Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 59659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
As I reached for him though, my hand fell onto cool, empty sheets. My eyes snapped open, and I looked over to the side of the bed, hoping he had just rolled all the way to the very edge. He wasn't there.
That took the warm, happy feeling away from me quickly. I sat up sharply, looking around the room. He wouldn't just leave, would he?
Before I spiraled too far into the panicky thoughts, a crashing sound in the kitchen told me Victor hadn't left. He'd just ventured out of bed to scavenge for food. I chastised myself for having as intense of a reaction as I did. Almost as if he could hear my thoughts, Victor called in to me.
"Melanie? Are you awake?"
I laughed. "If I wasn't, that wouldn't have been the gentlest way to wake me."
His head popped around the doorframe into the room, and he grinned.
"Good morning," he said.
"Good morning."
I felt like I was grinning like a fool, but I couldn't help it. It had been longer than I could remember since I’d been this happy.
Victor's head disappeared for a second, then his whole body appeared as he came into the room. Wearing nothing but a pair of baggy cotton lounge pants slung low on his hips, he was carrying a tray of food. Breakfast smelled delicious, but it was definitely the 'V' of muscles visible above the waistband of his pants that was making my mouth water.
I pulled myself up to a sitting position, holding the sheet over my chest. Victor pressed one knee onto the mattress and leaned over to kiss me.
"You don't need to cover up," he said.
"You put clothes on," I said. "I feel like I'm at a disadvantage here."
"I like your disadvantage," he said.
He kissed me again, and I melted into it. I almost told him to put the food aside and get back in bed with me. But he pulled back from the kiss and settled the tray onto the bed. I slipped out from under the sheets.
"Be right back," I said. "Don't eat all the bacon without me."
He made an admiring sound as he watched me walk across the room naked and dip into the bathroom. I might have added a bit of swish to my hips as I went, but I wouldn't admit that out loud.
I found a bottle of mouthwash in the cabinet and swished it around, then ran his brush through my hair. Feeling refreshed and a bit more presentable, I wrapped myself in a towel and went back out into the bedroom.
"I knew I should have taken all the towels out of there," Victor said with a devilish grin.
"Do you have something I could put on?" I asked. "I didn't come prepared."
"Sure. Go ahead and grab something out of the dresser," he said.
I went to the dresser and rummaged around in the drawers until I found another pair of lounge pants like the ones he was wearing and a T-shirt. Dropping it over my head, I breathed in the fresh smell of bleach and savored the soft fibers against my skin, imagining them on him.
Slipping back into the bed, I folded the covers back so Victor could get in with me. He pulled the tray onto our laps, and we dug into the impressive array of food and glasses of orange juice.
"So, I've been thinking about what we could do with the store when we rebuild," I said.
He glanced over at me out of the corner of his eye and smiled, then turned his attention back to the pile of eggs he was working his way through. I realized how easily I'd said "we." Part of me wanted to immediately start back-pedaling, but I stopped myself. That was exactly what I'd meant. It felt good to say that and have it feel so natural.
"What did you have in mind?" he asked.
"Well, I have a lot of ideas. Nothing completely concrete right now, but things that are bouncing around in my brain. First off, I loved that store. It had been around a lot longer than I have, and there was something wonderful about the old building. I probably never would have considered changing it in any way if something drastic hadn't happened. But now that something drastic has happened, I'm thinking it might be the perfect opportunity to make some adjustments and improvements to the layout and the features of the building. It could make the store even better," I said.
"Sounds good," Victor said.
We ate and talked, bandying ideas back and forth and coming up with potential plans to not only bring the store back to its former glory but take it even further. We were just debating the benefits of potentially adding a small café area when his phone rang. He leaned over to take it off the side table where it was sitting and glanced at the screen. Giving it a quizzical look, he held it up, telling me he needed to take it.