Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 91434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“How much is she itching to get back to work?” he asks, taking the plate from the island and unwrapping them.
“She’s fit to be tied,” I share as he picks up one and takes a bite and then looks at me.
“These aren’t your mom’s,” he says to me right away as he looks down at the donuts. I shake my head.
“No.” I smile, putting one foot on the other. “Those are my creation. I roll them until they are paper thin and then stack them on top of each other so they are flaky.” He takes another bite. “Are they good?”
“No.” He shakes his head, making my heart stop in my chest. “They are better than good.” I roll my eyes and breathe a sigh of relief.
“You’re a jerk,” I kid with him, and he puts the donut down on the plate.
“I should go,” I say, and he looks up at me.
“I don’t want you to,” he says softly and slides his hand in mine. “Come and sit with me outside.” He moves quietly outside to his back deck, where there is a long L-shaped patio couch. He goes to sit in the corner, stretching out his legs. “Sit with me,” he urges, pulling down my hand.
I sit beside him, looking out into the darkness and curling my feet under me. He wraps his arm that was holding my hand around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. I shouldn’t be here with him, but there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be than right here. I put my head on his shoulder, looking out into the darkness. The next thing I know, my eyes are so heavy I can’t open them.
“Baby.” I hear his voice softly, and when my eyes flutter open, I’m lying with my head in his lap, right on top of his hard cock. I push up, looking at him. “It’s almost three.”
I sit up. “What?” I ask him, and he rubs his eyes.
“We fell asleep,” he explains, and I sit up, blinking away the sleep from my eyes.
“Shit,” I swear, getting up. “I closed my eyes for a minute.”
“Well, it was a little bit more than six hours,” he corrects, getting up with me.
“I have to go,” I say and walk to the door with him on my heels. “Thank you so much.”
“For what?” he asks, standing there looking at me with sleep in his eyes.
“For dinner,” I reply, and I want to lean up and kiss him. So I do, but instead of kissing his lips like I want to, I kiss his cheek. I’m about to walk out the door, but he spins me to face him. His hands go into my hair. Fisting it, he tilts my head to the side, and he kisses me. It’s wet, it’s wild, and it’s fucking everything. My tongue mixes with his, and he kisses me until I don’t even know my own name anymore.
He finally lets my lips go, and I open my eyes. “Have a good day, baby,” he says as I turn and walk out of the house, my lips still wet from his kiss and tingling. I’m in a daze, and when I get home, the last thing I’m expecting is for my mother to be sitting up waiting for me.
“Hey,” I say, walking in and kicking off my shoes, “did you just get up?”
“What are you doing?” she asks, getting up from her spot in her chair.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I reply to her, confused, as she stands in front of me with her hands on her hips.
“That man has been a shell of a man since you left,” she says, her voice tight but soft at the same time. “And now you are doing the same thing to him that you did back then.” Her words shock me, but she’s not done. “You are going to leave here and go back to your life, and he is going to stay here. But now he’s older and he has a daughter he has to worry about and not just you.”
“Mom,” I say as my chest tightens, her voice and words penetrating so much that my breathing is coming in pants.
“And what about you?” She raises her hand, pointing at me. “What are you going to do? How are you going to feel when you leave here?” I swallow down the lump in my throat. “You haven’t had anyone in your life since him.” I softly gasp. “No, I want you to be happy. You have a life, and you haven’t done a thing since you left here. Sure, you’re successful, but what else do you have?” She shakes her head, and she wipes the tears away that are rolling down her face. “You don’t think I know what it’s like to love someone from afar?” she says. “I know more than you think I know. You get one chance at love in your life. I’m not talking about loving someone. I’m talking about falling in love with someone so much that your heart hurts when you aren’t with them. That you literally don’t think you’ll be able to live if they are not there. It’s a love that is so consuming you know you will never love someone like you love that person.” The way she is talking, it’s like she’s reliving something. I watch the pain on her face, and I know this isn’t only about me.