Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
“Addison,” he says my name softly, “I’m not dating anyone.” His words stop me from cursing him out.
“What?” I ask, shocked by this news. “When?” I toss the covers off me and get out of bed. The nerves are running through me so fast that sitting down is going to drive me crazy, so instead I just pace my small bedroom.
“When we first met to talk about Avery.” His voice is soft and all I can do is sit on the bed.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I close my eyes, wishing I knew this before he kissed me so I could have—I don’t know—made it last longer. Maybe jump his bones at my front door. Maybe climb him like a monkey and never let him go.
“You never asked,” he replies, and I take the phone away from my ear and put it on speakerphone.
“What was I supposed to ask you exactly?” I chuckle nervously. “Oh, hey there, did you tell the blonde who chased you around all night at the wedding that you’re a dad?” I wish I had an off switch when it came to my mouth and being nervous.
“I don’t know,” he huffs “maybe because you care,” and all I can do is gawk at the phone.
“You made me think I was the other woman,” I hiss at him. “Do you know how bad I felt?”
“I’m sorry, I never meant for you to feel that.” His voice is so soft and sounds so sincere, I have to close my eyes before I do something stupid like ask him to come over. “Go out with me on a date. I want to date you, Addison. Like a real date. Like a woman and a man go out together, even though they already have a child.”
“No.” I shake my head.
“Okay, fine,” he sighs. “I would like to have you and Avery over for lunch tomorrow.” I’m about to say no to that also, but then his voice catches me off guard. “I want to show you and Avery the house.”
“Fine,” I finally give in. “But just a visit.”
“Fine,” he relents, “for now.” I can’t help the smile that fills my face, and I’m happy he can’t see it. “I’ll text you the address. Come over as soon as you guys wake up and we can make breakfast together.” I just nod my head. “I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early,” he says, his voice sounding like he’s smiling. “What time does she usually get up?”
“Depends. It could be six a.m., or it could be nine. It’s Russian roulette on the weekend,” I tell him. “I’ll text you when she wakes up.”
“Sounds good,” he says and I’m about to hang up. “Sweet dreams.” His voice dips right before he hangs up.
I stare down at the phone, my head once again spinning because of him. “He broke up with his girlfriend,” I tell my dark room as I put the phone down on the side table. Getting back into bed, I quickly fall asleep. When I feel little fingers on my face, my eyes flicker open, but then I jump when Avery just stares at me, scaring the shit out of me.
“Morning, Mom,” she says, as if I didn’t almost have a heart attack. “I’m hungry.”
“What time is it?” I mumble as I turn over and grab my phone, seeing it’s seven thirty. I also see Stefano has already texted me.
I’m up.
I check the time stamp and see it was at 7:00 a.m. I wonder if he set the alarm or just woke up. I see another one from six minutes ago.
I forgot to give you my address.
I stretch out and then reply to him.
Just got up, give us thirty.
I’ll be here waiting for you guys.
I look over at Avery. “Let’s get dressed and go for breakfast,” I tell her and her eyes open big. She jumps out of bed and rushes to her room to get dressed and then comes to find me in the bathroom while I brush my teeth.
I toss on a pair of beige linen shorts and a white spaghetti-strap top. I’m lucky that before my parents cut me off I was always shopping and buying clothes. Sure, the clothes are somewhat outdated, but some pieces are still good. Avery opts for a princess shirt with matching shorts that Vivienne sent to her last week. I draw the line when she walks out with her tiara on her head. “Is today a special day?”
“Not today,” I inform her, and she pouts. “But you can wear it all day once we get home.” Which seems to satisfy her. We walk out of the house and I punch in the address, and when we turn onto his street, I know all of a sudden, we are in a different tax bracket. I know because I grew up in a similar house, maybe a touch bigger. But definitely in a neighborhood where we knew everyone had money. My eyes almost pop out of my head when the GPS tells me I have reached my destination. I’m about to tap the phone, thinking there is a mistake, but the front door opens and Stefano steps out onto the porch. He’s wearing blue shorts with a matching blue shirt. He walks down the steps with no shoes on, coming to my car. “This house is a mansion.” I gasp, right before he opens the back door.