Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“Thanks for coming.”
I put my hands in my pockets so I don’t try and reach for her. “I missed you.”
She laughs and then sits down on the end of the couch. “Don’t talk like that. This conversation is already hard enough.”
I sit down on the middle cushion and turn to her. “I want you to know that if you got me here to tell me to leave you alone… I can’t.”
She tilts her head. “You can’t?”
I clasp my hands in my lap. “No, I can’t. I think about you all the time, Haven. I know I fucked up… but I need you to let me make it right.”
She tilts her head. “Tell me the truth about your family.”
“I didn’t lie about that. The only lie I told you was being a cuddle therapist. The rest was all true.”
Her voice is soft. “So you were a foster child?”
“Yes, and what I told you about my foster brothers and sister… all true.”
“Why didn’t you just approach me? You’re Ridge Beckett.”
Every time she says my full name, it guts me. “My friends call me King.”
She purses her lips, and when she doesn’t say anything, I answer her question. “There are a few reasons I didn’t approach you.”
“I’m waiting.”
She’s still angry, but at least she’s willing to listen to me. “Because I wanted you to see past my money.”
She gasps and puts her hand to her chest. “I don’t care about your money.”
I put my hand on the couch between us and lean toward her. “I know that now, Haven.”
“What else? You said there were a few reasons. What else?”
“When I first saw you, you were with Victor. As soon as you left, I pulled him aside and demanded to know everything about you.”
Her eyes are wide. “And he just told you?”
I think back to that day, and I remember grabbing him by his collar. “I was pretty convincing. Anyway, when I found out that he was a cuddler and that you were a client, I knew I couldn’t just approach you off the street. I couldn’t take the chance that you would tell me no.”
She throws her hands up. “So you lied to me.”
And I have no other bigger regret. “Yes, I lied to you. And I promise that I’ll never do it again.”
She searches my face, and there’s no doubt she sees the sincerity there. I regret lying to her.
She crosses her arms over her chest. “Do you think you ever would have told me the truth?”
I angle my body toward hers. “Of course I would. What kind of future would we have if you didn’t know who I was? I know I messed up, and after I came to your fashion show, I planned to come clean. I was going to tell you at our next appointment.”
She tilts her head, and it’s obvious she doesn’t know whether to believe me or not. It makes me sick to know that I’ve ruined our relationship. She’s going to question everything I say and wonder if I’m telling the truth, but I’m never going to lie to her again. “I’m sorry. I truly am sorry. I know what I did was wrong. I betrayed your trust, and it’s going to take me a long time to earn it back, but I want you to know that I’m not giving up. Not on us.”
She takes a deep breath and finally nods her head. “Okay, I forgive you.”
There’s no way it’s that easy. “You forgive me? Just like that?”
She smiles, but it’s not the big smile I’m used to seeing on her. “I don’t hold grudges, King. And you promised you wouldn’t lie again.”
When she uses my nickname, I start to have some hope that everything is going to be okay. It’s not just words that she forgives me; maybe she can actually do it. “I won’t lie to you, Haven.”
“But…” she starts, and my stomach sinks. “I think it’s best if we just stay friends.”
I’m shaking my head and insisting, “That’s not going to work for me, peaches.”
“King, please, it’s just—”
I shake my head and scoot closer to her. This would be so much easier if I could touch her. If I could hold her in my arms and show her how I feel about her, but that’s not possible. Not yet. All I can do is try and explain and hope she doesn’t force me out the door. “I don’t want to be your friend… I want to be your husband.”
She starts to laugh, but I don’t even crack a smile. I’m serious… and somehow I’m going to convince her that she wants to be my wife.
13
HAVEN
I wait for him to say, “Ha! Just kidding” or something to that effect. When he sits next to me, looking at me with those big brown eyes of his, almost pleadingly, I shake my head. “You’re funny, King.”