Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
“And what kind of ideas might those be?” She pressed her hand to her chest, completely innocent.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Well, I do have the best ideas…and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t require an extra blanket and pillow. Your bed is plenty big enough.”
“That is absolutely not going to happen.” I angled around her to head back for the great room.
“And why would you deny yourself something that you know is going to be so good?” she urged from behind.
I turned to her, my heart close to bleeding out onto the floor. “Because I’ve had enough trouble in my life, Lolly, enough hurt, and my daughter needs stability. I need stability. And you and I both know that man is not going to give me that.”
Tendrils of guilt flailed out of the black hole inside me. How could I even consider wanting that from him?
But I’d be a liar if I denied a piece of me did.
Sadness cut into every line in her expression. Her touch was gentle on my arm, all traces of mischief vanished.
“I just want you to be happy, Hailey. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted for you. And I cannot tell you how proud I am that you left that scheming sleazebag.”
Surprise at her accusation had a frown carving me in question. Her directness severe and sharp. Did she know more than she’d let on or was it just obvious that Pruitt was scum?
I didn’t have time to ask before she forged ahead, her voice curled in ardent earnestness. “So proud of you for standing up for what you deserve. The only thing I’ve wanted is to see you and Maddie safe and happy. And you’re going to be, Hailey, you’re going to be, just as long as you remain strong. Strong and fierce the way I know you are.”
She paused then emphasized, “I know that deviant changed so much of your perspective. That he hurt you. I just hope the wounds he left don’t make you so guarded that you don’t allow yourself to live.”
“I am living, Lolly. For the first time in a long time, I am. And I won’t let anyone steal that from me. I promise you.”
I wouldn’t allow any one person to hold my happiness.
Not ever again.
“Thank you.” Cody’s voice was as quiet as the shadows that babbled in the room, lulling and peaceful as he glanced at the blanket and pillow that I’d left for him on the couch.
I’d tucked Maddie in a half an hour before, while Cody had plodded around in the bathroom next to her room, setting me off-kilter the entire time, trembles rolling and energy pulsing.
Now he stood in the darkness in front of me, a giant in my living room. A man I didn’t really even know but somehow trusted to be there.
I shouldn’t.
It was a fool’s game, whatever the hell this was.
The only thing I knew was I was going to lose in the end.
“You’re thanking me?”
That smirk tugged at the edge of his mouth, far gentler than it should ever be. “I’d fully come prepared to sleep on the hard floor, nothing but a dog. It seems you’re doing me a favor.”
“I think it’s you who’s doing all the favors.” The words were wisps.
“It’s my honor to be here, Hailey.”
Silence danced around us, the questions radiating from him so profound that I could almost see them hovering in the room. I itched in them, unsure of how to respond. What to give him and what he expected.
A warning is what it should be. A true one. One that told him to run as far as he could. Turn his back. Act like he’d never met us before, and sure as hell not dive into this headfirst the way he was suggesting.
In discomfort, Cody roughed a hand through his hair, staring at me through the night. “Think we should talk about your ex.”
Right. There they were. The questions coming.
“We probably do.”
“Maddie’s father?” he pressed.
“Yes.”
His nod was tight. “How long have you been apart?”
“Three months.”
“And it’s safe to assume you were the one who did the leaving?”
“Pruitt collects things. Possessions. He doesn’t like when he gets them taken away.”
Cody flinched, his voice a scrape of animosity. “Seems like a solid douche to me.”
I fiddled with my fingers, gaze dipping away before it drifted back up to him.
I needed to lay this out. Make him see.
“He’s someone you don’t want to mess with, Cody.”
The heap of a man stilled, a frozen boulder of heat, like he was afraid to trust himself to move. The protectiveness I’d felt from him earlier lapped against me in warm, dragging waves.
“Already told you the bastard can come at me, Hailey. He’s going to find out really quick I’m not someone you want to mess with, either. Especially when it comes to you.”