Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
‘So when do you fly out?’ Raya asks as the men break away and go to congregate around the island.
‘Tomorrow.’ I’m reminded that I still have a ton of things to do before we head for the airport. I haven’t even finished packing.
‘I can’t believe we’re not invited.’ Kate throws me a feigned hurt expression that I find easy to brush off. She understands.
‘It’s just me, Jesse and the kids.’ I can’t be made to feel guilty. It’s our first holiday for over two years. ‘And I can’t wait to have them all to myself.’ I glance over to Jesse as he glances over to me. Fucking hell, he’s so damn beautiful, even when he’s grumpy. My husband. The man who’s given me three beautiful kids. I look at them each day and thank all things holy that I found the enigma that was Jesse Ward. I thank my lucky stars that I walked into that posh sex club of his and had the wind knocked out of me by just the sound of his voice. Of course, then I saw him. And he saw me. At that very moment, when I was standing before him struggling to find breath, and he was looking at me with that heavy frown of his, it was game over. For both of us. Simple as that.
The road was rocky, the secrets dark, his ways challenging. And what’s most cruel is that I had to discover all of his secrets not only once, but twice. But every drop of pain and suffering each time was worth it. He’s not an enigma to me any more. Hasn’t been for a long time. He’s my husband, the most devoted, adoring, gorgeous example of a man any woman could hope to have. Except any other woman can carry on hoping, because this one, this man, he’s mine. I smile the smile only he can draw from me. It’s one filled with love of the perfect kind. Because he’s mine.
I’ll always be with this man.
*
Jesse
‘I love you,’ I mouth as she gazes across the kitchen at me, looking at me in the exact same way she looked at me the first time she set eyes on me. With lust. With awe. She’s looked at me in that way every single day of our lives together. Well, almost every single day. The accident, her temporarily lost memories, was just a blip on the horizon of my happiness. Yet at the time, it felt like the end of my world. I should have known that our love would prevail in the end. And now I really do know that we’re unbreakable.
Smiling that smile that sets my insides alight, she kisses the air towards me before returning her attention back to the girls.
‘So, the boobs?’ Sam asks, tapping the top of my bottle with his, winning my attention.
‘Sam.’ Drew punches his bicep. ‘Why’d you have to do it, ah?’
‘Just asking.’ He grins around the lip of his bottle, his always smiling eyes not letting him down.
‘Just asking for me to nut you?’ I quip, yet somewhere close to serious, and he knows it. ‘There are no boobs beyond what’s already there.’ She can get that stupid idea right out of her head. ‘And what’s there is perfect.’ I clink their bottles. ‘To that motherfucker John.’
‘That motherfucker John.’ They laugh, pulling one from me as I head for the garden, stopping at the back door and looking across the grass. ‘It’s like a fucking crèche,’ I mutter, sounding exasperated at the sight of all the kids, though I’m really not. Elsie has them all lying on their backs, legs in the air.
‘I’m off to smack a few balls over the net with Jacob.’ Drew swipes my boy’s racket from his hand and jogs off to the court with Jacob running after him, shouting for his magic racket back.
‘Suppose I better go and show them how it’s done.’ Sam rolls his eyes like it’s an inconvenience. ‘Coming?’
‘No, I’m waiting for some more guests.’ Just as I say it, the doorbell rings, and I dart back into the house before Ava can beat me to it. I meet her in the hall. She’s ahead of me, but a quick, sneaky grab of her wrist and a yank back puts me in front. She knew I’d be lurking, waiting to pounce.
‘Jesse, don’t you upset Maddie,’ Ava warns, knowing my game.
I slap on my killer smile and flash it at my wife before swinging the door open. But it drops when I find a young girl. Oh. I haven’t a speech planned for Jacob’s friend. Not one that won’t make her cry, anyway.
‘Hello, Mr Ward.’ Clarita dazzles me with a smile full of personality.
‘Hi.’ I open the door wider and let her in. I’m handing this one over to my wife. Smiling at Ava, I nod to Clarita’s back as she approaches. Let’s see how she welcomes this new woman into her darling boy’s life. ‘Over to you,’ I quip.