Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“You want another fake date?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
His face falls. “No?”
“Hard no.”
His eyes search mine.
“Do you really think after what happened last week and the way you treated me that you deserve another fake date?”
“I was doing you a favor.” He frowns. “It was . . . you wanted the fake date?”
I lower my voice so that Joel can’t hear us. “I never wanted the fake orgasm.”
“You didn’t fake it,” he whispers angrily.
“Yes, I did,” I lie.
“You owe me.”
“I do not owe you anything, least of all my time.”
He steps back, affronted. “You’re angry with me.”
“Yes, I’m fucking angry with you,” I spit. “You didn’t talk to me all weekend, and you’re only here now because Joel’s car is out front.”
His jaw tics as he clenches his teeth. “That’s not true. I was coming over anyway. I didn’t even see his car.”
Bullshit.
I lean into him. “Let’s get one thing straight, Henley. I am not the backup plan. I am not someone you call on when there is no better option. Ask Taryn to fake-date you.”
“I don’t want to go with Taryn.”
“Tough shit. I don’t want to go with you.”
He puts his weight onto his back foot, annoyed. “So it’s a no?”
“It’s a hard no.”
His eyes hold mine, and I know he’s trying to think of something to say.
“Good night, Henley.” I close the door in his face and walk back inside to Joel. “Sorry about that.”
“Let me guess, your neighbor?”
I give a heavy sigh.
“He likes you.”
“No. Trust me, he doesn’t.”
“I’m telling you; I know when a man likes a woman. He likes you.”
“Yeah, well . . . it’s not happening.” And I really don’t want to discuss this with you. “Where were we?” I ask him.
“The couch. I think two three-seaters.”
Thursday morning, 6:30 a.m., I walk up the corridor of San Sebastian Nursing Home. My first shift at my second job has been a delight. I’m going to do three nights a month, and that should free up some funds for these stupidly expensive furnishings.
“How was it?” Sonya smiles.
“Great, actually.” I’m relieved. I had no idea what I was signing up for. “Everyone was so nice.”
I glance up the long corridor and see a familiar figure walk into one of the rooms and close the door behind them.
Was that . . .
“Who was that?”
“Who?”
“I just saw a man walk into the room at the end?”
She looks at her watch as we walk up the hall toward the room. “Oh, that would be Bernard’s son.”
“Bernard?”
“One of our patients.”
We stop in front of the door in question and peer through the window. Henley is dressed in his suit and laying out clothes on the bed.
I frown, confused.
“He is the most gorgeous man,” she whispers. “He comes every morning and feeds his father breakfast and gets his clothes out for the day.”
I watch as Henley smiles and chats with the old man. He cups his face in his hands and says something and then goes and gets a pair of clippers from the bathroom to help him shave.
“Breaks my heart.” She smiles sadly.
“Why is that?” I frown as I watch the pair.
“Because his father doesn’t even know who he is.”
Chapter 10
My heart sinks. “How long has he got?”
“Not sure.”
Henley says something and whips his father with his T-shirt. The old man laughs out loud as they play.
I feel my heart constrict as I watch on. “The son comes every day?”
“Never misses one.”
“How long does he stay?”
“He gets here just before seven a.m. and leaves around nine. Feeds him breakfast, helps him shave, and then keeps him calm as the nurses help him shower. Reads him the morning paper too.”
“There are no other siblings?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
I get a lump in my throat as I watch on.
Henley stands, and I duck behind the wall. I don’t want him to see me. “Thanks for showing me the ropes.” I smile. “See you next time, eh?”
“Sure thing.” She saunters off, and I peer back in through the window in the door. Henley is now flicking through the television channels to put the morning news on.
As my heart constricts, another piece of the Henley James puzzle clicks into place.
He’s a good man.
You know that feeling when you’re about to do something stupid, but you don’t care and want to do it anyway?
That’s me right at this very moment. I knock hard on the door. Something about seeing Henley at the nursing home this week has opened a huge gaping hole of enchantment in my heart for him. I know I don’t know him, but I do have more of an understanding as to why he is the way he is.
I need to know more.
Knock, knock, knock. This is undoubtedly the most stupid thing I have ever done, yet it’s all I can think about. Henley opens his front door. “Juliet.”