Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 126850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
I’d be back to studying, desperately trying to finish my PhD on time. He’d go back to… whatever it was he did. I didn’t even know. I’d never asked.
How didn’t I know that?
Either way, everything would return to normal. I’d go back to my life, living with my best friend, and William would go back to whatever it was he did with his.
Wouldn’t it?
I was fine. Whatever this connection was between us would go away. They always did, although I’d never felt one quite like this.
Being with him was so easy. Aside from the lies, it didn’t feel like we were pretending to be together. Hell, I’d felt less comfortable with actual boyfriends, like being a real-life girlfriend was harder work than this.
But I didn’t want this.
I didn’t want this upper-class, gossip-filled, extravagant life.
I wanted a normal life. A normal house, a normal husband, normal kids, no obligations or titles or anything that would complicate things. And even if I did accept that I had feelings for William, that would never be an option for him.
Did I want that, though?
Was it worth giving up what you thought you wanted for something or someone you didn’t know you needed?
I’d been adamant from day one that I’d never speak to William again after this weekend, but was that even an option for me now?
No.
The little whisper in the back of my head was right. There was no way I’d be able to ignore the man forever. His family had stories of my mum and my childhood that I wanted to hear, and he was a part of that.
Maybe I didn’t want to never speak to him.
Maybe I wanted to.
Could we be friends? Was friendship even possible when I felt so drawn to him? Was it an option to be around him if either of us entered into a relationship? Would I compare everyone else to this feeling?
Was this feeling even real?
We were in a bubble, after all. A magical, surreal bubble in a beautiful fairy tale setting. I didn’t know anything about him, despite how long we’d technically known each other.
Was he a cat or dog person? What was his favourite shape of pasta? Who was the best superhero? Where did he stand on mushy peas versus curry sauce at the fish and chip shop?
You know, the important stuff.
The important stuff that didn’t seem important when his breath made my skin set on fire and his touch washed all my worries away.
And, you know, thank God it did. I had plenty of those with my stepmother showing up today.
Just the thought of that made me tense up. I hadn’t spoken to my dad since the phone call, and now that I knew Granny had told him I was here and apparently dating William, there was a chance Carmen was going to corner me tonight and bombard me with questions.
Just because Granny knew the truth didn’t mean she was going to tell Dad that. And she definitely wasn’t going to tell Carmen—nor did I want Carmen to know.
It was petty, but I was a petty person.
Especially where she was concerned.
“What are you thinking about that’s gotten you so tense?” William asked sleepily, sliding his arm under the covers and wrapping me in a big hug.
“The wedding,” I replied. “Specifically seeing my step-mum.”
“Mm,” he said, clearly far more asleep than awake. “Set your granny on her.”
“I don’t need to set her on anyone. She’s like a guard dog without encouragement.”
He chuckled, but his amusement was interrupted by the mother of all yawns that was so infectious I couldn’t help but let loose one of my own.
That prompted another sleepy laugh from him, one that shook his whole body. “Sorry.”
“Mmph,” I replied. “Do I have to go to the wedding? Can’t I have a migraine or something? Wasn’t that an option we discussed?”
“No. You can’t escape it now.” William kissed my shoulder, letting his lips linger there for a moment longer. “Besides, it’s not long until you’re free.”
“Hardly, with the number of people who now believe we’re in a relationship. I’m amazed my father hasn’t called me demanding to know why I didn’t tell him yet.”
“What if he does? What will you say to him?”
“That I’m a grown-arse woman who doesn’t need his permission to date.”
“How well will that go down?”
“Well enough that he’ll get the message to stop asking about it, probably.” I sighed. “He’ll text me later and call me tomorrow when Carmen has had a chance to moan about me ignoring her all night.”
“How do you know she’ll do that?”
“Because I plan to ignore her all night.”
He laughed, shifting slightly so that his erection brushed against my bum cheek. “Really?”
“Yes. Why do you think I don’t attend events with them? Partially because I don’t always want to, but even the ones I want to go to, I miss because of her. She likes to play happy families and pretend she’s the best step-mum ever in the history of the universe.”