Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
They collapsed on the bed and he pulled out, rolling to the side so as not to crush her. Once he caught his breath, he glanced over. She lay on her stomach, face to the side, breathing heavily.
“You okay?” he asked, sliding her hair off her cheek so she could breathe more easily.
“You broke me,” she said, laughing.
“In a good way, I hope.”
“The best way possible.” She shifted to the side and met his gaze. “Despite what it may seem like given the situation with the twins, I don’t do this often.” She gestured between them with one hand.
“I never thought you did.”
She offered him a sweet smile. “I meant to say, I don’t do this often, nor do I plan to, but I can guarantee, this was the best time ever.”
“You’re good at giving compliments.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Be right back.”
He slid out of bed and walked naked to the bathroom where he washed up, found an extra hand towel, wet it with warm water, and returned to find Charlotte where he’d left her.
He sat on the bed and cleaned her gently as she watched him, her gaze soft. “Thank you, Jared.”
He smiled, liking how his name sounded on her lips. “You’re welcome. Now, get some sleep.” He rose to his feet, planning to return the towel to the bathroom.
“Are you leaving?” she asked, sounding disappointed.
He couldn’t contain the pleasure he felt at her reaction. “Not if you don’t want me to.”
She shook her head. “I don’t.”
So he put the towel in the bathroom, climbed into bed, and pulled Charlotte into his arms.
* * *
Unsure how long he’d slept, Jared woke to a warm body wrapped around his. This was a rare to never happens occurrence and he knew immediately where he was and hoped for a morning quickie before he had to say goodbye to Charlotte.
A flash of disappointment hit him at the realization this couldn’t be anything more than it was.
“Morning,” she said, and he rolled to his side, facing her.
Her chocolate-colored eyes were half-mast, her hair messy, and she still looked beautiful to him. “Good morning. Did I wake you?” He’d tried not to move or jostle her.
She shook her head. “My internal clock is pretty strong. I’ve been waking up around seven with the girls. What time is it?”
He glanced at the clock on the nightstand beside her and grinned. “Seven o’clock.”
She stretched her arms over her head and her breasts popped out from beneath the blanket. Blushing, she grabbed the covers and pulled them back up. “Oops.”
“Didn’t bother me,” he said with a chuckle. Despite wanting her again—how could he not?—he had the sudden urge to also know more about her. “Are you ready to go back to your dig?” he asked her, curious about her lifestyle.
She paused, wrinkling her nose as she thought. “I guess so, but when I’m there I miss home. But we still have work to finish.” She sounded more resigned than excited.
“Is it hard to leave the girls?” He couldn’t imagine just taking off to another country for a couple of years if his kids were here.
“Very hard. But there’s a part of me that’s following my mother’s dream. Our dream,” she clarified.
“How so?”
She pulled in a deep breath and exhaled before beginning an explanation. “Mom, her name was Kylie, was a curator at a museum. She loved ancient artifacts and history, and passed that love on to me. From the time I was young, she used to take me with her to work. My older brother stayed with the babysitter but I was a bookworm, so I never minded being at the museum. I used to ask her so many questions.” Her lips tilted upward at the memory.
“You sound like Dakota and her never-ending facts.”
Charlotte laughed. “She’s more precocious than I ever was. I was more serious. But I couldn’t get enough of paleontology and history and my mother always indulged me with patient answers.”
“You two were close.” It wasn’t difficult to figure that out.
Smiling, she nodded. “I miss her.”
“What happened?”
Charlotte swallowed hard. “She died from cancer when I was sixteen.”
He reached for her hand. “I’m so sorry.”
Given his age when his own mother passed away, murdered by one of his father’s clients when he was thirteen, he knew how hard this must have been on her. It didn’t seem like the right time to bring up his past. He was focused on hers.
“Thank you,” she murmured. “Mom had always wanted to go on a dig for ancient artifacts, but she became pregnant with my brother. And let’s just say my father was nothing like Noah.”
Jared appreciated the insight she was giving him into her life. “Noah is an exceptional parent,” he said. “And he’s understanding when it comes to you and your work. You two have an unusual but very fortunate agreement about raising the kids.”