Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85593 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85593 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Fuck friendship.
Fuck half-measures.
I wanted Darcy back. I wanted every piece of her, and I wanted her all to myself.
38
DARCY
I kept catching myself smiling. Charleston had graced me with a rare in-home visit. He was between projects and actually had a little spare time for a change. He was wearing some ridiculously silky pajamas and brought over his favorite pillow and blanket. We were cuddling on my bed and watching Snowy With a Chance of Love. I’d suggested it, of course.
The movie had always been one of my favorites, and it also happened to be the only movie I’d ever watched with Dominic. I could quote the whole thing by heart, so I didn’t mind talking over it a little.
We were at the part where Salem chases after Sabrina. She made it painfully obvious that she wanted to be with him, but he didn’t pick up the signals so she went back to her ex. Salem had a really important meeting with this guy who is going to decide if he gets to keep the inn after a bunch of bogus safety complaints from her ex. But he proved she mattered to him more than any of it and missed the meeting to drive up to where she’s with a wedding planner and her ex. He crashed the meeting, told her he doesn’t deserve her, but she deserves to be happy and that’s not what she’ll be with him. Basically, it’s a big huge scene and everybody claps, but the part that really gets her is he risked losing his inn to chase after her.
I swoon every time. I grew up around a dad and a bunch of people who always acted like work was everything. You were only as good as you made your career. So the idea of someone being willing to toss all that away for someone they love seemed like the absolute height of romance.
“So,” I said while Salem and Sabrina were laughing and driving away from the meeting together. “Dominic apologized to me at work today.”
Charleston hit the pause button, sat upright, and tilted his chin down toward me. “Shut. Up. Start talking, woman.”
I grinned and gave a little shrug. “That’s all.”
“I will slap a bitch. Don’t test me.”
I laughed. “Okay, well, he brought flowers.” I pointed to the counter where I’d put them in a vase.
“Wow,” Charleston said. “He couldn’t pick a color? Those are hideous.”
“I thought it was kind of unique. I mean, hasn’t every girl been given roses before? It’s not every day you get… that.”
“So you forgave him? Because it sounds like you forgave him.”
“Actually, I had security drag him away.”
Charleston threw his head back and laughed. “You did not.”
“I totally did. But I couldn’t stop myself from, I don’t know, being a little flirty? I feel like I was on auto-pilot. Like the smart part of me was screaming no, no, no! But then this other part of me was just like, God, I want him back. Am I a terrible person for sending him mixed signals?”
“No. You are someone who got hurt, and you’re not sure if you are willing to open yourself up to getting hurt again. That’s called being human. And it’s smart. Don’t second-guess yourself.”
I sighed and hugged my pillow. I looked out the window. Last week, we’d started getting the first snows of the year. Usually, this was when my holiday mania kicked in. I would’ve had all my Christmas decorations out and I would’ve ice picked Mariah Carey and her Christmas songs out of their two-month purgatory. But my heart hadn’t been in it this year.
Go figure.
“So what do I do?” I asked.
“You wait. Give him a chance to convince you he learned his lesson. It’s not your job to teach it to him. Make him prove he understands how he fucked up and he won’t do it again.”
“But what if I just want him back, even if he doesn’t prove it?”
“Then you come talk to me and I’ll slap some sense into you. You respect yourself, which means you will not accept anything less than complete and utter proof that he deserves you back. And yes, you heard that right. He needs to prove that he deserves you.”
I sighed. “I want to be weak, Charleston. I just want to let him hold me again and say it’s okay. He brought me flowers.”
“And you were a boss when you made the security drag him out. Trust me. This is important. A man like him needs to grovel at least once in his life to be bearable long term. You want this to last? Wait it out and let him come to you. If he’s the one, he’ll figure it out. I mean, I know it’s just a movie, but look at Salem. Hard-headed, dumb as rocks, but does he eventually figure out how to make one hell of a gesture? Yes.”