Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
With the most enthusiastic smile I can muster, I wait as I hear a car door slam shut, and a moment later, a woman I don’t recognize dressed in black slacks, a black designer top with dark sunglasses covering her eyes, and a Louis bag slung over her shoulder walks around the corner.
“Hi, are you here for the open house?” I ask.
“I am.” She looks from the key box in my hand to me, causing her dark hair that is cut in a chin-length bob to swish across her cheeks. “Am I too late?”
“I was just getting ready to lock up, but I can still show you around if you’d like.”
“Great.” She steps up onto the porch with me, leaving me no choice but to open the door for her to go inside or be pressed up against her. Just as I start to follow her in to the house, a sage-green Range Rover with dark-tinted windows pulls around the driveway. Thinking that actually might be the owners and wanting to give them a heads up if it is, I turn back to the woman.
“If you want to start looking around, I’ll be with you in just a minute,” I tell her, and she nods, then disappears farther into the house. I head down the short steps to the driveway and blink when I see Maxim get out of the passenger seat of the Range Rover, Melanie exits from the driver side, and Myla and Kai get out of the back.
“What are you guys doing here?” I walk toward them with a wide smile on my face, hugging Myla first, then Melanie and Kai before going to Maxim and leaning up for a kiss that makes his lips tug up into a smile.
“I was already planning to fly in later this week so that you and I could start shopping but after what happened we decided to fly in to see for ourselves that you were okay,” Myla says, stepping close and tugging me away from her son to give me another hug.
“You didn’t have to do that.” My chest warms as I lean back to look at her. “Even though I’m happy you’re here.”
“We’ve been worried,” she says softly as Kai rests his palm against her lower back. “It’s still hard to believe that someone tried to—”
“I’m okay, and so is Maxim,” I cut her off before she can finish, then glance up at Maxim quickly before focusing on his mom once more. “He didn’t tell me you guys were coming into town.”
“We told him not to.” She reaches out, giving my hand a squeeze. “We were going to surprise you this evening, but we ended up catching an earlier flight, so we decided to surprise both of you—only you weren’t home. When Maxim told us you were working, we figured we’d surprise you here and let you show us around this property.”
“Are you thinking about buying?” I ask, not even attempting to hide how happy that idea makes me. And I know that it would make Maxim happy having his parents closer even if he’d never say it.
“Yes,” Melanie answers for her parents as she ducks under Kai’s arm so he’s forced to wrap his arm around her shoulders.
“We’ve been talking about it,” Kai says, and I tip my head back to smile at him.
“Well, if you like to golf, this is the place for you,” I tell them as Maxim’s hand finds mine, and we walk toward the house. When we get inside, I turn to tell everyone that I’m going to check on the woman who showed up right before them, but as I start to open my mouth, she comes around the corner out of the front living room.
“Sorry.” She holds up her phone. “I just got a call from my daughter and have to run and pick her up.” She scoots past where we are all stopped and heads for the door.
“If you want to take one of my cards, I’d be happy to show you around another time.”
“That’s okay. I have a realtor already,” she says, not even turning to look at me as she heads outside, looking down at her cell phone.
“Well, I hope her daughter is okay,” Myla says, sounding just like a mom who’s had to run out to get her kid after an unexpected phone call.
“Me too.” I set down my bag and flip on the light for the entryway.
“Were you here alone?” Maxim asks.
I bite my bottom lip as my eyes meet his. “Well—”
“Where is Harris? I thought he was with you today,” he cuts me off before I can explain.
“He’s sick.”
“Babe, what the fuck?” he growls.
“Matt was here with me, and people have been around all day,” I defend myself, resting my hands on my hips, not appreciating his tone even a little.