Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41351 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41351 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
“Ethan.”
“It’s just dinner. You have to eat right?”
“Okay. Just dinner but don’t expect anything else.”
His smile widened. “I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”
“Somehow I find that hard to believe.”
“Guess you’ll find out tomorrow, won’t you?”
There was another long pause before she answered again. “Well, it’s getting late and I need to get up early for work. What time should I arrive?”
“Six-thirty. Is that too early?”
“No, that’s fine. Just text me your address.”
“Will do. Goodnight, Riley.”
“Night, Ethan.” She hung up then.
Ethan was satisfied with the way the conversation had ended. If he had his way. Riley’s nights of sleeping alone were numbered.
7
Riley cursed herself for being a fool. She had to be a glutton for punishment to have accepted Ethan’s invitation for dinner. Several times today she was tempted to call him to cancel but each time she picked up her phone to dial his number she’d change her mind. Her stomach had been twisted in knots all day and she could barely concentrate on her work which wasn’t good since she was in the middle of auditing one of the largest finance companies in the city. It was gratifying that her boss had enough faith in her to handle such a large project and she didn’t want to misplace it.
Was it only a short while ago when she thought her life was coming along nicely? She didn’t realize bumping into Megan again would lead to this. However, as she drove to Ethan’s house, she told herself she was doing it for Megan’s sake. But having told herself that several times already Riley recognized it for the lie that it was. Ethan was still very much in her system. She missed his touches and how he worked her body like a finely tuned instrument. Yes, that was it. It was just the physical thing and nothing more. As long as she didn’t delve deeper into her feelings she’d be okay and hopefully when the wedding was over, she and Ethan would part ways. Both unscathed.
Just as she glanced at the directions on her phone to confirm she was heading in the right direction her cell phone rang. She groaned knowing if she didn’t take the call, she’d get an earful later.
She pulled over to the side of the road to take the call because she’d left her Bluetooth earpiece at the office. “Hi, Mom. How are you?”
“Don’t ‘Hi Mom’, me. I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me. I have seen neither hide nor hair of you in over a week. At the very least you give me a call if you don’t stop by for a visit.”
Riley groaned inwardly. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’ve been a bit busier than usual lately. I have a huge project at work and I’ve been getting up early and coming right home to crash.”
“And what about the weekend?”
“Actually, I was bridesmaid dress shopping with Megan, you remember her don’t you?”
“Of course. The two of you were best friends until you did the right thing and got rid of her good-for-nothing brother.”
Despite the problems she’d had with Ethan, she didn’t like her mother running him down like she often done throughout the course of Riley’s marriage. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that. Ethan and I may have had our problems but he always treated you with respect.”
“You call breaking my baby’s heart being respectful. I think we have a different definition of the word, Riley. Anyway, Rachel mentioned something about you being in Megan’s wedding. I suppose that means you’ll be seeing that man as well?”
“Of course. He is her brother. Actually he’s one of Jackson’s groomsmen.”
“I don’t like the sound of that. You’re asking for trouble.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“I remember you saying something to that effect when you married him. I still don’t know what you were thinking to get married so young and to a man like him. I warned you about his type but I guess you had to find out the hard way like the rest of us. And to top it off your father sanctioned that mess. The man couldn’t keep his own vows but he was supporting someone else’s marriage.”
And there it was. No matter what the topic, her mother always found a way to bring the conversation back to Riley’s father. Riley acknowledged her father had been a lousy husband and wasn’t as active as a father should have been, but he had supported them financially and when she or her sisters had asked him for anything, he’d rarely denied him. Riley suspected that it bothered her mother that Riley and her sisters didn’t hold him in the same contempt Sheila held him in.
Riley sighed. “Mom, Daddy was supporting my decision. I realize Ethan and I should have waited a little longer and maybe seen that marriage wasn’t for us. But I did finish school and what’s done is done.”