Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
How fucking crazy was that?
I decided it had to be the game, the whole faking-it-for-a-limited-time thing. I’d never actually wanted a wife before, not in the sense that I wanted to be emotionally and physically beholden to one person for the rest of my life. That was too much. But this? Six months of shacking up as friends with benefits while we worked together on a project I was actually kind of excited about? A couple seasons full of nights like the one we’d just spent? Keeping each other warm while the weather turned cold?
Sign me up.
We got through security and picked up two large coffees on the way to our gate. Sinking into two seats near the window, we sipped coffee in silence for a few minutes. “I know we need to talk about what happens next, but I’m so fucking tired, I can’t think,” she said.
“Let’s just get home, okay? We can talk after we get a little rest.”
“Okay.” She finished her coffee and got up to throw the cup away. When she came back, she tipped her head onto my left shoulder and fell asleep. Switching my coffee to my right hand, I managed to wrap my left arm around her without waking her up, and she snuggled in as much as the seats would allow.
Her arms were wrapped around herself, and her wedding band caught my eye. I thought about my dad, about how he’d continued to wear his ring long after we lost my mom. How he’d never fallen in love again. How he continued to maintain her rose gardens in the yard, and every summer, he’d proudly bring some to her gravesite to show them off. He’d been so thoroughly devoted to her.
Looking at the ring I’d placed on Lexi’s finger, I felt a little guilty that we’d so flippantly entered into this short-lived marriage while people like my parents went into theirs believing in forever.
But that belief had been shattered, hadn’t it? So maybe there was no such thing. Maybe that belief only set you up for heartache anyway.
I finished my coffee and held on to the empty cup while Lexi slept. From time to time, she jumped, like maybe she was dreaming. When our zone was called for boarding, I squeezed her shoulder. “Lex. Time to go.”
“Huh?” She picked up her head.
“We’re boarding.”
“Oh.” She sat up straighter, giving me an apologetic look. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”
“I didn’t mind.” We gathered our things, and I tossed my cup in the trash on our way to get in line.
“I was having the weirdest dream,” she said.
“About what?”
“I was skiing down a hill, but I was totally out of control, like no matter what I did, I couldn’t catch my balance. And then I got to the bottom, and all these people were laughing at me. That’s when I looked down and discovered I was naked.”
I laughed. “Naked skiing?”
“Based on my dream, I do not recommend it.”
“I don’t ski, so it’s unlikely I’d try it.”
She stopped moving forward in line and stared at me. “What?”
I put a hand on her lower back and eased her forward. “I don’t ski.”
“Why not?”
“I just don’t like it that much.” Which was true, but I was leaving out the part about being afraid of heights.
“Do you snowboard?”
“Nope.”
She went silent, and we boarded the plane. I was hoping she’d drop it, but after tucking her bag beneath the seat in front of her, she looked at me. “I can’t believe I didn’t know this about you.”
“It’s not that big a deal.”
“Devlin, I’m a ski instructor. We’re about to take over a ski resort. You don’t think it was worth mentioning to me that you don’t even enjoy the sport?”
I shrugged, buckling my seatbelt. “What does it matter? You don’t need me on the mountain. You need me in the office.”
“I guess.” She sat back and buckled in. After staring out the window for a few minutes, she turned to me again. “What don’t you like about it?”
“I don’t know.” I brushed some nonexistent dust off my pants. “The cold?”
“You wear warm clothing.”
“It’s expensive.”
“You don’t have to fly to the Alps for a five-star luxury vacation. There are plenty of affordable places to ski.”
“It’s repetitive,” I said. “Ride up, ski down. Ride up, ski down. I get bored.”
She grew animated. “How can you get bored? I mean, skiing turns a mountain into a wonderland! The scenery is so beautiful, the air is so fresh. There’s nothing like the sound of the wind in the trees, or leaving trails in fresh snow, or that sense of accomplishment when you conquer a run you thought was beyond you. And if you get too chilly, you go in and sit by the fire to warm up. You drink something hot and get back out there.”