Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
I nod and let the smoked glass slide up. “We’ll drive you and Jasmine home.”
Vasey has brushed her hair back into place and straightened her clothes. Despite her attempts at respectability, her lips are cherry red, and her cheeks are rosy. She looks like a woman who’s been loved up.
Not enough, though. I have a decade of loving to make up for.
“Jasmine won’t get in the car with you. And…I need time to sort through”—she waves a hand in my way—“what all this is.”
She’s pissed, and she has every right to be. It’s not that I was wrong to go to the military, to want to make money, to provide for her. It was wrong to fight before I left and wrong to allow distance to grow between us. Her ignoring my declaration of love with a hand wave should at least irk me, but I can only acknowledge that this is the result of my fuck-up. I thought this big gesture would win her over, but it doesn’t. I get it. I’ve got work to do.
“Fine, but you’ll be sorting through with me around. I’ve learned my lesson. Go get Jasmine, and we’ll take her back to Ware’s. I’ll meet with Ware and let him know that you and I are getting married so he can have time to find a new nanny. Obviously, you can see Jasmine whenever you want. I won’t stop you.”
Her mouth parts. I smile. I almost miss her hand coming up to slap me. I catch it and press her palm to my lips. “What’d I say wrong this time?”
“You won’t stop me from seeing Jasmine? You don’t have any rights over me, West. You can’t just appear out of nowhere, say you love me, and expect me to fall in your lap.” She jerks her arm out of my grasp.
“I know.” I try to soothe her. “I know I did you wrong, and I’m going to make up for it.”
“Maybe I don’t want you to.”
My gaze falls to her pert nipples pushing against her shirt. I bite my tongue from stating the obvious. “Then it’s my job to make you want me, isn’t it? Let’s solve your Jasmine problem. You’re worried about her and don’t want to leave her. If it’s not her dad that’s the problem, then it’s his wife or kid.”
Her mouth thins out at the mention of Gideon. “The kid, then.” I act as if I don’t know. “Have you talked to Ware?”
“I tried this morning, and he told me to write him up a report, but I don’t have any proof. It’s just a gut instinct thing.”
One that at least one other staff in Ware’s household shares. “Does it make sense for me to send you and Jasmine back into the lion’s den without protection?”
“Ware would never let you take his child from him.”
She’s right about that. I don’t have any legal recourse, either. “How about you tell Ware that you’re going to a summer sleepaway camp and come stay at my place on the shore?”
“He wouldn’t buy that. He’d say to go stay at his place down on the island.”
Ware is a fucking impediment. I wonder if Vasey has feelings for him that she’s not admitting. I fist my hands. “You’re putting Ware between us, and that’s going to be a problem.”
“He’s not between us.” She puts her hand on the door and then turns to give me a bitter smile. “Because there’s no us.”
She scoots out the door and runs over to a small girl wearing long shorts and an oversized white T-shirt declaring her love for Wonder Woman. The girl beams at her and starts chattering immediately. Vasey gazes down on the girl with serious affection. It’s like a punch to the gut. That should be our kid.
Going over there will upset her, though, and I don’t want that. I watch as the two climb into the waiting car, and then I follow them back to the Ware mansion. The black gates open and swallow them up. I look around and see a driveway behind me. I press the buzzer.
“Who is it?”
“Weston Evers. I want to buy your home.”
Two hours and an obscene amount of money later, I am the new owner of the mansion across the street from Ware. There’s an unfurnished carriage house with a bedroom and a bathroom at the front of the property that’s unused, and to the confusion of the former owner who said that they couldn’t vacate the property for a week, I start ordering shit. Bed. Dresser. Portable stovetop. As everything is delivered, I stand at the side of the road to monitor the situation. And by monitor, I mean I sit in a lawn chair and stare at Ware’s drive. Soon enough, the black gates open, and Vasey appears on the other side of the road.