Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Oh man. After.
It hadn’t been pretty.
For so many years afterward, he’d thought about trying to look her up so that he could apologize. But he never had. Because what could he have said to her beyond, I was that British bloke in high school who completely messed with you at the prom, and I’ve felt bad about it ever since.
There was nothing he could say to make up for what he’d done, and it seemed more cruel to bring it up again. At least, that’s what he told himself at two a.m. on nights when he couldn’t sleep and the memories came back, making him feel like the biggest arsehole in the world.
Josie stirred, and since he didn’t want her to think he’d been staring at her like some weird stalker while she slept, he got out of the car and went to lift her luggage out of the backseat, which was the only place in his sports car where her bags would fit. He drove a vehicle meant for racing down the autobahn, not picking up people at the airport.
She stirred again as he pulled out the suitcases, then yawned and rubbed her eyes, looking around as though she had no clue where she was. Transatlantic flights could be brutal, especially if you weren’t a good plane sleeper. He’d always had a knack for dropping off when he needed to, which was handy with all the business travel that came with his job. It would be nice, he suddenly found himself thinking, to travel for pleasure instead of business, at least once in a while.
Which was exactly what his upcoming trip to Thailand was supposed to be about. Just relaxing. But though he intellectually understood the concept of relaxation, it didn’t mean he was great at putting it into practice. Already, he knew what he’d be doing in Thailand. Not parasailing or trekking through any jungles. Instead of having any kind of adventures at all, he’d be on his computer dealing with email, or on a video call, or on his phone with someone back at the office or a new client he wanted to land.
The only time he didn’t do those three things was during meals with his family. His mother, Penny, had no tolerance for anyone being on the phone while they were together as a family, unless it was an emergency.
The one time he’d told her it was an emergency (it wasn’t), she’d taken the phone out of his hand and said, “This is Malcolm’s mother. Right now, he should be enjoying this meal with his family. He will call you back later.” Then she’d hung up and tucked his phone into her pocket for the rest of the evening.
Clearly, it was better for everyone if he simply respected his mother’s wishes. She was as kind a woman as they came, always ready with a smile and a laugh, always prepared to help you any way she could. But if you crossed her or made her angry?
Well, let’s just say it was best not to get on the wrong side of Penny Sullivan.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” Josie said as she got out of the car, yawning again. As she stretched her arms over her head, her sweater and jeans conformed to her body in an accidentally sexy way.
He should’ve looked away. Hell, he was trying to look away. But she had a stunning figure. She wasn’t overly thin like most of the women he went out with. Instead, Josie had curves in all the places he liked to see them.
Yet again, he tried to connect the adult Josie with the teenage Josephine he’d kissed at prom. She must’ve been fifteen at the time? And he was pretty sure she’d had glasses back then.
He never should have kissed her that night. But when the group he’d gone to the prom with had brought booze—and plenty of it—Malcolm had felt compelled to keep up with their partying. He grimaced, remembering being seventeen, drunk, and stupid as a brick.
Stupider.
Josie’s voice stopped his silent reminiscing. “The weather is beautiful here. I thought England was supposed to be rainy and dreary.”
“It’s a little white lie all Londoners agree upon in order to keep too many people from flooding into town,” he said with a smile that he hoped didn’t look as false as it felt. “Sure, there are days where it will be pissing down rain, but we get plenty of blue skies too. Particularly in the morning.”
As he dealt with her bags, he actively tried to be less cranky and more friendly. He’d all but bitten off her head at the airport. It wasn’t her fault that his business was having issues, or that he’d fallen out of like with his girlfriend, or even that he and Josie had undealt-with past history.