Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
That was eight months ago. A glass of wine sounds good.
“Sure, that would be lovely.”
I settle onto one of the stools at the counter and watch him fill two glasses.
He hands me one.
“What are we toasting?” I ask.
He smiles. “You.”
“Me?”
His smile turns serious. “It was your birthday last week.”
“Yes, it was…”
Is it weird that he knows it’s my birthday? I barely speak to this guy and now he’s toasting my birthday? Not even Dani mentioned it.
“I was putting some paperwork away last night and I saw it on your employment form. Thought it would be nice to celebrate.”
“Oh, I see. Well, okay, thanks.”
We clink glasses and I take a sip. The wine is good, thick and purple, and sweet with berries. I relax and take another mouthful as I look around the kitchen.
“Good?” Julian asks.
“Oh yes, thank you.”
I take another mouthful because something seems off. I feel it in my gut. But I tell myself to stop being such a worrier. Julian is just being nice.
“It feels strange not at least acknowledging it. Aurora has grown to be quite fond of you.”
“She has?”
“I have too,” he says with a strange look on his face.
The weirdness level in the room shoots up.
“Excuse me?”
He puts down his wine. “I want to get to know you, Belle. I don’t want us to be passing ships in the night. I want to know you. You look after my daughter five nights a week. It seems a bit aloof of me not to get to know the woman who spends so much time in my house.”
His eyes drop to my lips, and I shift uncomfortably. The way he’s looking at them…like he wants to eat them.
Something isn’t right here.
I put down my glass. “I should go.”
“Oh no, no, please don’t leave.” He rushes around to my side of the counter. “Am I being weird? I’m being weird. I’m sorry.”
I stand up and reach for my bag. “It’s okay, really, I need to get home.”
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” His gaze locks onto mine, and I start to feel sorry for him. But he can’t help himself and reaches for my hand.
I try to yank it away, but he tightens his grip. “Julian, please—"
Without warning, he tugs me to him, and I fall against his chest. “Oh, Belle,” he cries, his mouth finding mine desperately.
His wet, loose lips are cold and slippery as he tries to swallow my face.
I push him away but lose my balance. And because this is my life and not some fairytale where things actually work out for the main character, the moment his tongue sweeps into my mouth, the front door opens and Dani walks in. Even worse—because I’m about to fall over, thanks to Julian’s enthusiasm—I grab onto him to stop myself from falling, which only makes things look more suspect.
By the time I push him off me, Dani is walking into the kitchen, murdering us both with her eyes.
“Well, isn’t this cozy,” she fumes, dropping her Birken handbag on the ginormous kitchen counter.
Julian leaps away from me like I’m a vibrating ball of anti-matter.
“What a fucking cliché,” Dani seethes as she stomps towards Julian and thrusts a pointed finger into his spongy chest. “The idiot husband fucking the slut nanny while the successful wife works late. Hardly original. But then originality isn’t exactly what I’ve come to expect from you, I suppose. Boring old Julian, with a personality of a wet mop. How long has this been going on? What would’ve happened next if I hadn’t come home when I did, huh? You going to bend the young tart over the kitchen counter and fuck her up against the dishwasher.”
My mouth opens. Slut nanny? Young tart?
Sweat beads Julian’s forehead. “I swear it wasn’t me. I can explain everything.”
“Fine, explain it to me.” Dani puts her hands on her hips and glares at him. But Julian is too intimidated and can’t get a word out, infuriating Dani even more. “Come on then, you philandering fuck, I’m waiting.”
This is spiraling out of control.
“Dani, you’ve got it all wrong,” I say.
But Dani turns her razor-sharp death glare toward me.
“And you, you little hussy, go on then, tell me I didn’t see my poor excuse for a husband groping the nanny when I walked in the door.” Her wild green eyes sharpen on me, her thin lips tight as she warns, “I dare you.”
I’m taken back by the venom in her voice and the hate in her eyes.
But I don’t really blame her.
If I walked in on my husband groping the nanny, I would probably react the same way.
“You really think I’m interested in Julian?”
“Oh, let me see, you had your tongue down his throat, so yeah, I really think you’re interested in Julian.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“Oh please, I saw it with my own eyes.” She takes a predatory step toward me. “But I’m interested to know, what is it you want from him? It can’t be his dad body or his exciting personality, and let’s face it, he hardly won the lottery in the looks department. So what is it? You think you can fool around with my husband and play mommy to Aurora, then squeeze me out of my own home? Is that it, Belle. Do you want to be me?”