Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 164533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 823(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 823(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
I nodded, feeling suddenly solemn. I didn’t have siblings, but I knew about loss. I felt my dad’s absence every single day. My attention returned to the picture of Nuala’s poor aunt. It was sad when people died at any age, but twenty-three was tragically young. Nuala and I stared at the photo in quiet for a minute before she stepped away, exhaling heavily as though to clear the melancholy from her mind.
“I’ll go get started on that soup.”
“Yeah, great,” I replied and set the photo back down before following her into the kitchen. There was a hollowness in my stomach I couldn’t account for. Maybe it was thinking of Dad. I always felt an aching sadness whenever I thought about how we’d never talk again, never laugh or joke around together. He’d never smile at me in that way that made me feel completely and totally loved and protected.
***
The next two days passed quietly. I didn’t see much of Rhys because he was either working or visiting his mother, who I learned from Aunt Jo was staying at her sister’s house that was about thirty minutes away by car.
I missed him, had wanted to invite him to come play video games and eat snacks with me again, but he was always gone by the time I woke up, and I didn’t have his phone number to send a text. I considered asking Derek for it, but that might lead to another lecture on not taking advantage of his friend.
I didn’t have any shifts at the hotel, so I spent most of my time chilling with Nuala. I also discovered there was a swimming pool in the house. How could Nuala have failed to mention something as epic as a private pool? Well, it seemed she didn’t use it very often and claimed she sometimes forgot it was there since it was down on the basement level. I was rightfully outraged she could possibly forget about a whole swimming pool in her own goddamn house. I insisted on us taking a swim, and she led me downstairs and into a spacious pool room that also had a sauna and a hot tub. Like, where was I even staying?
“This is incredible. If I lived here, I’d go for a swim every morning.”
“You’re such a water baby,” Nuala said with a smile as she watched me dive in.
The next day, I was back at the hotel for an afternoon shift, and I still couldn’t get over the fact the Balfes had an indoor pool.
“Did you know about the pool?” I asked as soon as I joined Rhys at the dish washing station.
He quirked an eyebrow, glancing at me while he hosed down some dirty plates. “The pool?”
“The indoor pool in my cousins’ basement,” I explained. “I was very rudely kept in the dark about it until yesterday.”
The faintest grin curved his lips, lips I was becoming more and more preoccupied with lately. “Well, I apologise profusely for all your pain and suffering.”
A grin tugged at my lips, too, while I bumped him with my hip. “And so you should. I could’ve been swimming every day since I arrived. I might’ve had a bikini body by now if I’d been doing laps.”
Rhys glanced down at where I bumped him before his eyes rose to mine, a warmth in them that was almost indulgent. My chest tingled. I liked it when he looked at me that way. “I take it you like swimming, then?”
“It’s my preferred form of exercise, yes, though I’ve never had access to a private indoor pool before. This could be a game changer for me.”
Rhys nodded, returning his attention to the dishes, and I quietly began drying and placing them in the rack to be redistributed.
“What’s a bikini body?” he asked after a few moments of silence.
“Isn’t it self-explanatory? It’s a body that looks good in a bikini.”
Rhys cast me a quick glance, and there was the faintest hint of flirtation in his eyes when he answered, “I don’t know about a bikini, but you looked pretty good in that one-piece at the beach.”
His statement was so matter of fact it took me off guard, and I spent a moment wrangling the butterflies in my stomach before elbowing him in the side. “If you’re trying to butter me up so I’ll take over washing, it won’t work. You know I prefer to dry.”
Rhys sighed playfully, feigning like I was a chore to work with. “Such a princess.”
I smiled to myself as we resumed working. Things got hectic as soon as the dinner rush set in, and we didn’t have much time for talking. I couldn’t stop thinking about him commenting on my body, how he’d thought I looked good in my swimsuit that day at the beach. I shivered every time I remembered him uttering those words. I also really enjoyed him calling me a princess, the hint of teasing in his voice.