Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
He cocks his head like he doesn’t understand what I mean. “He’s my father-in-law. I should’ve done this sooner, don’t you think?”
“Simon.” I lean toward him, both my hands on the island, glaring hard so he knows I’m not joking. “We aren’t staying married.”
He sighs like I’m the unreasonable one here and comes toward me. “Yes, we are.”
“No, we aren’t.” I put my hands up before he can get too close, blocking his path. My fingers brush his perfectly formed chest muscles, which is absolutely unfair, because it makes my core clench down. “Please, can you just stop?”
He takes a long, deep breath, and blows it out. “Emily, listen to me. I fucked up when I didn’t tell you about my father’s offer immediately. I think if I had done that, you might be more willing to hear what I’m saying to you. I am so sorry I put you through this and if I could go back and change one thing in our relationship, it would be that idiotic mistake.” He takes a step closer. I take one step back.
“I decided the moment I left my father’s office that I’m not going to take his offer. And I was going to tell you about it, but you were cooking and you seemed so excited, and I realized how badly I wanted you. I let myself get distracted, and that’s my fault, but it’s because I care about you. What I said upstairs is the truth. I want you as my wife. And maybe you don’t want that anymore, and you want to stick to the five years we planned on, and that’s fine. If you want to leave me in five years, I’ll still honor our agreement. But I’m going to bet you won’t. I’m going to bet you want to stay with me already. And, baby, what we have, it’s worth fighting for.”
I blink back tears. This can’t be happening. He’s not saying all this right now, because it’s making me melt, and I don’t want to soften toward him. I want to be strong. I want to do the right thing. I want to let him go and get his dream.
“I don’t want you to give up the Don position for me,” I whisper.
He shakes his head. “I’m not. This isn’t over, not yet, and even if that’s how things shake out, I won’t be upset. I’d rather have you.”
He comes to me then and I’m done fighting. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me against his chest. I lean into him, biting my lip to stop myself from crying, and when his mouth tips down toward mine, I let myself tumble into the kiss. He’s warm and tastes good, and he’s everything I’ve missed since coming back to my dad’s house, and I don’t know how I was living without him, even if it’s been a really short time.
“I’m not saying this is forever,” I whisper, smiling a little.
He grins back and bites my lower lip. “That’s okay. I’ll have five years to convince you.”
“I’m not sure you can do it. I mean, you scammed my father.”
“Good point, but now I’m going to pay him an exorbitant amount of money to sit around and do nothing. I think he’ll gladly take that deal.”
I get on my toes and kiss him, letting it linger, before taking a deep breath through my nose. “Are you sure about this?”
“Baby, I’m sure. I’m never going to marry that girl. I never seriously considered it. You’re what I want.” His expression gets more serious. “And I have a plan for that other thing.”
I’m not sure what his plan is, and I’m not sure that it matters right now. I’ll help him however I can—but first, I need something else. “Take me home, please,” I whisper, tugging him down so I can kiss him again. “And you better hurry, because I’ve been all pent-up since coming here.”
He laughs and drags me out to his truck, and he breaks a whole lot of traffic laws getting me back to our house.
Chapter 34
Simon
I get approximately twelve blissful hours with my wife. We spend most of them in bed.
Staying with Emily wasn’t a hard decision. I was afraid she might be freaked out by the way I feel about her, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. She throws herself at me with a reckless enthusiasm that gets me hard and keeps me hard until we’re both sweaty little messes.
I cook for her in the morning. She drinks coffee and sits near the bay window overlooking the garden, the sunlight in her hair, a smile on her lips, the steam from hot coffee drifting up around her face. I bend down and kiss her, aware that I’ve never been this content before in my life, even though things have never been this precarious before.