Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“You’re not an idiot,” she says softly. “We’ve all got our issues. You’re just looking out for yourself, that’s all. It’s completely understandable.”
“But what if he hates me now?”
“Girl, come on,” Eliza says, stepping back, forcing me to look at her. She’s got a stern look on her face now. “I may have just met the man, but from everything you told me about him, that’s just not possible.”
“You don’t think so?”
“Nope.” She shakes her head. “He had your back for so long, and from what I see, he’s clearly in love with you.”
“Really!?” I gasp, clasping my hands over my mouth. “You think so?”
“Oh, yeah.” Eliza smiles. “He was smitten by you, babe. I know the look guys get on their faces when they’re genuinely into a girl and when they’re not, and that guy would go to the end of the world for you.”
It’s all too much for me to handle, and I burst into tears. Eliza quickly hands me a handful of tissues, which I use to dry my eyes.
“You should go back and talk to him.”
“I can’t,” I reply. “Not tonight at least. Look at me, I’m a mess.”
“Well, don’t make him wait too long.” She smiles. “Or he’ll start thinking too hard about whether or not you like him. And you don’t want that.”
“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “I definitely don’t.”
Chapter 15
Jameson
Ihang up the phone and recline back in my chair. Business, business, and more business. That’s all I’ve been up to today. Since moving back to the States, I’ve had to straighten out all kinds of things with shipping now that I’m no longer in Albania. It’s not really anything that requires a whole lot of thought; it’s just mostly making tons of calls and getting in touch with people. Honestly, I really should have just put out an ad for a great secretary and hired her for a week to take care of it all. But I figured I’d just get it done myself and not throw money out the window when I didn’t have to. Now I’m regretting it.
I keep getting distracted by thoughts of last night. And what a night it was.
I get up from my desk, go to the kitchen, and crack open a lemon-lime seltzer. I’m just grabbing some ice from the freezer when I hear the buzzer from the front gate. I go to the screen on the wall to check and see if it’s the delivery I was expecting today, but to my surprise, I see Iris standing there, nervously waving at the camera.
Can I come in? she mouths.
She looks so cute, but she’s also wearing the same clothes she was wearing when she left here yesterday, which lets me know she hasn’t been home yet, so she more than likely has no idea what’s gone on with her mom.
I press the button to buzz her in, then go out the front door to greet her.
I meet her about halfway up the drive. I can tell by the way she’s walking that she’s nervous, so I wave and give her a friendly smile to put her at ease. I’m still a little concerned about how she left here last night, but I don’t want her focused on that. I just want her to feel welcome, as she always should when she comes here.
“Hey,” I say, stopping in front of her. The autumn light plays off her hair like something out of a photo. Every time I see her, I’m convinced it’s the most beautiful I’ve ever seen her. But every time I’m wrong.
“Hey.”
“You’re back.” I smile.
“I sure am,” she replies, giving me a sheepish smile. She looks down and away. There’s clearly something on her mind—something she wants to tell me. But this isn’t the time or the place.
“Come on up to the house,” I say. “It’s a lot warmer in there.”
“You sure?” she asks. “I’m allowed to come back in? Even after I walked out on you yesterday?”
“Don’t be silly,” I reply, playfully poking her in the side. “You’re always welcome here, Iris.”
We walk side by side back up the drive to the house. I make a gentlemanly show of holding the door for her, and we go inside.
“Listen, Iris. I have something I should say to you–”
“No, I want to say something to you first,” Iris says quickly. She turns to face me, and I can already see by the look on her face that this is not the time to interrupt her. “I really, really want to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I should not have walked out of here like I did. That wasn’t right.”
I shake my head and raise a hand. “You don’t have to apologize for that, Iris. If you felt like you had to get out of here, you had every right to leave.”