Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 65429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Since I was put on the spot, I lied to everyone that he was unexpectedly pulled into a work thing and wouldn’t be joining us. The bridal shower was filled with more marriage advice I didn’t care to hear and an overwhelming number of gifts to open. When it was finally over, I hurried back to my room for some time alone.
I barely slept the night before and was exhausted and emotionally drained from the entire week. Ethan and I were supposed to spend the rest of the afternoon together, but I was beginning to think he flew back to Charleston.
I changed out of my white dress, throwing on a pair of jeans and a tank top. Beau wouldn’t be back for a few hours, so I was alone for the first time since we landed in France, other than when I was sleeping.
I sat in the reading nook by the window, aimlessly staring out at the garden as my thoughts sped a mile a minute until there was a knock on the door.
“I’m coming!” I announced, opening it.
My heart immediately dropped to the ground, wholeheartedly not expecting to see him.
“Ethan,” I softly greeted, gazing into his serene eyes that always did things to me.
The silence between us was deafening as we just stood there, lost in each other’s presence for a moment. We took one another in as if we hadn’t seen each other just last night. I watched the way his lips moved with each quick breath that blew out of his mouth. I knew his heart was racing as fast as mine was.
I watched the way his hair blew in the wind from the open windows, framing his defined face and intense stare solely focused on me.
I watched the way his solid muscular chest heaved up and down, mirroring mine like they were in sync.
I especially watched the way he looked at me. It was now engrained in my mind, in my memory, in every last part of me.
When he casually brushed my hair away from my face, he still didn’t say a word.
The emotion he was openly showing me was consuming…
I could touch it.
Feel it.
Taste it.
My heart fluttered, my stomach dropped again, and my mouth parted the instant he rasped, “Hi, Livvy.”
I hid back a smile, unaware of how to proceed with him until I replied, “Hi, Ethan.”
He never tried hiding from me. Always showed me his true colors no matter the circumstance.
What you saw was what you got.
What he said was what he meant.
Whether I wanted to see it or not.
I swallowed hard, dying to ask him if he was with Varissa.
“Come on.” He nodded with a sly grin.
My eyebrows pinched together. “Where?”
“Would it matter? You’re mine for the rest of the afternoon, remember? Take a ride with me. I want to show you something.”
He reached for my hand and my resolve quickly shattered while I grabbed his. I tried not to get emotional while he drove us to wherever he was taking me, but it was difficult not to. An endless stream of conflicting emotions spiraled through my mind, tearing right at my heart. Confusing me even more when it came to him, but in a much different way than before.
I closed my eyes just for a second, too consumed with feelings I didn’t know how to stop. I tried ignoring the looming feeling in the pit of my stomach, focusing on the beautiful scenic route he drove us on instead. My thoughts never stopped racing as I desperately tried enjoying the fresh breeze in my face. I tried living in the moment with Ethan, even if it wouldn’t last. I sought the refuge he always provided, with or without him even knowing it.
Which was yet another thing about Ethan…
He wanted to see the truths that most people tried to ignore.
The way he looked at me, the way he spoke to me, the way he listened.
Every smile.
Every laugh.
Every word that fell from his lips meant something.
It didn’t matter how big or small.
It was there.
Etching its way into my heart where no one could ever come close to it.
Not that I had ever let them.
Even with my fiancé.
When Ethan slowed down and took a turn onto a secluded road that read Private Property at the entrance, I asked, “Where are we going?”
He smiled, pulling into a makeshift parking spot in a forest. We were in the countryside, and before I knew what was happening, as if reading my mind, he tilted his head to the side, enticing me with whatever he was going to say.
I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. His mischievous glare shadowed the movement of my tongue. So when he slowly stepped out of the SUV, taking his warmth with him, I followed him. Once we rounded the hood of the vehicle, he turned and grabbed my hand to lead us onto a cemented walkway. My eyes shifted swiftly from him to the surprise suddenly in front of me.