Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“He’s like a whirlwind,” Laina says, picking up the bags. “I can’t believe you had him do all of this, and he really did it. That was so nice of you guys.”
“I just didn’t want you to wear all my clothes.”
She jabs me in the ribs with her elbow. “I think it means you’re going to let me stay.”
My stomach muscles contract from the look in her eye.
It would be so easy to forget that she’s here because she’s running from her life. If I really wanted to, I could wipe away the fact that she’s a famous singer and that she left me once over that. Without trying, I could fall so hard for this woman that I couldn’t see straight.
But I can’t forget I’m a momentary safe house. I know better than to forget how it killed me when I couldn’t see her again—when her world had engulfed her completely. The shift from being a fixture in her life and a certain part of her future to simply becoming a boy from her past knocked me sideways. A part of me has never recovered.
I have to guard myself from falling in love with her all over again because I did that once and barely survived. I don’t think I could do it again.
Laina holds the bags at her sides and yawns. “I don’t know how I’m still tired after that nap.”
“Let’s take all this upstairs so you can get a shower later if you want.”
“Okay.”
I wait for her to go up the steps first and follow her with the pizza box. It’s so natural having her in my home. It’s so easy spending time with her. How can it be this simple after all these years? After the heartbreak of my life?
It probably feels right because I’m only showing her “healed and easygoing Luke” and not the “I hate the world Luke” I was for a long time after we ended.
“Ugh,” she says, stutter-stepping in the doorway to my bedroom.
I nearly run the edge of the pizza box into her back. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just left my dress on the floor, and seeing it just felt like …” She sighs and goes into my bedroom. “It didn’t feel good.”
I drop the box on the bed. “Let’s do something with it, then.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. What do you want to do with it?”
She sets the bags in the bathroom and then returns to the bedroom. She studies the big white poof on the floor.
“We could put it in a trash bag and save it,” I offer, not sure what women do with these things. So much money for one day. Or half a day in this case.
“I don’t want to save it.”
“Okay. We could bag it up and donate it to charity.”
Her eyes shine. “Let’s do that.”
I grab a lawn and leaf bag from the kitchen, and we make quick work of stuffing the dress inside. Once the material is out of sight, the relief on Laina’s face is evident. Her wrinkled forehead eases. The lines around her mouth soften. Her shoulders slump forward as if a weight has been lifted, and if I had known this would help her, I would’ve done it hours ago.
I toss the bag into the hallway. “I’ll take it to the garage later.”
She free-falls backward onto the bed.
My shirt cradles her body, sucking against her front. Her tits sit on top of her chest with the nipples pressing against the fabric, and the hem of my boxers ride up and pool at the apex of her thighs. Her skin is tanned and smooth. She’s delicate yet strong, beautiful yet the embodiment of sexy.
My cock twitches in my jeans.
“Do you want to eat or go to sleep?” I ask, moving into the bathroom to adjust myself without her noticing.
“Can I eat in bed?”
“This isn’t a hotel.”
“No, but I’ll be super careful and not drop a crumb.”
Hate to tell you, lady, but I wouldn’t kick you out of bed for getting crumbs in the sheets.
She yawns in the other room.
“Did Gavin bring you everything you need?” I ask.
“I think so. Thank you again for organizing that for me.”
Sufficiently calm, I go back into the bedroom and sit on the other side of the pizza box from her.
“My best friend flies out tomorrow and has all of my stuff,” she says. “I’m not sure how to get it from her if you let me stay a few days.”
“Just a few days?”
She shrugs, flicking open the pizza box. “Maybe in a few days things will have blown over enough that I can get to the airport and go somewhere else. I don’t know where I’ll go, but I can figure something out.” She sits up and takes a slice of pizza. “Where would you go if you could go anywhere?”