Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I grin, stroking his jaw. “As much as I want the same, Louisa deserves the best day ever.”
He nods. “You’re right.”
“My peepaw is so unpredictable. He lost his shit when it came to Austen and Elliot with their guys, but then with Louisa and Eliza, he didn’t get upset to the point of trying to ruin lives. I just want everything to go smoothly. We’re good, no matter what. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah. I’m just gonna be in a state of pain the whole time, being so close but unable to touch you in that hot little number you’re gonna be wearing.”
I beam. “It’s okay. I’m sure there are spots we can sneak off to.”
“I’ll find them for a wee second of your time.”
He kisses me, and when he kisses me like that, all demanding need for me, I feel like I’m underwater. But I’m able to breathe as long as Riggs’s lips are on mine. He traces his hands up my back, and I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him even closer. When we part, we’re both breathless and heat burns in his eyes. “If we keep this up, we’ll never leave this bed.”
“Isn’t that the plan?” I ask sweetly, and he shakes his head.
“Day-trip, remember?” I nod, and he smacks my ass playfully. “I’ll ravish you tonight.”
“Promise you won’t get drunk, Grandpa?”
“The only drunk I’ll be getting is off you, my love.”
We share a grin before he kisses my nose and then starts to get up. I roll over to the other side and reach for my phone. I jerk back in surprise when I see thirteen missed calls from Elliot.
“Oh no,” I gasp, hitting her contact. “Elliot has been calling. I put my phone on silent ’cause I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Riggs’s brows pull together. “Shit. Hopefully she’s not in labor.”
My heart drops as the phone rings, and my sister’s voice comes over the line. “Clara Drew, what the hell?”
“My bad. I had my phone on silent. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she snaps.
Perplexed, I ask, “Are you in labor?”
“No.”
“Okay. Then what’s going on?”
“I thought I knew what I wanted to say. But now that I hear your voice, I’m so fucking pissed, I can spit.”
Her voice is hard, and when I glance at Riggs, even he looks confused. “What’s wrong, El?”
“Is Riggs there?”
“Yes?”
“Put me on speakerphone.”
I do as she asks, my face twisted in confusion as Riggs steps toward me. “Okay? You’re on speaker.”
“Riggs, I want you to know you’re lucky I’m about to drop a baby, or I’d come over there and whoop your ass.”
“Elliot!” I chide. “What the hell?”
Elliot’s voice is like steel. “No, Clara. I want him to explain to me and to you why he had the audacity to tell Alex that my beautiful sister was a drunken mistake and that she meant nothing and that he doesn’t want her.”
I look up as Riggs’s face goes a shade of white I’ve never seen. He holds up his hands, palms toward me. “I can explain.”
“Please fucking do!” Elliot demands.
I shake my head and hang up on my sister as I lock eyes with Riggs. I don’t want to believe this, but he just admitted to it. My heart pounds in my chest as I cross my arms, hugging myself. I knew this was too good to be true. I knew I wasn’t destined for love, not when I’m not whole like other women. But even thinking that doesn’t seem right. Not with how his eyes are pleading with mine, not with how my heart still screams for him.
No. I am worthy of love.
His love.
But he has some explaining to do.
CHAPTER 33
Riggs
Goddammit.
Fuck.
That fucking golden goose of mine is a dead man.
The look in her eyes, the betrayal, has my heart dropping to the pit of my stomach. “Clara, love, I can explain.”
She looks at me expectantly. “Please do.”
She’s too calm. Fuck. In a rush, I explain, “Alex caught us kissing, and I lied. I did. I told him it was a mistake and that we’d both realized it.”
“Why, though? If he caught us…oh well.”
“Because, obviously, he doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut. He’s a pain in my ass and loves to get under my skin,” I stress, my heart beating so hard, my vision is fuzzy. “I didn’t want it getting out or him teasing me in front of everyone. I didn’t realize he’d tell Elliot, though. I’m sorry.”
She lets out a breath, brushing her hair off her shoulders. “I mean, I understand that you didn’t want him to know, but why say that it was a drunken mistake? That I mean nothing to you? You could have just ignored him.”
“You’re right, but I had to nip it in the bud. I didn’t mean anything I said.”
Her navy eyes burn with anger as she narrows them. “But didn’t you realize that saying that to him would get around to my family? You said it to my sister’s baby daddy, the sister who has a tendency for violence and holds a hell of a grudge. I don’t understand why you had to say those things.”