Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
This is nothing. A small token of appreciation for protecting my little girl.
I imagined Vassili gave me the last bankroll from a safe somewhere in his house. However, I’d already told him he didn’t have to pay me after he’d quietly listened to my story. This girl was his baby, and he’d protected and loved her in any way he could, even funneling money into her photography dream.
I’d seen a UCLA plaque on Natasha’s wall when she’d disappeared into her massive closet to pull out this dress. Because of all the years she spent sick in the hospital or at home, Natasha had two years of college under her belt before graduating from high school. She’d graduated in June with a bachelor’s in photography.
I pressed a button to stare at the photos. The first image made me blink. Lachlan stood in the Dodger’s diamond, looking like something carved out of light and grit. Natasha had caught him in a powerful stance; bat gripped tight in hand. The angle was low, just off-center—to catch the arch of sunlight behind him. Wait, what? What in the world did I know about photography?
But what my eyes drank in was the money shot. Not just some obsessed girl who’d taken a billion photos and struck gold. The way the light hit his shoulders, the dust suspended midair, the tension in his arms—it was more than a photo. It was Natasha’s confession. This girl might not ever love another man the way she loved Lachlan MacKenzie.
“Oh, um.” Natasha chewed her lip. “Lemme, uh, put the card back in there. I’ll give you the cam, ahem, the SIM card, Jordyn. These photos stay on my camera.” Her light skin warmed red. She made quick work of returning the SIM card into the camera.
I glanced at the photos that rivaled the ones in her bedroom. Thousands of photos. All good. The same passion and finesse shown in every shot of my wedding … minus the unrequited love. Hell, we should be paying her.
“Have fun, girl.” I smirked. “Not too much fun.”
She smiled.
I caught up with Jamie, crouching in front of a little girl as he nodded profusely.
“You better buy teddy bears for everyone, too. Custom bears.” Arms folded, she glanced up at me, then stalked away.
I chuckled. Jamie definitely should know a thing or two about a ‘tude. Little Miss Diva wasn’t playing. “What was that, a shakedown?”
He stood to his full height. “Apparently, I’m taking Carly and all her friends to Build-A-Bear in a couple of months for her sixth birthday.”
“What did you do?”
“Killed a teddy bear is all,” he muttered.
“Wh—”
“Don’t ask. Now, Mrs. MacKenzie”—his voice went hotter than a firestorm—“you’re the only thing on my list. In fact. You are my list.” Jamie’s eyes smoldered like he was about to eat me alive.
“Wait …”
He groaned, nipping my neck.
“Sorry.” Though my body responded, I whimpered a question, “How old is Lach?”
“Twenty-seven, twenty-eight. Who knows?”
“Too old. Tell him not to try anything with Cutie Pie.”
“You already sound like someone’s aunt, lassie. C’mere.”
As the stars spilled across the sky like scattered diamonds, Jamie swooped me into his arms. The concern for another woman, which would always be my second nature, faded. My gown trailed over the ground like mist over the earth. As we crossed over the threshold into the pool house, I knew that the two of us—survivors who lost everything and found each other—would finally share the kind of love we’d spent our lives not believing we deserved. Man, was I ready to love every inch of this man.
THE END