Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 41725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Well, if she’d come to berate me for marrying someone a decade younger than me, she could fuck right off because I didn’t want to hear it. Not after last night. Besides fatherhood, this fake marriage to Brody was the best, most real thing in my life, and I’d cling to it as long as he’d let me.
“You okay?” Brody’s voice was soft and unsure. I turned to see him standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.
I moved to him quickly and cupped his face. “I’m fine. But I’m so sorry about that. Christ. I had no idea she was coming. I’ll ask her to leave,” I said impulsively.
Brody’s raised eyebrow said he knew as well as I did that I was lying. I’d never tell my daughters their mother wasn’t allowed in their own home.
But still. There needed to be rules.
“Better yet, I’ll talk to the girls,” I corrected. “Explain that they can’t just let her in here without advanced notice. This is our home. We deserve privacy.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Brody nodded slowly, but his gaze was fixed on the closed door behind me. “She’s really beautiful, huh? Liza, I mean.”
“Yes,” I agreed distractedly. Objectively speaking, Liza was tanned and blonde and attractive, and I’d heard Gwen say on many occasions that she envied Liza’s trim figure. At that moment, though, my ex-wife was a huge complication who’d barged into my private space and disturbed an intimate moment between me and my husband, so I was not disposed to think kind thoughts like Brody was. He was a far better person than I.
I knew I needed to get dressed and compose myself so I could go downstairs to deal with her, so I reluctantly let Brody go and headed for the walk-in closet to grab a pair of jeans and my favorite button-down.
“I’ve seen pictures of her, of course,” Brody said, still staring blankly at the door. “Jacey once showed me your wedding album and asked if she and Liza looked alike. And I’ve seen pictures of her from the times she’s come to visit or when the girls have gone to see her. But photos don’t do her justice. There’s just this… air about her. Confident and bold. She must have so many amazing stories about her life.”
“Yup. Millions.” I’d heard many from the girls over the years, though at the moment, I couldn’t remember a single one. I pulled on my jeans and tossed my pajama pants on the bed, determinedly ignoring how much I wanted to crawl back into it—with Brody—and keep the world at bay a little longer.
Brody sucked in a breath and shook himself like he was waking from a trance. “Right. Okay. I’ll skip breakfast,” he said matter-of-factly. He located his T-shirt from the foot of the bed, where I’d thrown it the night before, and pulled it on. “You guys will need some space to… talk and whatnot.”
“Oh.” I glanced up from fastening my shirt buttons with a frown. My whole body revolted at the idea of Brody not being with me—preferably pressed right up alongside me—but logically speaking, he was probably right.
Liza was not normally inclined to emotional outbursts or name-calling, but she hadn’t been acting like herself that morning. I needed to have a mature, rational discussion with her about boundaries, and if she made a single snarky comment to Brody or even threw a less-than-friendly glance in his direction, I’d end up raising my voice. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. And that would be unproductive.
I sighed. “You’re right. That would probably be a good idea.” I reached for his hands and clasped them tightly, staring down at him in wonder. “Thank you for being so thoughtful. I’ll have Jacey bring you some coffee, and I’ll come find you when it’s time for cookie making later, okay?”
Brody pulled his hands away and turned to tidy the bed. “Nonsense. Cleo will want Liza to help with the cookies.” He plumped the pillows and tossed a happy-go-lucky grin over his shoulder, though his eyes didn’t quite meet mine. “The girls will have a thousand things to tell her. Every single detail about school, and their friends, and Mia’s swimming trophy from camp, and Cleo’s progress report, and the boy Jacey likes—”
“Jacey likes a boy?” I frowned. “Since when?”
Brody huffed out a laugh and moved briskly to the other side of the bed, forcing me to step aside. “All in all, it’s probably better if I give you guys the day to yourselves. I’ll head to Fen’s. I have a ton of work to do.”
“But—” I frowned harder. “I thought you said yesterday that your project wouldn’t be much work at all. That you could get it done tonight. That you wanted to spend the day with us.” I didn’t want to be selfish, especially if it meant distracting him from important work, but I felt unexpectedly needy where Brody was concerned. I wanted him with me. Always.