Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
CHAPTER SIX
Malcolm had a hell of a time falling sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about how soft and warm and wonderfully curvy Josie looked in her pajamas. A gentleman wouldn’t have noticed she had nothing on underneath. As much as his mother had tried to raise him to be a gentleman, she’d failed on that front. He’d been unable to not notice. He had only broken up with his girlfriend an hour before, and yet, he found himself consumed with thoughts of Josie. The sound of her laughter. The way her smile lit up her face. The smell of her faint vanilla scent whenever he got close enough.
And the emotion in her eyes when she listened to him tell her about his father’s difficult past, and also when he apologized to her for treating her so badly in high school. Normally, he would pull out his laptop and phone and deal with some business matters before bed. He couldn’t think of the last time he hadn’t checked in on work before going to sleep. But he didn’t feel like it tonight. He’d liked sitting up on the rooftop deck of his boat, staring up at the stars, listening to the owls hoot. He hadn’t done that in a long time. If he wasn’t working, he was going to some fancy gala or fundraiser, or sitting in the most expensive seats at a must-see show, or attending a new restaurant opening.
He rarely spent an evening relaxing, even with his family. More and more over the years, he’d taken to working every spare moment, his commitments leaving less and less time to enjoy life. Sure, he still got out for a hard run along the Thames most days, and he lifted weights three times a week, but those were things he did for maintenance. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d played football or rugby, games he used to love. No time. He exercised to stay fit, the way he ate because he was hungry and not because he really enjoyed the food he put in his mouth.
Though he’d thoroughly enjoyed the toasted cheese sandwich tonight, even more than the perfectly cooked high-priced steak. Josie was not only beautiful and cheerful, she could also make a mean midnight snack. He couldn’t imagine any of his exes cooking, especially not something laden with cheese and butter and carbohydrates. Which said a great deal about his taste in women, he realized. Josie was refreshing.
He felt a huge weight lifted now that he’d finally done what he should have done fifteen years ago. He’d apologized to a young woman he’d hurt badly. She’d tried to pretend his behavior hadn’t affected her much, but he’d seen the deep hurt in her pretty hazel eyes. He imagined a cocky young man treating one of his sisters that way, and he knew he’d want to take the blighter apart. Still, he’d finally apologized, and now, perhaps, they could move on.
And maybe he could stop thinking about kissing her again.
She’d given him a book. When was the last time someone had given him a gift for no particular reason? It wasn’t his birthday or Christmas. She’d offered him a book she believed might help him. Was he so much of a workaholic that a woman who helped people work through their issues thought he needed her help?
He’d flipped through Walden and been struck by this line: Let us first be as simple and well as nature.
Had Malcolm been so caught up in business that he’d missed out on the finest things in life? The simplest?
Again, he thought about how much he’d enjoyed sitting out on the roof deck with Josie, enjoying the night. It didn’t get much simpler than that. Or more pleasurable.
Finally, he drifted off, waking a handful of hours later to birds chirping outside and light pouring in through the window of the houseboat’s second bedroom, which he’d never slept in before. The quality of light on the river was totally different from the light in the city. It was no wonder that so many painters had been inspired by this stretch of the river.
He stretched and then realized he could smell freshly brewed coffee. Josie is here.
The thought filled him with warmth. It was nice knowing she was close by, somehow. Usually, he couldn’t wait to be left alone in his own flat, where he could focus on his computers and his phone calls. But he felt quite the opposite this morning.
He dug through the clothes he kept on the boat and threw on a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved T-shirt, padding out on bare feet. “Good morning.”
She wasn’t wearing her pajamas anymore, unfortunately, but she still looked great in black trousers that floated around her legs and cinched at the waist, and a white fitted top. “Good morning. I wasn’t sure if you preferred coffee or tea, but I brewed some coffee. I can make you tea, though, if you want.”