Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
He held out the shorts, but I didn’t move. Nodding, he accepted that. “Why don’t we get you under the covers.”
As if in a trance, I stood up, and let him pull the blanket and sheets back. I climbed into bed and he pulled the covers up, tucking me in. “Can I get you anything before I go?” he asked softly.
I shook my head. Part of me wanted to drift off to sleep as he turned off the lamp next to the bed, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not with the images of Jeff and Tanya in my head.
Reid leaned down, smoothed my hair away from my forehead, and gave me a gentle kiss there. But when he tried to straighten up, I grabbed the end of his tie.
“Don’t go,” I said softly.
He hesitated. “I think it’s best if I do, Penny.”
“Please?” I looked up into his kind blue eyes. “If you go, I’ll keep seeing them in my head. Maybe if you stay, I won’t.”
I could see the indecision in his eyes, but finally he nodded, and I released his tie. He pulled it off along with the jacket of his suit. While he kicked his shoes off, I scooted to the middle of the bed to make room for him.
Reid climbed in next to me, and I immediately burrowed against his side. His skin was so warm through his shirt, he smelled really good. He stroked my hair as I rested my cheek against his chest.
“Can I ask you something?” My voice was little more than a whisper.
“Sure, sweetheart.”
“Do you think I’m dumb for how long I stayed with Jeff?”
“No.” His answer was as soft as it was quick.
“Why?”
He curved his arm around my back and held me close. “People just get stuck sometimes. Their vision narrows and they only see what’s right in front of them. They don’t see the bigger picture.”
“Has that happened to you?”
“Yes.”
I thought about that for a while. “At first, when I found out he cheated, I felt ashamed. As if I wasn’t good enough for him. Then eventually, I realized how terrible he’d treated me, and the shame went away, but the pain stayed. And then just recently, I’ve worried about what it says about me that I stayed with him as long as I did.”
“I don’t think it says anything about you, or at least nothing bad.”
I rested my palm on his flat stomach. “How can you know for sure?”
He was quiet for a moment, and the only thing I could hear was the sound of his breathing. Then he surprised me. “Have you ever heard of sunk cost fallacy?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a way that people deceive themselves. Like… suppose a guy wants to start a business. He uses his life’s savings to buy into that business. He spends all his time and all his money, but he’s just not making a profit. Instead of cutting his losses, he keeps struggling to keep the business afloat even though it’s clearly never going to be profitable. But he does it because he’s already invested so much time and money into the business.”
“So that’s the sunk cost thing?”
“Yes. The money he invested in the business is already gone, and it’s not coming back. But the memory of how much money he’s spent on the business is what keeps him from doing the smart thing and cutting his losses. He’s clinging to something he shouldn’t—all because of the money he’s already put into it, but he shouldn’t. That money’s long gone, and nothing can bring it back.”
It took me a while to work through that analogy. “So you’re saying that maybe I stayed with Jeff much longer than I should have because I’d already invested so much into the relationship?”
“Maybe,” Reid said. “It makes sense to me. If you date a guy for a week and it doesn’t work out, you can move on. But if you’ve been with him for a year, I would imagine it’s much harder to cut your losses and leave.”
“It was.”
His thumb moved hypnotically over my arm, and a wave of drowsiness washed over me. But this was important. “Thanks. I think that helped.”
“I’m glad. I never thought that during my first time in bed with you, we’d discuss economic theories.”
“That makes two of us.” I snuggled even closer to him. “Reid?”
“Yes?”
“Can you stay for a while?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” He stroked my hair, and I closed my eyes.
We stayed like that for a long time.
20
PENNY
Reid and I got back to the house at the crack of dawn on the day of the wedding. He’d tried to get me to stay at the hotel and have a leisurely morning, but there was just too much to do back at the house. I even brought my bridesmaid gown there. I told Reid it was to save time getting dressed, but honestly, I wanted all three of them to be able to see me in the beautiful rose-colored dress.