Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
My fingers squeezed his.
“I miss Derek.” His quiet voice broke the silence.
I stared at the side of his face, his cut jawline that was sprinkled with his shadow. “I miss him too.” This weekend at the cabin was so romantic, but it wasn’t quite the same without him. I missed his questions, missed the way he tried to teach me things, the way he lit up both of our lives.
“I love how good you are with him.”
“Well, he’s an easy kid to love.”
“For you, maybe,” he said as his eyes remained on the fire. “Valerie says he has a hard time playing with other kids…”
“Only because he’s so advanced.” His personality wasn’t the problem. He was just interested in building models and studying the universe instead of learning basic skills he’d picked up years ago. “And I understand him because he’s a lot like you…and I understand you.”
He turned his head my way, a slight smile on his lips. “Yeah…I think you’re right.”
I didn’t think about the future much, of having my own family, stuff like that. My career demanded so much of my attention that I didn’t even entertain the luxury. But I realized I would be a stepmother to Derek someday. I didn’t mind at all…because I loved that boy like he were my own. I didn’t care if he wasn’t mine, didn’t care that he was made with another woman. “I’ll work on getting Valerie out here.”
He dropped his smile at the mention of her. “I think I fucked that up…” He turned back to the fire.
“And we’ll smooth it over like last time.”
He stared at the flames for a while. “You were right about her. She doesn’t want me to be with you.”
My eyebrows rose. “She said that?”
“No. But she asked why I was spending so much time with you. Apparently, Derek speaks very highly of you.”
I hadn’t foreseen that problem, which was stupid, because Derek was talkative. Instead of being annoyed, I was touched, touched that Derek felt such a connection to me. Deacon and I would never have a chance if I didn’t have the love of his son. “We’ll invite her out for a visit and show her there’s nothing between us.”
There was a change in energy in the air, like the fire burned a little hotter, and he turned his head toward me, his fingertips suddenly limp. He stared at me, his gaze hard. “I’m not going to lie. I’m not going to pretend that I’m not in a serious, meaningful, and monogamous relationship with you.”
It was so sweet that I didn’t focus on how angry my suggestion made him. “If she thinks you’ve moved on, she’ll have no incentive to come here. We need to get her settled here first before we confess.”
“Moved on?” he asked. “I moved on the second I packed my bags and left.”
My hand squeezed his, sheathing his anger. “I know it’s stupid and immature, but our goal is to get Derek here. That’s the only thing that matters. Our relationship is not the priority. Derek is the priority.”
The anger slowly left his gaze as he released a deep breath, like he knew I was right. “I fucking hate her…”
“I know.”
He shook his head as he rubbed his fingertips across his scruffy jaw. “I can’t believe I was with her five years…when I could have been with you.” He looked at the fire again, his jaw tight with a grimace.
“But maybe we wouldn’t have met. Maybe there wouldn’t have been any openings in the building. Maybe you wouldn’t have moved to Manhattan at all. We shouldn’t wish to rewrite the past, not when we have no idea what would have happened.”
He was quiet as he looked into the fireplace.
“We’ll get Derek here, and everything will fall into place.”
He finally gave a slight nod.
“By the way, how did you get that residence? There’s a waiting list with a hundred people on it. You bypassed all of that.”
He released a deep sigh, like the question was a point of contention for him. “I wish I could tell you…but I can’t.”
I couldn’t stop the surprise from coming over my face.
“It has nothing to do with you—I just have to honor this person’s privacy.”
Did he know my boss? If he did, wouldn’t he have mentioned that before? My curiosity was strong, but I had to respect his request.
I turned quiet, looking into the fire while relishing the comfortable silence. His hand was still in mine, and I enjoyed how right this felt, how precious this moment was. When I met my husband, I thought it felt right. When we got married, I believed it would last forever. After that crashed and burned, I assumed I would never have faith in a relationship again, that I would only see good moments as future memories. But I didn’t feel that way with Deacon. It really did feel right…feel different. “Did you tell Tucker?”