Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“Do you do anything besides work?” I have to ask, hoping I’m not hitching myself to a man I’ll never see because he’s always at the office.
“I do now,” he assures me, hooking his arms around my waist and leaning down to kiss me, making me feel every bit his queen.
Making me feel like I belong the more time that passes.
“What should I wear?” I ask him, already regretting that I sound so stupid.
So unable to make a decision anymore, but I really want to make Steve happy.
“Wear whatever makes you feel good,” he assures me, pecking my lips. “It’s not gonna be fancy. And not because I’m cheap,” he grins.
“I just haven’t been there in a while,” he recalls, instantly setting my mind at ease and reminding me that not everything Steve Carter does has a six-figure price tag.
I ask if he wants to watch me change, making me blush a little.
“If I do that, we’ll never eat,” he quips, telling me where the bathrooms are right off his office, telling me he has a few calls to make.
He seems happy to go as he is, but Steve always looks sharp and smells terrific.
He could stop traffic in a pair of sweatpants and an old sweater.
“I won’t be long,” I promise him, but he urges me to take my time.
“We’ve got all night,” he says with a smile, cocking a brow that already tells me that dinner is only to refill both our fuel tanks.
The main course will be the two of us doing what we both feel the need for, now more than ever.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Steve
As soon as I sit behind my desk, the phone starts ringing.
It’s almost six o’clock on a Saturday, but that’s one of the things I do remember as normal for me now.
It’s why I sometimes just go for a walk or go home when I’ve had enough.
I pick up, ready to growl at Madison for patching someone straight through, but I’m relieved when I hear it’s Sister O’Halloran.
“Steven? Just tell me you’re alright. Tell me you found that nice young girl and took care of her,” she says, her voice filled with genuine concern.
I feel my mouth twist a little, but it’s easy enough to assure her.
“Oh yeah,” I tell her. “I found her and took care of her, and everything’s fine. I even have most of my memory back already,” I add quickly, wanting to steer clear of the topic of Holly with Sister O’Halloran.
Just for now.
But it soon sounds like Holly is the only reason she’s calling. Of course, there’s a gentle reminder about coming back to visit the kids’ ward ASAP, and another huge thank you for the check.
But it’s kind of hopeless to hold anything back from someone who knows me so well, let alone a nun.
“She’s such a lovely girl, Steven,” the old woman croons, sounding more like a doting grandma by the second. But I can’t disagree.
It doesn’t take much encouragement to start telling her how much I agree. Just how special Holly is to me.
“We’re actually going out to dinner tonight,” I confess, figuring I may as well come clean if she asks me if I’m involved with Holly directly. But Sister O’Halloran has way more tact than that.
“How lovely!” is all she needs to say. The tone of her voice giving me instant approval.
Never one to keep me on the phone long, she signs off just as Madison pokes his head around my office door without knocking.
I shoot him a dark look, only because I know Holly’s changing close by and I won’t have anyone, not even Madison risking seeing her like that.
Nobody.
She’s mine!
The sudden surge of protective jealousy pulses through me until I smile.
Reminding myself Holly’s not the only one with a few things to get used to.
I can’t keep her in a box, and whether I like it or not, people will see her, and I will have to share at least a little of her amazing beauty with the world.
Madison’s eyes shift around the huge office, and noting we’re alone he fills me in on a few other things I’ve missed since yesterday. None of them actually caught my attention.
I’m just about to bark at him to fuck off out of my office, when he moves closer and with a rare smile, confides something to me.
“I just wanted to say, Mr. Carter, that I’m very happy for you. For both of you.” His voice quivers with emotion for a second as he gives me a knowing look and then he spins on his heel and is gone again.
About the closest thing to a congratulations I guess I’ll ever hear from Madison. But I think anyone with eyes and ears can see just how into each other Holly and I are.
Spinning my seat around, I take in the city view. Making a pyramid with my fingers that I tap together thoughtfully.