Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
She pulls one of the throw pillows onto her lap and fingers the tassels. Her nails are sparkly teal, perfectly shaped, equal length. She does them herself every Sunday afternoon. The scent of the polish drifting through the house has become part of our home.
“Do you think about the future now?” she asks.
Every day. Every night. Even though I fight it with everything I have.
I pull a cucumber slice from the salad bowl and bite it in half. “I try not to. It scares the shit out of me.”
Understanding sits on her smile. “The future’s going to happen whether you’re scared of it or not.”
Chuckling, I nod and say, “You’re right.”
“Tell me what you want in this future that you’re scared of.”
I place the puppy on my lap and turn to her. She looks so gorgeous with her hair up, long loose waves framing her face that my brain stutters.
“Do you really want to know?”
A teasing, slightly mischievous smile spreads across her face. “I want to know everything you wish for and dream about, Fox. How else will I make them come true?”
Her subtle flirting makes me want her so fucking bad.
“Is that what you want to do, darlin’?”
“I see you’re trying to buy time before you answer the question.”
I toss my head back and let out a laugh. “Little smart-ass. Always calling me out.”
Still smiling, she holds a grape to her mouth. The way her lips wrap around it deflates the air from my lungs. I’d sell my soul to the devil to see her lips pursed around my cock that way.
“You love it,” she says, biting into the grape. The juice wets her lower lip. I fight the temptation to lick it off.
“I do.” Grinning, I release a long sigh. “I want what I’ve always wanted. A happy family. A successful career. Stability. A contented mind and heart. To love and be loved unconditionally. To sit on that fucking porch when I’m eighty, still holding hands with the love of my life.”
Her glittering gaze settles on mine. She’s wearing a familiar expression I’ve seen countless times since the first day we met—a hint of expectancy, like she’s waiting for me to remember something.
She says softly, “Can I be the one on that porch with you when you’re eighty?”
Words lodge in my chest, afraid to come out. Saying them means letting go of what was and moving on to what can be.
“I was hoping you would be. I can’t imagine being with anyone else.”
We reach for each other's hands at the same time. I bring hers to my lips and kiss it softly. Behind her, the sky shifts from blue to orange. She looks ethereal in the glow.
“Things will work out, Alex,” she declares softly. “I promise I’ll always be here with you.”
Chapter 35
ALEX
After our picnic, we brought the puppy and his carful of belongings into the house. We fed him dinner in his tiny dish and showed him his pile of toys. I had to smile when he immediately went after the tennis ball.
Penny and I said good night in the dark hallway. She had one foot on the stairs on her way to her room when I backed her against the wall for one more kiss. She smiled against my lips and clenched my shirt in her hands to pull me closer. The puppy tugged at my shoelaces, letting out adorable squeaky growls. We laughed, our bodies perfectly pressed together. The house sighed with happiness. I could feel it emanating from the walls and floors. It loved being a home, holding love. I could sense its drafty discontent when Penny went upstairs alone.
I felt the same.
I need to fix this.
Life can’t be cruel enough to take my wife away and then dangle impossible love in front of me.
But actually, life is exactly that cruel.
The puppy follows me to the back door. I take him outside for a walk under the moon, and he sticks right by my side like a shadow.
And just like that, he had a name.
I turn my face into the cool breeze. My bed is calling me, but so is Penny. I don’t trust myself to go upstairs when she’s in the next room, only five inches of wall separating us. Not when her perfume is still on my clothes and my cock is still twitching over how her curvy body felt against mine.
“C’mon,” I say to the puppy. “We’ll have our first late-night work session.”
Shadow goes straight to Cherry’s old bed in the corner of the studio. I’ve made a hundred excuses for not throwing it away, and now I’m glad I didn’t. Shadow doesn’t care how old and ratty it is. He’s curled himself into a ball on it, claiming it as his.
I don’t want to seem like an ungrateful douche, so I take a picture and text it to Kelley.