Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
When we draw apart, I lean my head on his shoulder with a contented sigh, our fingers entwining. “I meant to tell you this news under better circumstances,” I say, and I can feel the vibration in his chest as he laughs softly.
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is you’re safe.” He kisses the top of my head again, his arm tight around me.
The words strike a memory in me. Bianca’s wide, fearful eyes, and her expression as I tackled her out of the way. I sit upright again, my brow furrowing. “What about Bianca? She was there too; was she hurt?”
John’s expression darkens again, just like it did earlier. “Oh, Bianca is just fine. I wouldn’t be too worried about her.”
I frown. “What happened?”
He tells me everything, then. About the fray in the rope, the cut Bianca must have made before the crew hoisted the set piece into the air. About her sister, John’s ex, and why she was trying to get back at him. “She claims she didn’t want anyone to get hurt, that she just wanted to frighten you, but…”
I grimace. “She could have killed someone. She could have gotten injured herself, or the crew could have dropped that on their own heads.” I ball my fists, but John brings his hand to rest over them.
“I fired her, of course,” he says. “I’ll press charges too, if you want.”
There’s a beat where I consider it. I think about how John could afford to ruin that girl’s life. But then I shake my head. People like that are always the authors of their own worst miseries. And now she’s jobless, too, and no doubt with a black mark on her resume. “It’s enough to never have to see her again,” I mutter, leaning back into John’s side as his arm snakes back around me, his fingers tracing through my hair. “She really wasn’t hurt, though?”
John shakes his head. “She was fine. Shaken up, that was all.”
“Good.” I heave a sigh. “Is that crazy? I should probably hate her, but I wouldn’t want her to get injured. Even if it would have been her own stupid fault.”
“That’s not crazy.” John kisses my temple. “You’re a good person, Mara. Maybe too good sometimes.” He smiles.
I roll my eyes. “Lea always tells me that too. Actually, I believe her exact words are that I’m ‘sickeningly good.’”
“I’m inclined to agree.” He grins and kisses me again, softer this time. “It’s both the best thing about you, and probably your only flaw—that you can’t just stick up for yourself and be an asshole when you need to.” He winks. “But don’t worry. I can handle that side of things for the both of us.”
I laugh and roll my eyes, shoving his chest gently. “You can’t be that big of an asshole, or you’d have already hauled that girl off to jail with six different restraining orders.”
His expression darkens. “Believe me, I was tempted. Especially after seeing you injured… But I thought about you, and I figured you wouldn’t want me to. Not before I talked to you about it.”
“Well. I guess we balance each other’s bad and good sides out pretty well, don’t we?” I grin and reach up to cup his cheek.
“I love you, Mara,” he whispers, not for the first time, but it feels new all over again, sends a chill down my back and makes my belly tighten with excitement.
“I love you too.” I reach down to cup my belly. “And I hope you love our child just as much.”
“Believe me.” He kisses the tip of my nose. Then my cheek. My jawline. “I already do,” he whispers, his breath hot against my skin as he kisses his way lower. Down the edges of my collarbone, across the hospital gown I’m wearing. Until his lips reach my belly. He gently kisses me, through the thin fabric of the gown, hard enough that I can feel the heat, the outline of his lips against the soft skin of my stomach. “I can’t wait to start this family with you, Mara Walloway,” he murmurs.
And with his lips pressed against my stomach, I realize I can’t wait for it either.
Epilogue
Mara looks incredible in that gown. It’s bright red, tight in all the right places. A cascade of glitter and silk. It flares in just the right place to hide the bump underneath.
Less than a month now, until the newest member of our family joins us. I can’t wait to meet him—we opted to find out the sex in our last ultrasound. We’re having a boy. My parents would have been thrilled, if I hadn’t cut them out of my life for the time being.
It won’t be forever. I’ll let them see their grandchild someday. It’s important to Mara that we rebuild a relationship with them at some point, too. After all, family is family. But for now, I’m strong-arming my parents until they behave and start to treat my wife with the respect she deserves.