Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
An hour comes and goes quickly. I’ve piled up five of my favorites including a ratty copy of Wuthering Heights. My stomach grumbles, signifying it’s time to eat soon.
“She emerges from the book haze,” Daniel teases when I round a corner on my hunt for him.
He’s kicked back in a lounge chair with his feet up on the coffee table looking like he owns the place. If he did, then I’d crawl into his lap and have a repeat of last night to thank him for taking me here. Since we’re not alone, I dip down and press a kiss to his cheek.
“Thank you, Dr. Dan.”
“For what?”
I sigh and smile. “For being you.”
He rises from his seat, grips my hips, and hauls me against him. My handful of books are smashed between us. I tilt my head up to admire his handsome face.
“Thank you for being you too,” he murmurs before giving me a kiss that most likely makes everyone in the bookstore blush.
Daniel
The look on her face in the bookstore was one of pure bliss. Happiness on Lauren’s face looks really good. It makes me want to do everything humanly possible to keep it there.
“Sorry I took so long,” she says absently, leaning her head against my shoulder as we walk.
“I thought you were enjoying yourself.”
“I was. But I know that might have been boring for you.”
I chuckle. “Are you kidding me? Watching you turn absolutely giddy with excitement over those books was my own form of entertainment.”
“Good, because I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.”
She turns quiet as we walk and I hate how sad she sounded. An eighteen-year-old girl who’s just graduated from high school should have the world at her fingertips. It’s as though she’s been caged and I freed her for the day.
“What are your plans now that you’ve graduated?”
“I haven’t allowed myself to think about it,” she admits.
I stop and turn to face her. The warm wind sends her golden blond hair fluttering behind her. With the lowering sun shining on her, she’s every bit the angel I nicknamed her. I almost expect her to sprout wings and fly off to the heavens. Instead, she stays grounded, frowning at me. Lost. Sad. Confused. Distant.
Gently gripping her chin, I tilt her head up and steal a chaste kiss. “You should be thinking about what you want. You have your whole life in front of you.”
Her brown eyes grow misty and she darts them away. “Do I?” The bitterness in her words startles me. In half a second, I go from doting boyfriend to concerned doctor. I assess her pretty face and note her skin is pale despite the blush she’s applied. The circles under her eyes are barely hidden beneath a layer of makeup. Her shoulders are slightly sagging. She’s tired and worn down—from the inside out. But why?
“Should we leave?” I ask, suddenly feeling like a tool for walking her all through downtown and wearing her out.
“W-What? No. Why would we leave?” she demands, the fire back in her voice as she glares at me.
I rub my thumb over her bottom lip. “Then where’d you go just then?”
It wasn’t here. It was some dark place in her mind and it slipped out for me to see. My heart hasn’t stopped hammering in my chest since she uttered those bitter words.
“Nowhere,” she says with a one-shouldered shrug. “I’m hungry. Are we almost there?”
I want to demand answers, but I also don’t want to ruin our date. It takes everything in me to keep my promise and not nag her. At least not now. I don’t want to damper the moment. But we will have this conversation. Soon.
“Another block. Need a piggy-back ride?” I say with a wide grin.
She laughs. “I mean, if you’re offering…”
A challenge.
I squat and pat my shoulder. “Hop on, little girl.”
“Little girl?” she huffs but hands me her purse that’s stuffed with her bag of books.
Smirking, I take it as she grabs my shoulders and then hooks her legs around my waist. Once she’s latched on, I hold her heavy purse for her with one arm and the back of her thigh with the other. It makes me feel better to carry her knowing she’s tired.
But as soon as we start walking, we get the looks.
Some are amused. Some are questioning. And some are downright disgusted.
“That woman was glaring at us,” Lauren says, her chin resting on my shoulder. “Think maybe I flashed her by accident.”
“Nah, she was just being a bitch.”
I walk us down the block and before we get there, Lauren squirms to be let down. Finally, I relent and set her to her feet.
“We’re not there yet,” I tell her, frowning.
She scowls at someone passing by until they look away. “I’ll walk.”
I take her hand and give it a squeeze. We’ve barely made it fifty steps before she blows up.