Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 70607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Her hands go to her lips, and she looks at me. "Oh my God," she whispers. "It was you?” she puts her hand on her forehead, “ All this time, it was you?"
My heart pounds in my ears as she stares at me. "Um, yeah."
Chapter 18
Shelby
He lets go of my face, and all I can do is stand here, my body limp as my eyes flutter open and I see him in front of me. I try to find the word to describe what just happened. I'm trying to go through my whole dictionary of words that I have to make sure that I find the right words. But all I can do is say three words over and over again in my head, and then it just comes out. "Oh my God," I whisper, my fingers touching my lips that he just kissed, and if they didn't tingle, I would think it was all in my head. "It was you?" My head spins around this information. "All this time, it was you?"
He just stares at me, his chest going up and down. "Um, yeah."
"But . . ." I say, shaking my head. "But . . ." It's the only word I can say when I look at him as he stares at me. This man who became my best friend all those years ago while we studied in a little coffee shop where we drank more coffee than we should ever drink. The man who cheered me on when I said I was going to start our company. The man who I call whenever I have to talk things through, the man who I would protect with my life. "But he told me it was him."
Ace shakes his head, putting his hands on his hips. "Incredible. Obviously, he lied to you. No one is surprised there, especially after what happened."
I walk over to the couch and sit down. "I mean, he cheated on me." I look up at the ceiling, trying not to let the tears escape, and I'm surprised that no tears are threatening to come. Instead, what I'm filled with is anger that he fucking lied to me from the beginning. "Chances are, he's been lying to me for a long, long time." My heart speeds up in my chest as I ball my hands into fists beside myself. "Why was I so fucking stupid?" I wait for him to answer my question, but he doesn't. Instead, his feet move toward me.
It takes him two steps before he's in front of me, pushing the table out of the way so he can get on his knees in front of me. "Hey," he says softly. "Don't you ever say that. You trusting him does not make you stupid."
"It should," I reply. "This whole time, I thought the best kiss that I ever had was with Joe."
Ace smirks and then looks at me. "Wait, the best kiss you've ever had?" he asks, and I get up now.
"I need a minute," I tell him. "I'm going to go shower, and then you are going to go shower." I point at him. "And then we're going to talk about this."
He gets up and smirks at me. "You bet your ass we are going to talk about this."
My body shivers at his words. "I'm going to have lots of questions," I inform him, and he just smiles at me.
"I wouldn't expect anything less." I shake my head. "Oh, and I'm going to have lots of questions also."
I nod at him, turning and walking toward the bathroom and closing the door behind me. My head is still spinning, and I touch my lips again. That kiss was even better than the one I remembered vaguely. It was a kiss that I have been searching for, for the last two years. It was a kiss that I thought I made up in my head. It was a kiss that I remembered but couldn't see his face until today. Until he kissed me. "Ace," I whisper to myself and get into the shower. "How did I not know?" I ask myself. "How could you not remember?” Yes, I was drinking. Not only was it New Year's Eve but we had just closed the biggest contract we had ever signed. I grab the plush robe and slip it on, then wrap my hair up before walking out. I stop when I see Roberto there with Ace.
"That sounds like a plan," Ace says, walking toward me. "I need to shower because we have a talk to get to." He walks past me, and I hear the door close behind him.
"I'll get everything set up.” Roberto nods and walks out of the room with the walkie-talkie by his ear.
I don't waste time thinking about anything as I run to the closet and rummage through all the clothes I brought. "What is the least sexy thing you brought?" I pick up the white string thong with a piece of fabric that covers almost nothing. I put my feet through it, hoping that the string doesn’t twist and go into my skin. I grab the matching bra and a little white dress that molds to my every curve. Taking the towel off my head, I look outside to see Roberto setting up a table.