Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
“The priest,” she guessed.
I nodded. “Yep. I couldn’t believe it was even allowed for a man who looked like him to be an ordained priest. Surely, the powers that be were aware the sight of that man stirred lust. And I knew that was a sin.
“We talked. I told him about us. The wedding. Crosby. And he invited me to a group that met at the church on Saturday nights. They had dinner, then discussed loss and moving on. I went. Mostly just to look at Father Jude.” I smirked. “And then I went to Mass the next morning. Unlike the night before, he ignored me. I left and didn’t go back. To Mass or the meetings.”
She frowned. “That was it?”
I shook my head as Bane walked back into the kitchen with my drink.
“Needs three olives. Jar is on the counter over there.” I pointed, giving him a smile that said, You are so pussy-whipped.
He didn’t look my way though as he went to do it. That was amazing. He was actually doing it. I glanced at Halo as she stared at him with complete adoration in her eyes.
He placed my glass in front of me, then bent down to give Halo another kiss before heading back out the door. I picked up my drink as she turned her attention back to me.
“Again, teach me your ways,” I said, then took a sip.
“Okay, so what happened? There has to be more to this story.” Her interest in my life was unexpected.
“I wanted to do something with my life. Decided the God thing wasn’t for me, but I needed a purpose. So, I found a clothes closet in town, where those in need could come shop for free.”
“Where you were during the tornadoes when everyone was scared to death,” she said.
“Yes. There.” I didn’t want that memory. But there it came, running through my head like a movie. The closet. Jude’s hands on me. I shoved it away. I had to stop it.
“Anyway, the Catholic church owns it. It’s one of their ministries. I didn’t know it at the time. Jude, uh…Father Jude showed up, liked my ideas to organize and change things. I started. Saw him often. There was flirting. We got too close. I felt things I’d never experienced before. Then, the tornadoes came. The windows didn’t shatter. He found out they were bombproof, demanded answers, and I told him who and what my family was. He then sent me packing because he couldn’t have me putting the church members or anyone else there in danger by being near me. Because clearly, if the place where I was working required bombproof windows, then I was a major threat.” I took a drink, then added, “Tossed me out and didn’t even flinch.”
That wasn’t the entire truth. He had flinched.
“That’s not fair,” she said, looking almost angry. “They were just being their overprotective selves with the windows. You weren’t putting anyone in danger.”
I sighed. “Yeah. But the thing I’m having to accept is that I think he used it as an excuse. We had gotten…well, we hadn’t had sex, but he was breaking his vows. We were doing other things, and it was headed in that direction. I was a temptation. I was causing him to sin. He removed me from the picture. Which told me I had been in danger of falling for a man who was just lusting after me. And that hurts like a bitch.”
We sat there in silence for a moment, and then Halo stood up.
“How do you feel about ice cream?” she asked.
“With fudge and sprinkles?”
“Don’t forget the whipped cream.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m a fan.”
She headed for the refrigerator.
“I’ll get the bowls and spoons,” I told her.
On my way around the island, Gathe walked into the kitchen. His gaze went from me to Halo. “Everything good?”
I opened a cabinet. “Yep. We are eating ice cream. Go away.”
Twenty-Two
Jude
Six days. I sat behind my desk, staring at the calendar in front of me. How had it only been six days? It felt like an eternity. Saylor’s face, before I had turned and left her the last time, taunted me. Slicing me like a metal whip across my chest. My gaze swung to my phone, and I fisted my hand to keep from reaching for it.
If I could just hear her voice…
The door to my office swung open, and I snapped up my head, startled because no one came in without knocking. The man who walked inside, I realized, didn’t care about any formalities. He wasn’t here for anything to do with the church. I sat up straighter, refusing to let the sight of him intimidate me. There was also the fact that he was the closest thing I’d had to Saylor in six days.
The door clicked shut behind him, and he walked over and sat down in one of the chairs on the other side of my desk.