kitchen, probably waiting for her dinner.
I fill her bowl with food and then start closing the boat up. When I’m on the water, I always open the back sliding doors so I can see out the whole way. I go upstairs to the top, zipping up the curtains in case it rains. When I come down, I close up the back of the boat, securing the doors in place. “Want to go for a walk?” I ask Beatrice, who wags her tail.
I grab the leash, heading out, and I make the mistake of looking in her boat as I walk by. I see her silhouette sitting at the table as she talks on the phone. “Can I be more creepy?” I ask Beatrice as I quickly turn around to walk ahead. “All that is missing is me pressing my face to the glass looking in.” I shake my head, walking out of the gate. I don’t talk the whole time we walk and stay out as long as I can. Only going back when my stomach starts to growl.
When I walk back to the boat, I force myself not to look around. Getting onto the boat, I take off my shoes before walking in and going to grab one of the prepared meals I have made for myself, heating it up.
When I sit down, I look at Beatrice. “Her father recognized me,” I tell Beatrice. “Do you think I should have told her who I was?”
She sniffs the table while I continue talking to her. “What do you think I should have done? Like, if I was going to tell her who I was, that was the perfect opportunity.”
I take a bite of the chicken with some couscous. “I don’t owe her anything.” I try to convince myself. “She didn’t even ask me why I wasn’t drinking,” I huff. “Not once did she pry. Even when I asked her if she was going to ask me why, she still said no.” I shrug. “It’s just as well.”
Getting up, I walk over to the kitchen, washing up and tossing out my stuff. I grab my laptop, opening it when I sit on the couch, and come face-to-face with Matthew Grant staring at me. “Okay, got to erase my history,” I say, going up and deleting all history and then shutting down the laptop. “It’s going to be fine. I’ll be cordial, and it ends there. If her father comes back and recognizes me, then so be it. I’ll confirm who I am.” I look at Beatrice who lies down in the middle of the room sideways. “You think she’d be pissed I didn’t tell her?”
I rub my hands over my face. “I don’t care. I’ve spent way too much time even thinking about her,” I gruff out, standing. “I’m going to take a shower.” I walk down to my room, undressing on the way. The shower is quick, and when I get into bed, I reach for the book but not even that settles me. When I finally turn off the lights, I lie down on my pillow. “You need to either tell her or be okay that you didn’t,” I tell myself. “Which one is it going to be?”
CHAPTER 13
VIVIENNE
The soft alarm fills the room, and I groan, reaching for my phone under the pillow where I always put it, but my hand comes up empty. I peek open one eye, but it’s completely dark. My eyes try to get used to the dark, but instead, they just close again. My hand moves around the bed for the phone, but I can’t find it. I sit up in bed, listening and finally realizing I left the phone on the table in the galley. “Great,” I mumble, walking to the table and stepping on the step to get it. I turn off the alarm and look up to see Xavier walking by the boat with a cup of coffee in his hand and Beatrice next to him.
I watch him until I can’t see him anymore before turning and wondering if I should go back to bed. Instead of climbing back into bed, I walk over and start my coffee before heading to the bathroom. I slip on a pair of shorts and walk back out to the coffee machine making my coffee. “Are you going to go outside and watch the sunrise?” I ask myself when I feel a ball of nervousness hit my stomach. “Are you going to go outside and maybe see him?”