Total pages in book: 225
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
She’s got her cheeks puffed out like she’s holding her breath as I park.
“I wanna see inside, see what we might like to change, then I think I’ll run you a bath in that giant tub in the master with the window overlooking that big yard and all those fruit trees out back and… then what? I’m gonna want to make love to you first in our home, so I’ll temporarily backburner that bad girl punishment. Don’t worry, you’ll still get it. Maybe tomorrow.”
She doesn’t answer. Just stares.
I add, “I had him leave just about everything. He took his clothes and a few personal and sentimental things, and left with the fat check I gave him. But anything you don’t want that’s here, we’ll replace. I had a new mattress and bedding delivered this morning too. Not fucking you or sleeping beside you on a used mattress.”
“Fat check?”
“A hundred k over asking to get him to leave immediately. He jumped at it.”
“I wouldn’t,” she says, looking at the place like she’s yearning to step foot inside and never leave.
“No, that’s true.”
“What if he didn’t want to sell?” she asks, “What would you have done?”
“Thankfully, money was enough of a motivator I didn’t have to get more creative.” I flash her a grin.
I know it’s laced with threats. And as soon as I’ve done it, I wish I could snatch it back, which is an odd sensation. Threats have gotten me to where I am with Chloe, but since she came home with me Friday night, I’ve found myself trying to find ways to not threaten her so she’ll see what things can be like for us.
I don’t like the crushing sensation in my chest right now as she stares at her dream house looking sad.
I cup her jaw, tilting it so she’s looking at me again.
“I wasn’t expecting you to instantly fall for me because I bought this house for you. Actually, everything I do is so you’ll fall for me, but I know it’s not money or material things that will do the trick. You’ve got so much more substance than that. It’s the effort I’m willing to put in to show you how much you matter, how much I see you. How much I yearn to be the one you reach for that’ll do it, Chloe. And that’s not a trick.”
Her pretty blue eyes search my face as her teeth skim her bottom lip.
“Chloe, this is what I want. A life with you is what I want.”
“What if… right now… I decided to go for it? Be in this with you? Then what?”
A smile spreads wide enough on my face it feels like my skin is stretching. There are big emotions happening in my chest, too. But although the look on her face shows me it’s just a hypothetical question, I let the smile happen fully, let myself feel what that would feel like so she can see how much it would mean to me.
It feels like warm sun isn’t just on my face but also filling me. Warm sunshine with not a care in the world. If this girl starts to really love me, I can almost believe my heart will split out of the dark shroud it lives in and shine bright enough light will spew out of my chest.
“Then what if you get focused on a new goal, Derek? See a new unhappy damsel in distress who fascinates you? Or what if something else becomes your goal like work or some noble cause and I just get forgotten. But Steeles don’t divorce so I’m either left in a miserable situation with someone who doesn’t give a shit about me anymore or you have to get rid of me because I’m a problem you don’t want to deal and can’t divorce me because your father would disown you?”
“Is the promise of what I’m showing you so absolutely perfect that you can’t take a chance in case it isn’t real?” I ask.
She frowns but doesn’t answer.
“I wouldn’t stay married to you because it’s my father’s rule. Believe me, when I say that. I would stay with you because I believe in the sanctity of marriage, too. I’ve seen my folks fight to stay together through some fucked up times. As fucked as my family life was in a lot of ways, I grew up with parents who refused to give up on one another. That’s what marriage is. Right?”
She winces.
I continue. “You took a chance on Hallman based on what you saw, what you thought your life might be like after spending time with him. It didn’t work out the way you wanted, obviously.”
I wait. She has no reply, so I squeeze her knee. “Circumstances along with his personality let you down. Should you not ever have ventured into it? Should you not venture into anything, ever, in case it might go wrong? That’s not you, is it?”