Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 61905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“I do,” Joey says without missing a beat, and if my heart wasn’t broken it would be beating for him.
“You’ll treat her right?” Becca asks.
“With everything I am.”
“Why do I believe you?” Becca lets out a huff of a laugh. “I guess you know how to kill someone easily so she will be protected.”
I manage a small laugh too.
Joey steps farther into the room, and his hand comes to rest on my shoulder. “I would like to offer you something if you would be willing?” We both glance at him. His ice-blue eyes flick to mine before they land on Becca. “No one should die alone. We have a room, good doctors, and your nurse can come too.”
Becca and I sit there, both of us taken aback at his more than generous offer.
I didn’t expect him to say that.
Not at all.
“I slept with your wife,” Becca states simply. My eyes go wide, and I bite my lip at her words. “You want to share a house with someone who also loves your wife?”
“Yes, because while you had her for a short while, I will have her for a lifetime.”
Ouch, that was mean.
“I want to say no,” Becca replies, but then she glances at me. “But I’m also afraid. I don’t want to die alone.” She looks at me pleadingly. “Would you want me there?”
Taking a deep breath, I look back at Joey. His eyes are already on me, waiting for me to answer. He’s given me his approval, so it’s down to me.
“You’re okay with it if I say yes?”
He lifts my chin ever so slightly. “You are all I see, and if this will make you happy, then, yes, I’m okay with it.”
My free hand reaches up and captures his. He gives it a kiss before quickly releasing it.
Looking back to Becca, I ask, “What do you need me to pack?”
TWENTY-NINE
JOEY
It’s not ideal, the situation I’ve created. I won’t lie and say it’s easy. Becca’s been living here now for a week. And for the whole week I’ve hardly seen my wife, or slept in the same bed as my wife, or even fucked my wife.
I hear her laugh when I get home, hear her soft voice in the mornings when I leave.
I can’t blame her—I did agree to this.
Hell, it was my idea.
It felt like the right thing to do, to show Adora my trust in her. Make her trust me. It’s what our relationship is missing.
“I didn’t take you for much of a cook.” Adora’s hands circle my waist as she comes up behind me and leans her head on my back as she breathes me in.
“I can cook a mean bacon and eggs.”
She giggles into my shoulder. “If you were taught by your mother, I absolutely believe you.”
“No, my last girlfriend,” I joke, but she freezes behind me. “Adora.” I turn around and her hands drop to her sides. “I’m kidding.” I push her long chocolate hair behind her ears and lift her face to look at me. Those eyes that are full of bottomless whiskey stare back at me tiredly.
“If I say something, do you swear to not lose your shit?”
“If you promise to sleep in our bed tonight.”
“I do.”
“So do I, then,” I tell her, my hands trailing across her shoulders and down her arms.
“It’s hard to give you my all when a part of me is in that back room.” She doesn’t look where Becca is currently sleeping, but we both know that’s who she’s referring to.
“For someone who grew up without love, you sure do have enough of it to give,” I say evenly, keeping my anger at bay. It’s not necessary. I understand what she’s saying, as much as it might frustrate me.
“We haven’t shared those words,” she points out, nibbling on her lip. “I don’t intend to any time soon, just so you’re aware.”
“And why is that?”
“Do you love me?” she questions, her eyes never leaving mine. “You’re falling for me, I can tell that much, and I’m falling for you too. But love isn’t instant. It may be fast when it hits you, but it takes time to get to that point. I could have fallen deeply in love with Becca if you hadn’t come along.”
“I am falling for you.” Might be a bit of an understatement right now, but I am not going to lay everything on the line.
“And I am for you, but you must know I’m not there yet, Joey. I can put up a shield as fast as you can say happy. I’ve done it before, and I will probably do it again. I’m trying to be more…” she thinks on the word, “… me here, and not the me that was broken back home.”
“Do you want to stay in our bedroom tonight?” I ask, and she falls into my chest.