Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
“You don’t think it screams 1950?”
“No, I think it screams lovely.” I chuckle and kiss her nose and then roll away from her before I do something stupid like ask her to marry me right here and now.
I’ll have to wait a while for that.
“Now, can we have breakfast?” she asks with a laugh. “I’m starving. I’m making pancakes.”
“I will never turn down pancakes.”
She hops from the bed, finding one of my button-down shirts to wrap around her. That’s been her uniform all weekend, and it’s sexy as fuck on her.
Maya shimmies into some panties, then pads out of the bedroom.
While she cooks, I take my time in the shower. I need a minute to get my head on straight. This weekend was better than I’d hoped. She fits here. I want her here all the time, not just on the weekends.
Buggering hell, I’m gone over her.
When I come out of the bathroom, I can smell the pancakes and bacon cooking downstairs, so I dress and pad down there. I stop cold when I reach the kitchen, my hand flying to my chest to cover the instant ache there.
She’s dancing.
A Taylor Swift song plays from her phone, and Maya’s hips move as she sings along, using the spatula as a microphone. That’s it.
I’m completely in love with this woman.
“You’re fired.”
That has her twirling in surprise. When she sees the scowl on my face, her eyes widen.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“You’re not coming into work today or any other day. You’re done.”
She turns off the burner and music, then sets the spatula aside before propping her hands on her hips and scowling at me. “What in the world did I do to get fired in the past fifteen minutes?”
“I can’t work with you anymore.”
“You’re being so…you. Why? What’s wrong?”
“I can’t work with the woman I’ve fallen in love with. It’s a conflict of interest. It’s too fucking distracting. If I’m going to get a bloody thing done in that office, I can’t have you there.”
Her hands fall off her hips, and she just blinks at me.
“Wh-what?”
“You heard me.” I cross to her and wrap my arms around the small of her back as she tips her head up so she can see me. “You’re fired.”
“No, the other part.”
I drag my fingers down her soft cheek. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Maya Sterling.”
“You have?” It’s a whisper.
“Yes.”
She swallows hard, takes a deep breath, and frowns up at me as if searching my eyes for the answer to a question she hasn’t asked. Finally, her face clears. “You mean that.”
“I bloody well do, yes. And if you don’t feel the same—”
She jumps up, wraps her arms and legs around me, and kisses me with everything she has. Her fingers dive into my hair, and I walk her to the counter, where I sit her arse down and happily plunder her mouth.
When we come up for air, she brushes a lock of my hair off my forehead.
“I love you, too.”
I tip my head to hers. “Thank Christ.”
Maya laughs and then scowls.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m sitting in eggs,” she says, and I can’t help but laugh. That makes her grin. “Broken eggs.”
“Come on, then.” I lift her again and head for the stairs. “Let’s clean you up.”
“What about breakfast?”
“It’ll keep.”
Epilogue
Maya
Seven Years Later
“I’m so glad you could come for this.” I grin at Derek’s mom, Pamela, as I set canapes on a tray for the party later. It’s Derek’s birthday, and I’m surprising him with his parents, who flew in from Bath just a few hours ago, and a small party later this evening with family.
Of course, if I’d invited the whole family, it would have been a huge party, so I included my parents—who are on their way to pick the kids up from school—and my siblings and their families.
If you count the kids, we’ll still have more than twenty people here.
“Are you kidding?” Pamela samples a crab canape. “Christian and I wouldn’t miss it. I can’t wait to see how big the children have gotten since Christmas.”
“They grow like weeds,” I confirm and then rub my growing belly. Our third little bundle will be here any day, and she’s reminding me to take it easy.
“Here,” Pam says, shooing me out of the way. “Sit for a while and put your feet up. I have this.”
I don’t argue and smile serenely as I watch my mother-in-law bustle around my kitchen. I’ve lived here for five years. Derek and I made a home here with our children and families coming as often as we can get them here.
The relationship between my stubborn, grumpy husband and his parents has softened with time. I think becoming a parent himself gave him some perspective on his childhood, and it makes me happy that their bond has strengthened over the past seven years. Derek claims it’s because of me and my ability to help him understand them, but I disagree. I think love helped him open his heart to his parents.