Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
I shoot a text to Arthur before leaving my office.
Me: I’ll be out of the office for the better part of the day. Hold all calls and move any appointments.
Rather than text back, he calls me.
“Wild.”
“Sir, you were supposed to meet with Tokyo this afternoon.”
“Reschedule it.”
“But we rescheduled it last week.”
“Do it again,” I reply easily. “It’s Sunday, and I’m taking some time off.”
“Wow,” Arthur breathes. “Yes, sir. But we can’t miss the next rescheduled meeting with them.”
“Fine.” The Tokyo issue annoys me. “You won’t hear from me until tomorrow morning at six.”
He doesn’t immediately respond.
“Hello?”
“You’re taking the whole day off?”
“That’s what I said. And I want you to, as well. Go…do whatever it is you do in Manhattan on a Sunday.”
“I could go have lunch with Eric,” he says. “And then we could go to the farmer’s market.”
“Go have fun with your husband,” I reply. “No work until tomorrow morning. The world won’t fall apart. Probably.”
“If it does, I’m not getting fired for it.”
I grin as I hang up and then make my way down to the kitchen, where Jake’s already sitting at the island, drinking coffee—a habit he’s picked up since moving in with me—and watching something on his phone.
“I had to talk to Arthur and tell him that I’m taking today off.”
“The whole day?”
“That’s what he said.” I pull eggs and bacon out of the fridge. “I could make French toast, if you want some.”
“Can I still have all the other junk?” he asks, not looking up from his phone.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Why are you taking the whole day?”
“Today’s the day that Chase and Summer are coming out to ride,” I remind him.
“I know. I went out this morning and got the girls ready.” He always refers to our little herd of horses as the girls. “The bridles and saddles are ready, too. I just didn’t think you’d take the whole day. It won’t take that long.”
“How do you know?”
“Summer’s never ridden before. If she goes too long on a horse, she won’t walk for a week.”
I smirk and pour milk into the bowl with some eggs, whisking them up. “Polly’s coming, too.”
“Cool.”
He’s still staring at the damn phone.
“Would you please put that down while we’re talking? What’s so interesting?” He doesn’t usually do that during our morning meetings, as we started calling our breakfasts together.
“Sorry.” He flips it off and turns the phone face down on the countertop. “It’s a horse race. So, are you and Polly dating or something?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Because I’m not stupid. She’s nice and pretty, and you said you had dinner last week.”
“Yeah, all of that is true. I guess we’re dating.” I glance up and see that he’s watching me with interest. “What do you want to know about it? You know you can ask me anything.”
“Is she going to stay here sometimes?”
“Maybe, but not while you’re here.”
“Good. That’s weird.” He gets up and circles around the island to help me with the bacon. “Are you going to marry her? And if you do, will you have a prenup? You should. You’re loaded, and girls can’t be trusted.”
“Whoa, there’s a lot to unpack here.” I laugh and tug the boy in for a hug, then put him in a headlock and ruffle his hair. “So far, we’re dating. I like her. It’s pretty casual.”
For now.
“If and when I marry anyone, there will most likely be some kind of legality involved because yeah, I’m loaded. Don’t worry, you’re in the will.”
His head pops up, and he grins at me. “I am? Nice. Don’t worry, I won’t off you or anything just for the money.”
“Thanks. That inspires a lot of confidence. And lastly, women can be trusted. Look at Grandma Joy and Erin and Summer. Millie. Heck, even Polly. You know Polly, and you like her.”
He shrugs a shoulder. “Yeah, I like her. Even when she caught those morons stealing from her, she wasn’t a raging bitch or anything.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Watch the language, kid.”
“I’m just saying she wasn’t too bad, and I liked helping her at the shop. She’s always been decent to me. And she treats me like a person and not just a kid. So, if she’s around some, I guess it would be okay.”
“Good. Now, why don’t you think women can be trusted?”
And just like every time I want to talk about his past, Jake clams right up.
“So, this horse race,” he says, changing the subject. “It’s pretty cool.”
He tells me about the race, and I finish making breakfast. When we’re done eating, we hear Polly’s car in the driveway.
“Is Polly early?” he asks me, looking outside to see who it is.
“I told her to come early so we could show her around and stuff.”
He eyes me. “I’ll go to the barn.”
“No way. You’ll hang out with us and help me show her around.”