Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Regaining control of herself, she sighs deeply, flexing her hands a little for me to release them. As soon as I have, her arms are around my neck. ‘I just . . .’ A deep breath. ‘I don’t know. Everything you’re telling me, how you are, how I am, how we are, just sounds so crazy. Yet my heart is telling me it’s real. It’s normal. Nothing feels wrong at all, just so incredibly right. Even the mad stuff.’
I smile softly and brush some hair back off her face. ‘It’s our normal, baby. I’ve always told you that.’
‘Our normal sounds pretty fucking perfect.’
‘Watch your mouth.’
‘Okay.’ She giggles and takes my lips once more, hungry for them since she tasted me last night. She can’t get enough of me, and I’m not about to complain. I let her at me for as long as she wants, following her soft, swirling tempo. ‘We’re probably gathering an audience.’ She’s breathless. Good. Let me take some more of that breath.
‘Fuck ’em.’ I take over the pace, every sound of pleasure that escapes her stroking my skin and warming it. I wouldn’t be opposed to staying here for the rest of the day. But I reluctantly acknowledge that she needs to eat.
‘You must be hungry.’ I pull back and trace the lines of her cheekbones, smiling at her swollen rosy lips.
‘A little,’ she admits on a sigh. ‘I’m more thirsty.’
‘I know just the place.’ I press my fists into the ground on either side of her and push myself up, helping her to her feet. Pointing across the road to the coffee shop, I take her hand and lead on. ‘You think you can walk that far?’
‘No.’ She looks up at me, her lips pressed together cheekily. ‘You might need to carry me.’
I say nothing and turn for her to climb onto my back again. We’re perhaps only thirty paces from the café, an easy walk, even for Ava, but she wants me to carry her and I’m not about to refuse. She’s playing. I love it.
With her face nestled close to mine, I walk us across the road and set her on her feet outside. ‘My lady,’ I say, pulling the door open and sweeping my arm out in gesture for her to lead on. I’m grinning. She’s grinning. It’s just one big grin-fest this afternoon.
‘Why didn’t you just woo me this romantically when we met?’ she asks, passing through the door. ‘You know, instead of asking highly inappropriate questions.’
I raise a brow as I follow her in. ‘How could I woo you when you refused to even have dinner with me? I was a desperate man. Besides, I eventually won your heart. Who cares how I did it?’
She laughs, bumping my shoulder as I flank her. I don’t budge, but Ava wobbles a bit, forcing me to make a grab for her before she topples. ‘Ava!’ I snap. ‘For fuck’s sake, be careful!’
She startles, blinking rapidly at me in surprise as I hold her by the tops of her arms. ‘No need to make a scene.’ She glances around, as do I, seeing a few people looking our way. I couldn’t give a flying fuck.
‘Just be careful,’ I mutter, taking her hand and leading her on towards the counter, stuffing my hand in my pocket to find my wallet.
But I freeze, pulling Ava to an abrupt halt, too, my feeling fingers lying still on the leather of my wallet as I stare at what’s captured my abrupt attention.
Sarah’s eyes, clouded with surprise to match mine, flick between me and Ava. She was always a bit too fond of Botox and fillers, and it seems that love affair has grown in her absence. Growing old gracefully she has not. Her skin is too taut and her lips blown up to ridiculous proportions. She has a coffee in her hand, just turning to leave the café.
‘Jesse?’ Ava’s hand lands gently on my forearm, and I rip my stare from Sarah and look down at my wife. ‘You okay?’
I cough, my head in chaos. ‘What do you want to drink?’ I ask, slipping my arm over her shoulder and walking on, taking a wide berth around Sarah, hoping beyond all hope that Ava doesn’t notice her. Sarah’s body turns as we move, keeping her facing us. I feel my lips form a straight, warning line, silently threatening her to leave quietly and unnoticed. Her eyes are questioning, even if her face is poker straight.
We just make it to the counter when Ava turns away from me, directly towards Sarah. ‘I’ll have a hot chocolate, please. I just need a tissue.’ She wanders off, literally rubbing shoulders with Sarah as she passes. My wife doesn’t bat an eyelid at the woman who nearly tore us apart. Or one of the women. I watch in dread as Sarah’s gaze follows her path to the nearby pile of napkins. She looks confused. John hasn’t told her about Ava’s accident? And then as Ava heads back, wiping her nose, her eyes fall straight onto Sarah. She frowns, eyeing Sarah as she stares. ‘That woman is staring at me,’ Ava says when she’s returned to me, moving in closely to my side. ‘Do I know her?’