Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Cool.” Millie smiles. “It’s been so rainy, hasn’t it?”
“Cut the shit, Millie. I’m worried about you. Dad was out of line, and it shouldn’t have gone like that.”
“It went pretty much the way I thought it would, Ry. There was no way to break the news gently.”
“He was still out of line, and I’m sorry for it. Now, tell me the truth, and I’ll know if you’re lying.”
She blows out a raspberry between her lips, and I’m still smiling.
“Fine. Yes, you were really adopted, and we’ve all kept the secret from you. I’m sorry, I should have told you sooner.”
“You’re a riot.”
“Aren’t I, though?”
“Are you really safe, Mill? Is everything okay?” His voice softens, and if I didn’t respect Ryan Wild before, this would have pushed me square into it. “You’re not there against your will or anything like that?”
“No.” Millie’s voice isn’t teasing anymore either. “Ryan, I’m really okay. I’m hurt after what just went down, but I’ll get over it eventually. I’m safe.”
Damn right, she is.
“If you need literally anything—”
“I know, Ry. Thank you. I love you, too. Thanks for not being a jerk like the others.”
He snorts out a laugh. “Talk to you later, squirt.”
She hangs up and lets out a long breath. “At least they’re not all dead to me.”
“None of them are dead to you.” I smile over at her. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Yeah. Sure. Feed me.”
“I’m on my way to do that right now.”
I drive her up to the ski resort, and with her instructions, I find the pub and restaurant called Snow Ghost. It’s a weird time of the afternoon, definitely a little too early for dinner, but all the emotional trauma that we just went through will make a person hungry.
There are only a few others in the restaurant, so we’re immediately shown to a table with a view of the slopes where the snow is still melting off, and Millie sets her menu aside.
She already knows what she wants.
I decide to just get the same thing that she’s having and set my menu on top of hers.
“So.” She leans forward on her elbows, but we’re interrupted by the waitress, who takes our orders, leaves waters, and then bustles away.
“So?”
“When are you going to tell your family?” Her beautiful hazel eyes are vulnerable, and, without hesitation, I pull my phone out and pull up the group text with my girls.
Me: Hey, guys. Yesterday went well. I married Millie Wild. Well, Millie Lexington now. I’ll tell you more about it later.
I set the phone aside and smile at Millie. “Done.”
She scowls. “You told them in a group text?”
“Sure. They knew I was getting married. I just didn’t tell them to who. Now they know.”
“Through a text message, Holden.”
“Listen, I’m out to dinner with my beautiful wife. I don’t have time to call an emergency family meeting.”
My phone, sitting on the table by my elbow, starts to light up with responses from my sisters. Rather than answer, I turn the phone on Do Not Disturb and slide it into my pocket.
Millie’s mouth drops open.
“You’re not going to at least answer their questions?”
“Later.” I reach over and take her hand. “I told you, I’m having dinner with my wife. I do believe this is our first official date.”
“Oh, no.” She shakes her head adamantly. “Definitely not. We’re not calling this a date.”
“We’re out at a restaurant. Together. Alone. Pretty sure that constitutes a date, Mill.”
“No. Because I look like shit, I’ve been through the emotional wringer today, and I refuse to look and feel like this on our first date. You’ll just have to try again another time.”
She frowns as if she didn’t mean to say that.
“Actually, this is a sham marriage, so we don’t need to go on dates.”
“Millie?” I squeeze her fingers until she looks up at me. “Shut up.”
Before she can respond, her phone starts to ring, and I see that it’s Charlie, so I snatch it out of Millie’s grasp and answer it myself.
“Oh, my God, nosy Nelly, stop bothering her. We’re out to dinner. Leave her alone, Charlie, I mean it.”
“No, I need details. Millie Wild? Oh, my God, this is fabulous. I love her! But her dad is going to fucking kill you, Holden. You’re not safe. You need to enter the witness protection pro—”
I hang up on her, and before I give it back to Millie, I enter my number, assign my contact, and then turn it on Do Not Disturb and pass it over.
“You should talk to her,” she says, her eyes laughing.
“No way. I’ll answer questions another time. So, now that our families know, we don’t have to keep it a secret.”
“I didn’t plan on keeping it a secret. Jesus, I can’t lie for a whole year. That’s insane.”
Try your whole life, baby girl.
But all I say is, “Hmm,” and take a sip of my water.