Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
His eyes lightened at my words. “And Lizzie’s bedroom can be waaaaay on the other side of the penthouse.”
I chuckled. “That would also be nice.”
“I can help Lizzie with her homework every day, you can help me with my writing while she’s watching TV, your parents or my parents can watch her on date nights, and we can sneak over to the hotel across the street…sounds pretty perfect.”
“Yeah, that does sound perfect.”
“I can buy your parents a place in the building, so they’ll be close by.”
“Oh god, no,” I said with a laugh. “You don’t need to do that, Derek.”
“Then where will they live? In that apartment?”
“Yeah. I can continue to take care of them on my salary.”
Derek’s eyes narrowed on my face, and he gave me a long, hard look. “Baby, come on.”
“Come on, what?”
“You know what I mean by that.”
“I don’t need you to take care of my parents—”
“They’re my parents too. What’s mine is yours, and vice versa. I don’t want there to continue to be a separation between us like that. I don’t want you to resist me. I don’t want us to be weird about money. I’ve always been annoyed with the women who want me for my money, and now you’re the first woman I actually want to want my money. Take it.”
“Derek…”
“You said yes. That means you agree to take all of me, my rockets, my graded papers all over the place, my stories…and my success. It all comes together in one package. You agreed to share your life with me, and in my life, I have money. So, you have money too. Alright?”
I inhaled a long, deep breath before I gave a nod.
“Great. Because I have another idea I want to run by you…”
“Okay.”
“And the only reason I’m bringing it up so soon is because the deadline to apply is next week.”
“Okay…”
“How do you feel about Lizzie going to private school?”
I gave him a blank stare because I’d never even considered it. “I…I don’t know. The thought has never crossed my mind, honestly.” Well, it did, but it was just so expensive that I couldn’t afford it. I chose to save my money for college instead.
“I’m not going to insult public school because Lizzie is doing just fine, but in my experience at private school, there were a lot more opportunities. Smaller classrooms, more hands-on instruction, more advanced programs, connections to the Ivy League schools…stuff like that.”
A mother wanted the best for her kids, especially when it came to education. That sounded like a dream come true, with some stipulations. “Aren’t private school kids…a little stuck-up?”
“Am I stuck-up?” he asked with a smile. “Dex? Daisy?”
“No, but your parents are probably the reason for that.”
“And we’ll be the reason Lizzie doesn’t get stuck-up. Honestly, she’ll be fine. She went to public school first, and she’s very down-to-earth. I wouldn’t worry about that.”
“Well, how much does it cost?”
All he did was stare at me.
“I’m just saying—”
“This is your daughter, and I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do, but if private school is something that you really want, let’s not talk about money. I want the best for Lizzie.”
“Don’t they only take the super-smart kids?”
“I’m telling you, Lizzie is very smart.”
“I know that, and I appreciate your belief in her, but in terms of standardized testing, she’s just not going to compete with the Derek Hamiltons over there. I don’t want to get her excited, only to watch her get rejected. She’s sensitive…it’ll hurt her.”
“Don’t worry about that. She’ll get in.”
“How?”
He gave a slight shrug. “Well, I’m Derek Hamilton…one of their most famous students.”
“But if she takes a spot when another student deserved it more—”
“They won’t give her someone else’s spot. They’ll just make room for her. Don’t worry about that. They have a lot of integrity and would never take away a kid’s place like that. So…it sounds like your answer is yes.”
“I guess it is.”
He smiled. “Great. I wanted it to be Lizzie’s graduation present at the party.”
“You think she’ll be excited about it?”
“Absolutely. Lizzie is very ambitious. I think she’ll be thrilled.”
Yeah, she probably would be. She would be excited to attend Derek’s old school, to tell the other kids she knew Derek Hamilton. I’d never seen her work so hard for her future until she met Derek, and now I couldn’t imagine the places she would go with him to help her. “Thank you…for everything.”
His eyes softened.
“For being so good to my little girl.” I loved her so much, and it was such a blessing to find a man who would love her too, who would look after her, whom I could trust to take care of her if I wasn’t around.
“Thank you for letting me have a relationship with her. I know I was apprehensive at first, but she’s been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. When we met, I didn’t know I could love one person, but you taught me I could love two.”