Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
“Wait here, all right?” It was too soon for me to leave him alone with a set of keys in the ignition, so he’d have to suffer for a few minutes without AC. “I’ll be back in a few.”
“Yessir.”
I climbed out and made my way to the front door, and this part probably made me more nervous than seeing the Connor cousins on their knees in that basement.
I’d fucked up my whole life, from my education to my marriage, just one thing after another. Except Trip and Ellie. It really wore me down to know West questioned my ability to be a good dad.
I knocked on the door and steeled myself, and I pushed back a yawn. Exhaustion and nervousness didn’t mix well. Two things that weakened my filters.
One, two, three…
“It’s so…refreshing getting to know you, Alfie. You don’t play games, and you—”
“Because I never bothered to learn the rules,” I laughed.
He grinned and threw the covers over us, and he drew a full-body shiver from me as he kissed his way down my neck.
“I’ve only ever played one game,” he murmured against my skin. “For some reason, I never wanted to come off as too eager, so I was careful with my timing. I didn’t text too early—or too late, for that matter. I never arrived at a restaurant early. If a date came over to my place, I counted to twenty before I opened the door—”
“That’s ridiculous,” I chuckled. But also, more importantly, let’s not discuss past dates. It made me absurdly jealous to know others had been in this bed before me. “For my peace of mind, I wanna pretend I’m the first one in your bed.”
He rolled on top of me, allowing daylight to sneak under the covers, and he smiled down at me.
“You are. It’s a fairly new bed.” He dipped down and kissed my nose, and I smiled back. “With you, though, I can’t even pretend. When you came over last night, it didn’t even occur to me to stand there like an idiot and count to twenty before…”
…seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twen—
West opened the door, looking as tired as I felt, and he’d changed out of his pajamas. Well, the unflattering shirt anyway. He wore the bottoms, and he’d opted for a tee instead. Much better. Also, there was no way he’d stood there and counted. He’d probably been upstairs or something. Did I want him to count? No, of course not. I wanted him too eager to count to twenty. But at the same time, if he’d counted, it meant he didn’t want me to perceive him as too eager, which might hide the fact that he was eager—and right about now, someone should shoot me in the face, because what the fuck was wrong with me.
“I take it Trip’s asleep,” I said.
He nodded once, and I noticed he was studying me. His gaze trailed from my neck to my shoulders, down my front, and…was he looking for something?
“Okay. Uh… So I’ll be back early with breakfast,” I said. “Thank you for covering for me tonight.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied. “Did your criminal outing go well?”
I lifted my brows. “Um, yeah. Killed two people and robbed a bank, so if the cops ask, I was here all night.”
That earned me a glare. “You think this is funny?”
“No, West. Not a fucking thing about this is funny,” I answered. “Are we done? I’m tired as shit. I somehow ended up with a sixteen-year-old in my care, and I don’t know what formula and diapers they use. He’s waiting in the car, so I’mma—”
“What?” He stepped out on the welcome mat and peered toward the driveway. “There’s a kid in your car? Who is it? Why—”
“It’s a work thing,” I said tiredly. I didn’t have the time or energy to do this. “I showed up because Trip asked me to. Now I’m going home. Don’t you have work in the morning?”
It was like he didn’t even hear me. “Who is he?” he repeated. “Is he staying with you?”
“For a little while.” I took a breath and tried to be patient. I reminded myself that my new…affiliations…were a lot for West to process, and for as long as our kids were underage, what happened in my life was his business too. “His brother is an…associate, I guess you can call it. And he fucked up. So we’re sending him to Dublin for a few months. In the meantime, Colby’s staying with me. Or until I find him a better place. I don’t know yet.”
West remained silent for a beat, and he looked toward the car, even though it was hard to see anything. He wasn’t comfortable, that was for sure. It was another development that put him on edge.
“If you want our children to be around him, I want to meet him first,” he stated. “That’s nonnegotiable.”