Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
She slowly rubs her hand up my back, and I close my eyes, memorizing how it feels. I slide out of her. “I’ll be back.” I kiss the middle of her chest. “Don’t move.”
I walk over to the guest bathroom and grab a rag from under the sink. Wetting it, I clean myself before grabbing another one and walking out to see her still sitting on the counter. “Good girl,” I praise, taking the rag and cleaning her with it. “You can get down now.”
“Thanks for your permission.” She hops down off the counter but avoids looking at me. She pulls her shirt up before walking back over to the bowl and making herself a parfait of yogurt and fruit like she did yesterday. “Do you want me to make you one?” she asks, and I shake my head.
“No. I’m going to make myself eggs and bacon.” I pull the pan out to make the eggs.
“Yeah, that’s what you said yesterday, and you ate half my bowl.” She laughs as she washes some blackberries and pops one into her mouth before taking another. I grab her wrist, pulling it to my mouth and eating it.
She laughs, and just like that, our time is up. I carry her bag with me to the car to drive to the airport. “You can’t come in with me.” She looks over at me. “People might spot us together and take a picture.”
“So?” I ask, and she looks out the window as I pull out of the driveway. I grip the steering wheel, pushing the anger back down. I wait until I’m out of the development before I ask her, “When am I going to see you again?” My finger taps the wheel nervously.
“I’m not sure,” she replies, and I can feel her pulling away. “I have a pretty big trial coming up, and I have to focus on that.”
I don’t say another word because all I want to do is call her out on the bullshit she just said. I take my time driving to the airport, taking the longest route I know, and when I get there, I pull up to the curb. The last thing I want to do is piss her off after this weekend. “Thank you for coming to surprise me this weekend.” The tightness fills my chest. “Is it okay if I get out of the truck and get your bag?”
She looks around a couple of times, checking to see if a lot of people are there. “Do you think you’ll be recognized?”
“No idea,” I bite out, “but I don’t care if I am.”
“You might not care, but the last thing we need is pictures coming out and then—” I cut her off.
“And then you have to tell everyone you came to see me,” I fill in for her, and she shakes her head.
“You forget I grew up with cameras in my face every time my father stepped foot outside,” she snaps. “So yeah, I like to be private.”
“Well, then we shouldn’t chance it.” My heart pounds so hard in my chest. “I would hate for you to be put in that situation.” I lean over and kiss her lips one last time before she leaves, knowing she’s going to fight this until her last breath. “Thank you again for this weekend,” I whisper before I kiss her again.
“Thank you.” She puts her hand in mine on the center console. “I have to go, or I’ll miss my flight.”
Good, I want to say, but instead, I just nod. She reaches for the door handle and steps outside. She shuts the door and opens the back door, where she grabs her bag. “Will you call and let me know you got home safe?” I ask.
“I will,” she agrees softly before she closes the door. I watch her walk into the airport with her bag beside her and her head down, feeling like this is a breakup, but what she doesn’t know is I’m not going anywhere. She can push me away all she wants. It just means I have to show her I’m the man she deserves.
I watch her until I can’t see her anymore, and I’m about to drive away when my phone beeps. I pull it out of the cupholder and see my screen saver is the one we took in the balloon. My arm around her shoulders and her arm around my waist. Her name’s in the middle of my screen.
Gorgeous: Thank you for everything.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ryleigh
I press send on the text and then take a deep breath, putting my phone in my pocket before I walk over to security. I go through the motions of security before heading over to the gate, ignoring the weight of my phone in my pocket. Ignoring the fact that walking out of his car and into the airport without turning around and going back to him was killing me. Forget the fact I wanted him to walk me into the fucking airport so I could spend extra time with him.