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)
She was endlessly grateful for what I was doing for her and for Snowberry, and I liked the way it made me feel. Appreciated. Needed. Vital to something bigger than myself. In my profession, I was used to negotiating a deal and moving on. But this was about more than money. We were restoring something. Building something that would last.
Also, she gave excellent blowjobs.
That night I’d shown up on her doorstep and asked her to marry me, I’d approached it like a job, and there were parts of it that felt like work. But I had to admit . . . there were a lot of benefits.
Things I’d miss when all was said and done.
“Mom says you’re going to live in Michigan now.” Sara’s voice tugged me back to the present. “Is that true?”
“For a while,” I said. “But I’ll come back and visit sometimes.”
“You better.” She had ice cream all over her face, hand, and sleeve.
“Pinky promise.” I held out my little finger and she grinned, hooking her sticky finger in mine.
“Pinky promise.” She took one more bite of her cone. “I’m done.”
Rising to my feet, I reached for what was left and tossed it in the trash, bringing a few napkins back to the table. “Here. Want to wipe off your mouth?”
She took the paper napkins and scrubbed them over her lips. “Thanks.”
“Ready to go?” I asked Lexi.
She nodded, brushing her hands on her jeans. “Wish we’d brought an umbrella. It’s really coming down out there now.”
“I don’t care!” shouted Sara, running for the door. “I love rain!”
Groaning through laughter, we followed her out to the sidewalk where she joyfully stomped in every puddle, spun circles in the downpour, and tried to catch drops on her tongue. Couples under umbrellas laughed at us as we chased behind her, the rain soaking my shirt and Lexi’s blouse.
At the crosswalk, we had to wait for the signal, and Sara grabbed my hand. “Let’s dance!”
I laughed. “Dance?”
“Yes! Just like my favorite Taylor Swift song I told you about!”
I lifted my hand, twirling her under one arm. Then I picked her up by the waist and swung her around while she shrieked happily. By then the signal had changed, so I set her down again. “Come on.”
“Piggyback ride?” she pleaded.
Nodding, I presented my back and hunched down. “Hop on.”
We crossed the street, walked the remaining two blocks to her house, and delivered a soaked Sara to her babysitter.
“Sorry. She’s kind of a mess,” Lexi said as the little girl slid off my back.
“That’s okay.” The teenaged sitter smiled. “I’ll get her dried off. Ready to come in, Sara?”
“No!” Sara turned to me and threw her arms around my waist. Then she tipped her head back and looked up at me with sad eyes. “I don’t want you to go.”
“I pinky-promised to visit, remember?” I tapped her nose. “And I’d never break a pinky promise.”
“Can I come visit you too?”
“Yes!” Lexi rubbed Sara’s back. “You can come skiing with me!”
“Okay.” She gave me a big squeeze, then gave Lexi a hug too. “Bye.”
“Bye, honey.” Lexi and I waved and hurried toward my car, which was parked farther down the street.
Lexi shivered the entire drive back to my building. When I reached for her hand as we walked through the parking garage, it felt icy cold in mine. “You’re freezing,” I said, pulling her close to me in the elevator. I wrapped my arms around her. “How can a little Boston drizzle chill a girl who loves Michigan winters to the bone?”
“I don’t know,” she said, folding her arms against her chest, her hands beneath her chin. Her body shuddered in my embrace. “Maybe it’s stress release or something.”
The door opened onto my floor. I kept my arm around her shoulders as we moved down the hall. “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you go take a hot shower? Loosen up all this tension. Let go of all the worry you felt going into today, because you don’t need it anymore.”
“Okay.”
“And when you get out, I will do my best to keep you warm and stress-free with other activities.”
She laughed. “Sounds good.”
While she was in the bathroom, I poured myself a couple fingers of bourbon and checked my voicemail. I’d missed a call from Rian Richman.
“Hey Devlin. Rian Richman here. Sorry for the delay in getting you those interview dates. Things have been hectic this fall. We’ve had some shakeups in account management. Wondering if you might be able to make it out here week after next. Give me a call.”
I called him back, and his voicemail picked up.
“Hey Rian. Good to hear from you. No concerns on the delay, I’ve been busy with that property in Michigan. I can probably come out to Santa Monica next week, but I need to talk to my wife first. I’ll let you know as soon as I can. Thanks.”