Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Laughing, I drew her back against my body. “I’m so proud of you.”
Her head dropped to my chest as she giggled. “It’s just, I never imagined when I decided to start my own company that things would blow up like this. I’m going to enjoy it now before I have to step back from it all someday.”
Frowning, I gently pushed her back some. “Why would you have to do that? Did you talk to Shawn?”
Laughing as she looked at me, confused, she asked, “Shawn? No, I was talking about someday when we decide to have kids.”
Hollie kicked off her heels and then picked them up and set them to the side neatly. She was a neat freak at her house and mine.
“You think about us having kids?”
She looked at me and blushed. “I do, a lot, actually. A little baby Lucas and little Hollie might be fun.”
“Might be? If they’re anything like their mom, it will be an adventure.”
Chuckling, she sat down on the sofa and pulled her feet up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “And just think, they could have Mommy’s special powers.”
I groaned and sat down next to her.
She sighed. “I was thinking of giving Mindy more events to plan.”
“Really? You mean, have her plan them and not you?”
“Yep. I’d have to give the final approval on her plans, but she’s talented, Lucas. I’d be stupid not to bring her on as more than my assistant.”
“Wow, that’s great.”
We sat in silence for a minute or so. She bumped my arm, and I looked down at her. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Bad day?”
I felt my brows draw in. “Not really, just a lot on my mind.”
“You look tense. Is there anything I can do?”
Taking her hand, I kissed the back of it. “Nah, I’ll figure it all out. I was thinking—do you want to go out to dinner tonight?”
Her eyes lit up. “Just us?”
“Just us,” I said with a wink.
“Where?” she asked.
“I was thinking seafood. Maybe drive over to that new restaurant in Marblehead. It’s right on the water and might be a nice sight to see with the snow.”
Dropping her legs down, Hollie stood. “That’s a great idea! Let me go get changed, and then we can leave.”
Standing also, I followed her into the house as I headed to where my phone was charging. I had a text from Dr. Martin. When I opened it, it was a picture of the dig site. Unplugging it, I pushed it into my back pocket. The last thing I wanted to think about was his job offer.
After eating an amazing meal and sitting in the car watching the snow fall and cover the beach, I turned to Hollie and watched her for a moment. She was mesmerized by what she was seeing. I smiled and knew that she was the only woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The only person I would lay my life down for. I also knew there was no way I would ever ask her to give up her dreams for me to follow my own. I loved her too much.
“A penny for your thoughts,” I asked as I took her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze.
“It’s so peaceful, and I was just thinking about how crazy the last month and a half has been. Then I started to think about how stressful it’s going to be when we get back from vacation, with all the events I have.”
“Did you not want to go on vacation?”
Her eyes widened. “Yes, I want to go on vacation. I need it more than I realized. I was thinking, though, I need a break. Some time off, and not just five days on a beach in the Caribbean, although that is going to be freaking amazing.”
I chuckled. “It will be.”
“I think I’m going to stop taking clients for a bit and let Mindy pick which events she’d like to plan.”
My heart started to pound in my chest. “You’re not thinking of walking away from your career, are you?”
She shook her head. “No, no. I’m going to let Mindy take on more projects, and I’ll promote Joan to my assistant. Like I said earlier, I’ll give Mindy the chance to plan the events with my final approval, and Joan can be more hands-on and work the events if the client asks. I want to be more of a consultant for a bit.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head, attempting to figure out if I was awake or dreaming this. When I opened my eyes, she was looking back out over the beach. You could see the water simply from the reflection of the snow on the sand.
“Hollie, may I ask why, when you are literally making a name for yourself in Salem?”