Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 72196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
“You’ll regret this. Both of you.”
Travis shook his head. “There’s not a single thing when it comes to you, that I don’t regret.”
Allegra’s mouth dropped open.
“You can’t mean that,” she said. “Alex…”
Travis didn’t say a word.
I knew in his heart that he didn’t regret Alex. But Alex had been the baby that had trapped Travis with Allegra. The final straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.
And now that kid was acting like her father—who loved her with all his heart despite the beginning of how she came to be—was an annoying gnat to be shooed away.
She was Allegra’s new mini-me.
And I hated that. I hated it bad. Yet there wasn’t a single thing I could do about it.
Travis stared at Allegra, and finally she opened the door.
“You’ll need to realize that you’re not the only person in this town that can do the things you do.”
Travis raised a brow at her.
“Are you threatening me or my business?” he asked, sounding mildly curious.
“If you want to take it that way,” she sniffed. “Have a pleasant day…Travis.”
With that, the woman left, not once looking back.
Travis said something quietly to someone beyond the door—likely his new receptionist—and slammed the door shut.
I stayed where I was, wondering if Travis locked it or not. Because I wasn’t going to go pantless in front of anybody else.
“Can you stand there and make sure that nobody else comes in?” I asked him when he started around the desk.
He grinned and winked, his eyes going to his destroyed desk—which I was just now seeing—and back to me. “I locked it…unlike you.”
I lifted my lip at him in a silent snarl. “I didn’t know that you were going to…” I dropped my voice down to the barest of whispers, “fuck me.”
He started to laugh, even going as far as to lean his left hand against the desk as he bent over and guffawed.
“Hannah, honey.” He grinned at me, and it sent shivers down my spine to see him smile at me with such happiness. “There are no kids here. You don’t have to whisper the curse words.”
I shrugged and stood up, pulling my underwear on, followed shortly by my pants.
The last thing to go on were my flip-flops.
“I have to go,” I growled. “I have a doctor’s appointment in thirty minutes. I haven’t gone to the grocery store yet, and I need to get Reggie’s family tree ready.”
He held up his hand. “What family tree?”
I frowned. “I told you last week that both girls had family trees. You were supposed to call your mom.”
He threw his head back and growled at the ceiling. “I forgot.”
I winked at him.
“I know. Which is why I called her last week when you only gave me a nod instead of doing it right then.”
Travis’ mom and I got along famously, and everyone loved me.
At first it was incredibly awkward to love a man that refused to return those feelings, and love his parents and family just as much as you loved your own. But now, it was as if they’d always been there, and I adored them.
Before I could exit like I’d originally intended to do, he hooked me around the waist and brought me around to face him.
“I know that me telling you that I was ready to make this work, and that I loved you, isn’t enough. I know that you’re going to need time from me, and I’m willing to give that to you.” He paused. “You’ve been there through everything over the last year. You’ve stayed when any other woman would’ve run. I owe you so much, but I’m going to keep asking you for more. I’m going to take, and take, and take, until you don’t think you have anything left to give. Then, when I’m sure I have it all, I’m going to marry you. Tie you to me forever, and make sure you don’t ever want to leave. I’m going to treat you the way you deserve to be treated, and I won’t fuck this up. I might, upon occasion, do something stupid. But just know that if I do, I’ll always make it up to you.”
Those words might’ve sounded stalkerish coming from anyone else. Coming from Travis, though, with his eyes locked on mine?
Not nearly as scary.
“Okay,” I whispered.
He dropped his forehead to mine, breathed me in for a few long seconds, and then let me go with a soft kiss to the tip of my nose.
“Be careful.”
My smile was brilliant.
“Yes, sir.”
He winked. “Now you got it right.”
I rolled my eyes and left, doing what I said I was going to do.
What I hadn’t expected when I got to my staff meeting, however, was to be fired.
Chapter 12
There should be a calorie refund for things that didn’t taste as good as expected.
-Coffee Cup
Travis
I pulled up to the house, took a short look around to ascertain that I was alone, and pulled the wheel hard to the left. Making sure I was in a good position, I backed the tow truck up to the car that was sitting in the middle of the driveway—in a seedy part of Hostel—and got out.