Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 78164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
I stop pacing. My heartbeat quickens.
Oh my God. There is a way.
My palms sweat as I think things over. It’s a crazy idea.
But is it?
The longer I contemplate it, the more it makes sense. The more I like it. The more I really want to make it happen.
I put a hand on my stomach and exhale.
“Did you figure it out yet?” Jamie asks.
I look at her over my shoulder as she enters the room. She stops in the doorway and takes me in, then nods.
“Yeah. You figured it out.” She grins.
“He has a birthday party tomorrow,” I say. “Maybe I write him a little note and give it to him there?”
“You don’t want to go back over there tonight?”
I shake my head. As much as I do want to, I shouldn’t. We need some time apart—if for no other reason than to ensure we know what we want.
“You don’t happen to have some pretty stationery, do you?” I ask.
“Actually, yes. A customer left some out here a few weeks ago and never came back to get it. It’s in the top desk drawer.”
I nearly jog to her office and yank open the drawer. There lies a cream-colored notepad with faint white and gray swirls in the background. It reminds me of his countertops.
I sit down and pull the pad out, along with the pen that goes with it. Then I stare at the paper and try to figure out how to say what’s on my mind.
After a deep breath, I start writing …
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Tate
“What are you doing in here?” Mimi asks, groaning as she settles into her recliner. A party hat is perched on top of her head, and a string secures it around her chin. She’s adorably ridiculous.
I’m stretched out on her sofa, listening to the partygoers celebrating my birthday as they laugh outside by the pool.
“Thought about taking a nap,” I say.
I tilt my head, so I look behind me and catch her giving me the strangest look.
“I could use a nap,” she says. “Want to get in bed with me?”
My chest shakes as I laugh even though I don’t feel like it.
Last night was the first time I’ve seen Aurora mad. It was also the first time that I felt like a fucking asshole and regretted it. I’ve never not known how to fix a problem with a woman until she stormed out of my house … and refused my calls.
I cover my face with my hands and groan.
“Either tell me what’s wrong or get out of my house,” Mimi says, her tone teasing.
“I fucked up.”
“I gathered that. How?”
My hands slide down my face, pulling my lip as they go. “I showed my ass.”
“Nobody’s going to be mad at that.”
“You’re not helping, Mimi.”
“I’m old. If you don’t get to the point fast, I might croak.”
I sit up, sick of myself.
“Here, I’ll help,” she says. “You messed up with Girlfriend #2. Take it from there.”
Despite my shitty mood, I can’t help but smile at Girlfriend #1.
“I had this image of what my life was going to be like now that I met her,” I say, realizing just how much of a jerk I sound like when I say it aloud. “She disagreed. I pushed. And last night, she walked out on me.”
Mimi whistles through her dentures.
“Yeah.” I nod as I exhale. “Like I said, I fucked up.”
“Well, you don’t lie. That’s a plus.”
I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. She’s grinning.
“First of all, what hill was this you were willing to die on?” she asks.
“Marriage.”
“Oh, Tate.” She sighs as if this might kill her. “You’re proof God can’t give brains and beauty to the same person.”
He did to Aurora, but I don’t want to argue that point now.
“I just want to marry her,” I say. “I love the fucking shit out of her, Mimi. I want to take care of her and spoil her rotten. I want to have a family with her. What’s wrong with that?”
She groans. “Let me see how many crayons I have lying here so I can draw you a picture.”
“You’re so funny.”
“Look, she put you in your place. She looked into those beautiful eyes and wasn’t dazzled. And good for her.”
“Whose side are you on?”
“This time? Not yours.”
I stare at her. Traitor.
“It’s time you learned the art of compromise,” she says. “That’s where you take a little. They take a little. You give some, and they give some.”
“I know what it is.”
“Then why didn’t you do it?”
My thoughts drift back through my conversation with Aurora.
Why didn’t I compromise?
I bury my head in my hands as my words ring through my brain.
“So I waited my whole life for the one girl who I want to spend my life with, and then I get told to hang on. She might want to be with you. She might not. She might have your children. She might not.”