Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 111775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
My lips flattened as I pressed them together. “No. She said it was a random hookup. A one-night stand. She wanted us to try and work through it, but I couldn’t. The way I felt for her changed completely. She’d broken our trust.”
“I can relate to that. When people hurt you … you just want them out of your life, so they don’t have the chance to do it again.”
There were shadows in her eyes, and I wondered who exactly she was talking about. Not the boyfriend who cheated on her. She said she hadn’t developed real feelings for him. Maybe a different boyfriend?
Then I remembered what she’d told me about her mother, how she’d kicked her out and made her homeless when she was only sixteen. That would certainly hurt. Hell, if my parents did that to me, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get over it.
We both fell quiet. I put my phone down and placed my arm around her shoulders. She rested her head on my chest, and I closed my eyes, savouring the small moment of just being with her. The heating had kicked in, and her small flat was toasty and warm. I kissed her temple, and she shifted closer. Sensing her gaze on me, I glanced down and found her staring at the scar on my throat.
I swallowed thickly when she reached out and gently feathered her fingers over it. Some kind of pain sliced through me, the tender moment making me remember for a second just how different my life might’ve turned out if it weren’t for the surgery I’d undergone as a child.
“How did this happen?” she whispered.
I picked up my phone and typed, “When I was young, I was very sick. They discovered a tumour on my vocal cords. It had to be surgically removed, but there was a complication during the surgery, and my vocal cords were irreparably damaged.”
“Shay,” she breathed, her eyes growing glassy. “My goodness. What age were you?”
“Six.”
“So, you could speak before then?”
I nodded, trying to picture that small boy, the one who had blindly trusted the adults around him, not knowing how everything was going to change for him after he entered that operating theatre. I knew the opposite would be worse. The tumour was cancerous and would’ve killed me if they didn’t remove it, but I still had to stop myself from wondering about alternate realities sometimes. Both my parents lived with a lot of guilt over what happened; I knew that. They wondered if things could’ve turned out differently if they’d chosen a different surgeon, a different day. But wondering about such things was pointless. What happened couldn’t be altered.
“You’re such a special person, Shay,” she said then, breaking me from my thoughts. “I hope you know that. The way you are, how you embrace your life, how close you are to your family and the wonderful art you create. I’m in awe of you.”
Her words had emotion catching in my throat. I cupped her cheek and pressed my lips to hers, the kiss chaste but full of feeling. I was so grateful for her, for how she just accepted me exactly as I was. She never seemed bothered or frustrated or embarrassed that I was different.
A thought occurred to me as I remembered what she’d told Rhys back in the car. I typed a question. “Will you take the job with that Jonathan Oaks guy?”
I couldn’t deny I was ill at ease at the thought of her working in a new place, meeting new people. My possessive side wanted to keep Maggie all to myself. I especially didn’t want her working for someone who Rhys knew to be an arsehole to his employees.
She blew out a heavy sigh. “I’m tempted to, yes. The money will make the world of difference for me and my brothers and sisters. This flat is so tiny. If I could afford a place where they could come and stay with me … that would be so great. But I’m hesitant after hearing what Rhys said. I don’t want to work for some power mad tyrant who’ll drive me to a nervous breakdown.”
“I don’t want that for you, either,” I said, leaving the other part unspoken. I didn’t want to lose her company every day on the bus. Seeing her was one of the reasons I got up every morning, and presumably, if she took the job, she wouldn’t be travelling to the same neighbourhood for work anymore.
“I’m going to have to give it some careful consideration,” she said before falling quiet.
I held her for a few moments, then her stomach rumbled loudly, and she laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. I grinned at her.
“Guess I’m a little hungry. Mind if I order in some food?”
I shook my head and she smiled. “Great. How do you feel about Greek gyros?”