Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Joan’s eyes widened. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yep. It was a surprise to me, too.” Oh boy. I’m making this worse.
By the time we arrived at the lobby level, I felt like I might suffocate in the damn elevator. I was relieved when the doors slid open. Joan and I walked to the exit together. My train was to the left, so I pointed as if I were going home. “I’m this way.”
She smiled and pointed in the other direction. “My bus is that way.”
I couldn’t get out of here fast enough. “See you Monday,” I called, already moving down the sidewalk.
When I got to the subway station, I waited a few minutes in case Joan had forgotten something. You’d think I’d just stolen the Hope Diamond the way my heart hammered inside my chest. When I returned to the building, I held my breath until I arrived safely at Merrick’s floor.
Inside the apartment, I still felt tense. But then I stepped into the living room and saw something on the coffee table.
Was that…?
I walked over for a closer look. Sure enough, two orange goldfish were swimming around in a bowl. And it was not the same bowl that had been on the nightstand in his bedroom.
He got more fish? Or…
I dropped my purse on the couch and headed to the bedroom to investigate. As I opened the door, the jitters I’d had since Joan were finally pushed out by the warm feeling in my chest.
The fishbowl on the nightstand was gone. Merrick had moved it to a new home, in a new room. It was so minor and silly, but he’d taken the time to think about the comment I’d made last night, and he’d done something to alleviate my unvoiced concern.
Maybe I didn’t have to worry about fighting the shadow of another woman after all. It seemed Merrick wanted to let the sun in himself.
• • •
“Oh my gosh. That sounds like a huge undertaking.”
“Nah,” Kitty said. “It’ll give me something to do while I’m stuck here in the house. It’s only been two weeks. Eight more with this cast is going to make me go cuckoo if I don’t have something to occupy my time.”
“When would this reunion be happening?” I asked.
“I was thinking spring next year or the year after that, depending on the availability of the dude ranch.”
The front door opened, and Merrick walked in. I pointed to the phone and held up a finger. “Did you say dude ranch?”
“What better place than that? A lot of open land, night fires, horseback riding, and cowboys. Who doesn’t love a cowboy?”
“Well, I can’t argue with you there. What’s not to like about a cowboy?”
Merrick’s face scrunched up.
“But do you feel up to that already, Kitty?”
Merrick slapped his hand to his forehead and shook his head as he walked toward me.
“I’m fine—was fine last week when my jackass grandson thought I needed a nurse, too.”
I was pretty sure Merrick heard that last part. When I looked up, he held his palm out for the phone, but I shook my head. He took it from my hand and brought it to his ear anyway.
“Hey, Grams.” Merrick looked at me as he spoke. “No, I’m not working. And neither is Evie. We’re about to have dinner…alone in my apartment.”
I heard Kitty saying something else.
Merrick nodded. “Yep. You were right. So do you mind if she gives you a call tomorrow? Because while Evie is too polite to rush you off the phone, I’m not.” His eyes swept over me, lingering on my lips. “Thank you, I will. Goodnight, Grams.”
Looking pretty proud of himself, he tossed the phone to the couch and hooked an arm around my waist. “Now kiss me.”
“What if I don’t want to? That was kind of rud—” My words were swallowed in a kiss. And not just any kiss, but one where I had to cling to his shirt to make sure I stayed upright because the man could seriously make my knees weak with his mouth. For lack of a better description, he kissed the shit out of me. I was breathless when we broke.
Merrick pulled back to gaze into my eyes. His were hooded and filled with enough heat to make between my legs start to throb. “Sorry I made you wait.”
I smiled. “I like your apologies.”
His eyes sparkled. “Yeah? I’ll have to piss you off more.”
“Did you just out us to your grandmother?”
He nodded. “Should I apologize again?”
I laughed. “I think you should.”
Merrick resumed kissing me, this time slow and sweet. He pulled back and rubbed his nose with mine.
“You just angel kissed me!”
“I don’t think that’s what you call it.”
“It’s what my grandmother used to call it. Whenever we would leave my dad and go stay with her, I had trouble sleeping when we first arrived. So when she put me to bed, she would give me an angel kiss, which meant the angels would watch over me while I slept. No one else has ever done that to me.”