Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Her mouth curved into a smile. “Well, look at that. Looks like a little ink spot.”
“Felicity said acorn, but ink spot might be an even better description.”
“Have you eaten?” she asked.
“Oh, yes. Felicity prepared a nice charcuterie board for us. Then we had tea and cookies. I’m totally stuffed. Think I’m just gonna go upstairs to take a bath.”
“Okay, lovely. Enjoy it.”
After relaxing in the tub, I went to my room to get dressed. There was something sitting on my bedside table.
A box of Devil Dogs.
CHAPTER 22
* * *
Abby
Track 22: “I Love Onions” by Susan Christie
After at least an hour of debating whether or not I should call him, I decided to pick up the phone.
Sig answered on the second ring. “Everything alright?”
“Yes, but you shouldn’t have.” I bounced on my bed. “The gift you left me was perfect.”
“Well, I didn’t want your sweet tooth to keep you up tonight.”
“That was really sweet of you.” I stilled at the sound of a woman’s voice in the background. Suddenly, I wanted to crawl into a hole. “Is…someone there with you?”
He hesitated. “She was…just leaving.”
“Oh.” A rush of jealousy caused me to perspire. “Gosh. I’ll let you go, then.”
“No,” he insisted. “Hang on.”
I heard some muffled talking, followed by a door slamming shut. He then returned to the phone. “Hi. Sorry.”
“I didn’t realize I was interrupting. Why did you answer the phone if you were hooking up with someone? I would’ve much preferred your voicemail.”
“It was more like a botched hookup…all I seem to be having as of late.”
“Botched because of my interruption?”
“No. I’d botched it all on my own before you called.”
I had to ask. “Nothing…happened?”
“No.”
“How did you botch it?”
“It’s not the first time this has happened, particularly lately. When I reach out, I’m looking for an escape in the form of company. But by the time she gets here and is right in front of me, I…” He paused. “I don’t know…lose interest.”
His candor surprised me. Calming a bit, I lay on the bed and crossed one foot over the other. “Like when you have insomnia and order something online in the middle of the night? By the time it arrives days later, you’re like ‘What the heck is this? I must’ve been crazy to want it’?”
“Sort of like that, yeah.”
“You’re like an avocado, Sig.”
“An avocado? First I’m a cinnamon roll. Now I’m an avocado?”
“Yes. An avocado is only ripe and ready for a very brief time. Many times, you open it and it’s already brown. You miss the window if you so much as leave the room for too long.”
“Any other foods you wish to compare me to?”
“An onion.”
“Sorry I asked.”
“Actually, Felicity came up with that one.”
“Did she? Well, Ginger is just as mad as you are.” He sighed. “So tell me, Abby, how am I like an onion?”
“You have many layers. And it takes a while to get through them to see the real you, not the one putting up walls.”
“And you, Abby Knickerbocker, are a fruitcake.”
I giggled like a fool. “I like fruitcake, actually—probably one of the few people in the world who does. I’ll take that as a rare compliment from you.” I fell silent for a moment, then couldn’t help myself. “The last compliment you gave me really caught me off guard, though.”
“What was that?”
“When you told me a man wouldn’t want to share me.”
“Ah... I did say that, didn’t I?”
While I’d hoped he would elaborate on why he’d said it, he remained silent. “So…” I cleared my throat. “When was the last time you had a successful hookup?”
He sighed. “The rhinoceros. Well, I wouldn’t call that successful. But it…went to completion.”
My forehead wrinkled. “Rhinoceros?”
“She snored like one. Fell asleep, and I didn’t have the heart to wake her. Big mistake. She kept me up all night. Then Phil and Kate knocked on my door the next morning and saw her here.”
I snorted. “That must have been awkward.”
“Indeed. So was Phil’s yodeling.”
“What?” I laughed. “I’m not even gonna ask, but that sounds like a circus.” I slid between my sheets. “Why did they come over so early anyway?”
“That was the trip when they flew in to talk to me about the surrogacy. They surprised me that morning.”
“You haven’t been with anyone in that long?”
“You’re taking a great interest in this topic, Abby.”
“Well, I have nothing better to do right now than pry.”
“Perhaps you should get a hobby,” he teased.
“I don’t need a hobby. I’m currently growing a human inside of me. What’s your superpower?”
His deep laughter vibrated through the phone. “Touché, love.” After a moment he added, “What else are you itching to ask me? I can hear the wheels turning in your head.”
“Who was the woman at your apartment tonight?”
“Name’s Rose. Someone I met on an app.”
“And you just…what? Changed your mind and kicked her out?”