Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 81285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Seriously?”
“Absolutely. Come any time.”
“Okay. I might just do that.”
“Good.” He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “Then, you’ll see you have nothing to worry about.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“You’re it for me, Pres. Might as well accept it cause nothing’s gonna change it.”
Without saying another word, he closed his eyes, and it wasn’t long before his breathing slowed and his body stilled. He was out, and it wasn’t long before I followed suit.
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of Luke’s alarm. His alarm was always after mine. That alone should’ve been a clue. Unfortunately, I was too sleepy to pick up on it. I reached over him and silenced his phone, and when I saw the time, I panicked.
I was supposed to be at the salon in less than an hour, so I jumped out of bed and started gathering my things. Luke was still sound asleep when I darted into the bathroom. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and took a quick shower.
“Morning,” Luke mumbled as I hurried back into the bedroom.
“Good morning.” I stepped over to him and gave him a quick kiss. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“You did, but it’s okay. I needed to get up.” He ran his hand through his thick hair as he asked, “How long before you gotta leave for work?”
“Half an hour or so.” I stepped over to the closet and pulled out a top. “I wish I could stay, but I’ve got a client coming in, and she’s a bit of a pain.”
“How so?”
“She asks for a specific type of haircut. I do it, and then, she wants to come back the next day and change it to something else. And she wants to do it on my dime. She’s the same way with her color. I can’t ever make the woman happy.”
“But she keeps coming back. You gotta be doing something right.”
“I guess, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’d rather stay here in bed with you.”
“It’s all good. I need to head over to the clubhouse and take care of a few things anyway.”
“And you have work tonight?”
“Yeah, I’m on tonight and Saturday.”
“Okay. I think I’ll go by and hang with Lila Kate for a bit after work. It’s been a while since we’ve hung out, and I don’t want her thinking I’ve forgotten about her.”
“Sounds good. But call if you drink, and I’ll have one of the guys bring you home.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
I looked at him for a moment and sighed. I hated leaving him, especially when he was all snuggled up in my bed, but I had no choice. Duty was calling. I walked over and gave him a quick kiss before forcing myself to walk out the door. As I made my way out to the car, I started going through the never-ending list of things I needed to get done.
Needless to say, it was going to be a chaotic day, but between the rush and the constant moving, the hours seemed to slip away. Every time I checked the clock, it was always later than I’d expected, and before I knew it, I was sitting at Lila Kate’s bar with a glass of wine in my hand.
The day was almost done, and for the first time since that morning, I was able to take a moment to relax. It had been a while since we’d been able to catch up, so I wasted no time filling her in on everything that had been going on.
“With all the new paint and flooring, it doesn’t even look like the same house anymore. And the new countertops turned out even better than we expected.”
“They already got the counters in?”
“Yep, and the flooring, too.”
“Wow. That’s fast.”
“Yeah, but he had a lot of help.”
The bar was quieter than usual, especially for a weeknight, but it was the good kind of quiet. I could actually sit and talk with Lila while she worked. It gave me a chance to get out of the house for a bit, and I hoped it would make her night go by a bit faster, too.
“The guys have been coming by whenever they’re free to give Luke a hand. Tallie and I have been helping him with paint colors and flooring, and she’s really good at this. I really think it’s going to look great when it’s done.”
“Um-hmm.” She started filling a shot glass with tequila. “That’s really great, Pres.”
“You should see the tile we picked out for the backsplash. It’s perfect. It’s warm, but not too dark. And it’s really going to make the whole kitchen pop.”
Lila gave me another nod and a ‘um-hmm’.
This wasn’t like her. Usually, she had something to say about everything, so I leaned back on my stool and said, “Okay. What’s wrong?”
Her brows furrowed. “Why would anything be wrong?”