Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“You’re not well enough. I don’t think that would be a good idea. And I doubt Walker would appreciate getting dragged along to something like that. It’ll be noisy and crowded.”
“We could ask Andi and Jesse to come here and help us babysit. I know they’d do it.”
I grimace. The idea of coming face to face with Jesse and telling him I supposedly got engaged to his sister without running it by him doesn’t thrill me. After all, I nearly killed him when I caught him with Andi four years ago. I had to work very grudgingly up to the point where I was willing to give him an unsolicited blessing so that they would stop pretending they weren’t dating. He’d have every right to deck me for this.
“We could,” I say slowly.
“Here’s the thing…” Caroline chews her lip, looking hesitant. “I only leave the bed and breakfast for Jesse’s big games. I do events around Frosty Harbor, but I always work them. And then I threw a newborn baby into the mix, and it just…”
“Getting a night out sounds nice,” I say softly. “That makes sense. Yeah. You’re right. I’m going to make sure it can happen. You deserve to have a little fun.”
“Really?” she asks. She’s sitting upright now, hands bunched in the blankets around her.
“Really,” I say, trying to ignore how my heart pounds when I look into her big eyes. She’s so damn pretty, even with no makeup, bags under her eyes, and a tuft of hair sticking up like a rhino’s horn. “But you’re going to owe me for this. Big time,” I add. I’m mostly joking, but Caroline nods rapidly.
“Done,” she says. “Consider yourself owed two tickets for anything you want.”
I tap Walker’s nose softly. “You heard that, right? Will you be our official witness to this debt, Walker?” He scrunches up his face and grunts, then returns to being motionless. “It’s witnessed, then.”
10
CAROLINE
“Are you sure this is necessary?” I ask.
Jake is walking beside me on a busy street in downtown Manhattan, a few blocks from our hotel. We’re nearing the fancy commercial shopping district again, close to where I picked out my ring. Walker is strapped to Jake’s chest in the baby carrier, and we’re apparently on our way to pick out fancy dresses for tonight and tomorrow.
“Necessary is an overrated concept,” Jake says. He seems light and almost carefree today like some kind of weight he normally carries is temporarily set aside.
I smile up at him. I like seeing him this way. In all the years of our on-and-off again, mostly physical relations, something was always holding him back. I think it’s part of why I never pushed to take things deeper between us. Today might be the first time I’ve seen him without that shadow, and his good mood is downright contagious. “Necessary is an overrated concept,” I repeat slowly. “How so?”
He nods toward a crosswalk, indicating that we’ll need to stop and wait. “Think about it.”
I wait for him to say more, then laugh. “Think about it? That’s your answer.”
Jake is so tall it’s almost ridiculous. When he grins down at me, I feel like I have to shield my eyes to see his face in the bright afternoon light. Sometimes, I can almost imagine he’s some bored god from Mt. Olympus who came down just to invade my pathetically ordinary life–only here to tempt me and remind me how painfully mortal I am. Or maybe his presence in my life should just be the ultimate ego boost. Today, I’m leaning toward the latter. It’s hard not to feel a little second-hand fame when I’m with him.
Everybody looks, and almost everybody stares. People whisper, whack friends on the shoulders and point. They rush up for pictures shamelessly. I’ve seen more than a few women gazing lustfully after him or angrily at me as if I’m personally to blame for the fact that they aren’t the ones with him. I’m also enjoying the jealous looks we’re drawing from almost everybody we pass.
“Think about it,” he says again, nodding. “And tell me what you come up with.”
He’s watching me as if genuinely interested in what I have to say, so I decide to play along. The white crosswalk light clicks on, and we join the crowd moving across the street.
“Okay,” I say, thinking out loud. “Necessary is overrated because sometimes the best moments in our life come when we’re doing things that weren’t necessary. Like going to a show, leaving the trail in a park, or whatever.”
He purses his lips. “I like that.”
I punch him on the arm. “You like it? Does that mean the answer is wrong?”
“There’s no wrong answer. I was just curious what you thought.”
I wait again, expecting him to tell me what he thought. But he doesn’t. He keeps walking, content to take my thoughts and interested enough to sit with them.