Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
“Best I ever had.”
The TV is on, but the sound is muted. We’re lying in bed with the door open. The sheets catch a bit of wind every so often, which sends her snuggling to my side. I hold her tighter.
“I was thinking we could stay at your place when you get back.” I don’t ask the obvious question, though I want to know what she thinks.
She props herself up on her elbow. Her eyes are glassy, though I’ve not felt any tears fall on me. I reach up and gently pinch her chin. I ask, “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know what I did in another life to deserve you, but it must be pretty fantastic.” She grins.
“You’re pretty fantastic.”
“As for the offer, thank you. Let’s just play it by ear once I land.” Referencing toward the sliding glass door, she goes on, “I might be missing that view too much to stay away, so how does that sound?”
“I think that view will pale compared to yachting on the Mediterranean.”
Pushing forward, she kisses me and whispers, “Me being here has never been about the view.” She rests her head down on my shoulder, her eyelids growing heavier.
“I know, baby.”
We made the most of our last night together, but I can’t stop the dread filling my stomach or the thoughts haunting me from years ago. Her not showing up had lasting effects that touched every part of my life. The fights we had a few weeks ago were nothing but a blip in the longevity of our lives. So tomorrow I face the real test.
Should I tell her about our past?
I know I can’t, but what if I never get another chance? What if she meets someone else? What if . . . I gulp down the rabid thought trying to destroy me. But the one I fear the most still exists; Do I willingly let her walk out of my life again?
I wake up to the sun shining in and an empty bed.
“Fuck.” I throw the covers off me and rush down the hall.
“Good morning,” Poppy says, looking more gorgeous than ever. Some other fucker is going to have the pleasure of her company for two weeks while I’m stuck with the memory of how lovely she is. Every trip to the store we take is a harsh reminder of how goddamn lucky I am. Not only because of how stunning she is, but how incredible she is as a human, how she treats me like I’m the catch. We both know it’s her.
“I thought you had left.”
“Without a goodbye?” She comes around the counter and wraps her arms around my neck. “Never, my love.” She kisses me like I don’t have morning breath. Returning to the kitchen, she loads her knives into their bag.
“I’m glad. Taking your knives?”
She giggles. “Tools of the trade.”
“Yeah, that was dumb.” I rub my hand over my head, not fully awake yet. I didn’t expect to see her packing her knives to hit me so hard. Feels more official this way. I hate it. I slide onto a barstool. “So this is it, huh?”
“I’ll be back before you have time to miss me.”
“I missed you when you were only twenty feet from me.”
She laughs, zipping the bag closed. “Okay, so wrong choice of wor—”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
We both turn toward the door. She says, “It’s early for visitors.”
“And can only be someone with the code to my property.” I push off the barstool. “Nikki or Tommy, most likely.”
When I open the door, Tommy lets himself in and says, “Morning.” When he sees Poppy, he grins. “How are you this morning?”
“Good. You?”
“We’re about to find out.”
She walks around us, heading for the bedroom. “I’ll leave you two to it. I need to pack a few things in the bedroom.”
He asks, “Going on a trip?”
“A job.”
Glancing at me, he silently questions me. I reply, “She got a job on a yacht in the Mediterranean.”
“Damn, good gig.” She’s already down the hall when he says, “I have the paternity test results.”
Fuck.
31
Poppy
“What is it?”
I stand there like a fool, looking back and forth between the two of them. Tommy shoots a look at Laird. Not subtle. So I ask my boyfriend, “What’s going on?”
“Tommy has the results.”
“Results toooooo?” I lead him to water, hoping he drinks and will fill me in, but the answer hits me first. “Oh.” I release the handle of my suitcase and go to him. I don’t know what else to say or what to do. I just feel the need to be close to him and support him however he needs.
He taps my ass, naturally, and says, “Let’s sit in the living room. Sitting seems like something I should do.” I follow, settling beside him on the couch.
When Tommy sits in a chair at the end of the coffee table, he says, “Her legal team received the results due to the court order.”