Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 75240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
I also hated it.
This place, everything it represented, was a love that was false.
Hell, my mother even refused to come over here because it represented everything that she hated most in this world.
My mother, well, she was definitely on the wronged side of their relationship. She couldn’t even stand being in the same room as him, which by my mark was acceptable to say the least.
I couldn’t stand being in the same room with my ex, either.
And he’d cheated on me multiple times.
Sure, we didn’t have the same type of relationship as my parents had had, but it was a relationship nonetheless.
Troy’s and my relationship wasn’t normal.
Not by a long shot.
I’d met Troy when I was doing hospital rotations in the psych ward during my second semester of nursing school.
No, he wasn’t a patient.
But his sister was.
Meeting him where I met him should’ve been my first clue.
I should’ve known that meeting someone while you were working and doing a job was cosmically meant to fail. Especially when it’s in the psych ward.
But I’d gone against my instincts and taken him up on an offer for dinner. Then I’d gone against my rules and spent time with him—more time than I should have.
But Troy was Troy.
He was sweet, charming, and funny…when he wanted to be.
He had a dark side.
A side where his thoughts turned inward, and his eyes changed.
Secretly, I thought he was bi-polar or something. Not that I’d ever tell him that.
He changed. One second he was happy-go-lucky, and the next he was dark and full of despair.
That’s what happened the night he shot me.
“Wow,” Bowe exclaimed. “This is an awesome view.”
I shook my head free of those dark thoughts and went back to real life. In my head wasn’t a place that I wanted to be. Not right then, and not ever.
“It is,” I agreed. “The property came with an old track hoe. My brother used to work a lot of construction in his youth, and he helped me make it.”
What he helped make was a small pond that was a jump and a skip off my large back porch.
When I put my deck on, I extended it so it looked like it went right up to the water.
In reality, it didn’t.
It was an illusion.
My house was built up on a hill, and the pond was down the long hill at the bottom of the property.
It was big enough, though, that it had the illusion that it was right at my back porch.
“Anyway,” I said, taking hold of his hand. “This is my room.” I pointed to a door that led off the back deck.
Then I turned him so he faced the opposite side. “This is the guest bedroom, and where I’ll be stashing you for the foreseeable future.”
He tossed me a grin.
“The doctor made it sound like it’s only going to be for a few days,” he replied helpfully. “Though living in such opulence will make it hard to leave.”
I pinched his arm and returned to the living room.
After checking to make sure Elise was still lying happily amongst her toys, I took hold of his hand and led him to the kitchen.
“And this is my kitchen, where none of the magic happens,” I grinned at him.
His brows rose.
“I, unfortunately, suck at cooking. Everything I try to make turns out bland and tasteless. Although that seems to be enough for Elise, so there’s that,” I teased.
His eyes took in the kitchen.
“It’s beautiful,” he replied.
And state of the art.
Though he likely could see that.
It was such a waste to have this much put into a kitchen and my skills not be up to par.
“This is an office, I guess. I use it as storage.” I flipped on the light of the room that was directly off the kitchen. “I’d intended to make it into a craft room, but I suck at making things, and it needs shelves or something. I don’t know. Regardless, it’s something.”
He snorted.
Taking his hand once again, I led him through the circle that the house inevitably ended up making.
“Laundry room, mudroom, my bathroom, my bedroom. Kitchen, living room, your room. Your bathroom. And this,” I paused in the hallway that would lead to the media room. “This is the media room. It has one chair and one TV.”
I flipped on the light, and he immediately burst out laughing.
“Don’t laugh,” I scolded him.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an awesome bean bag before in my life,” he informed me.
I winked and led him back out to the living room.
“Your child pulled up to the coffee table,” Bowe said.
I gasped and turned.
“I missed it!” I cried, hurrying over to Elise. “You naughty girl!” I cooed. “Show me again.”
I placed her gently back onto the floor, and she glared at me with those beautiful honey eyes of hers.