Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
She’s yawning heavily by the time I’m tucking her in.
“Thanks for coming by,” she says quietly, then tries to level a joke my way. “I’ll see you on Monday if I don’t die before then.”
“You’re adorable. But I’m staying the night to see how you are in the morning. If you’re not better, I’m taking you to the doctor.”
She watches as I round the bed to climb in on the other side. I’d not bothered getting dressed again after the shower other than putting on my briefs. I’d normally take them off, but why bother? Sex isn’t on the table tonight or in the morning.
When I’m settled in beside her, she reaches over and turns off her bedside light, casting the room into darkness. I can feel her shift, turning on her side to face me, which is how we go to sleep together.
“Thanks again,” she says.
“No problem,” I say, reaching blindly across the bed to touch her face. It’s cooler, which is reassuring.
There’s silence as I withdraw, so I close my eyes to go to sleep.
♦
Awakening the next morning to an empty bed, I roll off the mattress and head to the bathroom for a morning piss before finding Hannah in the kitchen.
She’s sitting at the two-person table with a cup of tea in front of her, surfing her phone. There’s an empty plate with breadcrumbs on it. I’m assuming it held toast.
“How do you feel?” I ask as I walk toward her. Reaching out, I touch her forehead and find it to be completely cool. Her eyes seem a little brighter this morning as well.
“Much better,” she says, her voice still coarse but stronger sounding. “I’m going to pick up Hope around noon.”
“That’s great,” I reply, moving over to her Keurig. Hannah is a coffee drinker like me, so the fact she’s drinking tea tells me she’s still a little shaky. But since she’s cool to the touch and determined to see her daughter today—which is no surprise at all—I don’t feel the need to badger her to go to the doctor.
I make a cup of coffee and take it back to the table, sitting in the chair across from her. Stretching my legs out, I brush up against hers, marveling at how good she feels just from that simple touch. I’m in no way thinking about sex with her, but fuck if just our legs touching isn’t like grabbing hold of a live wire.
I take a sip of my coffee and set the cup down. “Listen… I talked to my lawyer about your situation with Hope.”
“Oh,” she says, her eyes widening with interest as she leans forward, crossing her arms on the table. I can tell she completely forgot about it.
“My attorney will jump right on this. File a motion Monday morning.”
“But I already have an attorney,” she points out.
“One who won’t return your calls,” I counter. “I guarantee you that my attorney will call you back the same day if you have a question.”
And I know that because he knows I’d fire his ass if he didn’t.
“But I already paid a five-thousand-dollar retainer to the other attorney.”
“You can get that back, Hannah.”
She chews on her lower lip. It makes me want to kiss her. I wonder if she’s contagious.
Her tone is still dubious. “But my attorney said I need a longer work history to show the court I’m stable.”
“My attorney says not to worry about that at all,” I tell her.
Which is sort of true, but sort of not true. He said work history is important, and he readily accepted it as the truth when I told him Hannah had been working for me for three months as an executive assistant.
I’m struck almost stupid when she levels a blinding smile at me, and I realize I’ve never seen her this genuinely excited about something before. “Okay… I’ll use your attorney. And I’ve still got most of the bonus you gave me, which I can use to pay him.”
“Don’t worry about that.” I wave my hand. “He’s on a permanent retainer with me so he can jump on this Monday. You and I will settle later. Besides… I’d rather you take that money and move into a safer neighborhood.”
“If I get Hope back,” she murmurs, her gaze dropping to her cup of tea.
“You will,” I say confidently. My attorney truly did feel good about this case after he’d had a chance to investigate it this week. He looked up the file at the courthouse, and he’s of the belief Hannah totally got cooked by the judge because of his friendship with her ex.
“Thank you,” Hannah says with a smile, bumping her leg against mine. “I hate to say it, but breaking that Chihuly vase of yours changed my life for the better.”
It’s a sweet sentiment, and one that wouldn’t normally affect me.