Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 147545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
“Not too sweet?” I ask, gazing at him with doe-eyed concern, as if my whole world will crumble if I didn’t make the lemonade exactly to his liking.
“Just sweet enough,” he says, bracing a hand on my back and leaning in to give me a kiss.
“Mmm, good. You know how I love to please my man.”
“Consider him pleased,” he says, amused. “You ready to start the movie?”
“Whenever my husband is ready.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “We’re married now, huh?”
“Everyone in Stepford is married,” I inform him. “There are no Stepford girlfriends. Only wives.”
“Makes sense,” he says with a nod, picking up the remote and starting the movie.
Sighing wistfully, I make a show of reaching toward the coffee table for my drink. “Oh no. It’s too far for my dainty fingers to reach. I need a big, strong man to help me.”
Tor shakes his head, pulling me to the side and leaning forward to grab my lemonade.
I gasp with delight, as if he rescued a cute kitten from a tree. “My hero!”
I think it’s safe to say Stepford night is a complete success.
When the movie’s over, we head to the bedroom where Tor takes off my dress and I do as he says—though to be fair, that’s how sex goes most of the time for us.
Afterward, as I lay cuddled in his arms, my entire body relaxed, I caress the side of his face and gaze up at him, no longer playing a role. “Did you enjoy Stepford night?”
“I did. I think we should make it an annual tradition.”
I grin, my heart doing a giddy little leap. “That would mean next year we would be in Boston for Stepford night.”
“It does mean that.”
“I know we joked about it before, but now that Boston is a real possibility, should we talk about it?”
His hand absently caresses my back as he looks down at me. “What do we need to talk about?”
“Well, there are a lot of logistics. The first is that we haven’t actually been together for very long, so what if we decide to move to Boston together and then you get sick of me in two months?”
Tor rolls his eyes. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I mean, of course you think that now…”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I’m completely obsessed with you.”
I smile helplessly. “Again, now. But what if—?”
He interrupts. “This isn’t a concern we need to address. Next.”
“Okay…” I hesitate, then sigh, having to circle back. “No, not okay. If we do this, I’m going to be pretty dependent on you. I’ll find a part-time job so that I have some money of my own, but that won’t pay for my life if something does happen and you and I break up. I’ll be alone in a city I didn’t pick out, that I can’t afford to live in, going to a college that I can’t even afford to pay for. And I know your dad volunteered you to pay my tuition, but there’s a massive difference between buying me a Dior bag and financing my college education. That’s a lot of money, and it is a commitment because if you change your mind later and decide not to pay for it, the only thing I can do is drop out. I cannot afford Calhoun tuition.”
Tor watches me ramble, then he says calmly, “I understand all that. I don’t expect you to be financially independent, Cassie. You don’t even need to get a part-time job. I know I’m signing you up for a lifestyle you can’t afford. I told you, I’ve got it covered. You can’t believe that I gambled with my freedom to save you, but I wouldn’t pay your college tuition no matter what happens between us.”
Even though I’m the one who brought it up, hearing him acknowledge even the possibility of us breaking up someday makes my stomach drop.
Not knowing that, of course, he continues. “If it will make you more comfortable, we can have Terry draw something up to protect you legally. Like a reverse prenup. I’ll have him draft up a contract committing me to paying all of your expenses while you attend college, even if I break up with you.”
“What if I break up with you?” I ask lightly.
“That’s cute.”
I cock an eyebrow. “What’s cute?”
“That you think I’d let you break up with me.”
“Oh, so you’ll hold my education hostage then, huh?” I joke.
“No, I’d keep paying for everything because I wouldn’t accept the breakup.”
“I don’t think you can reject a breakup. I don’t think that’s a thing.”
“I just made it a thing. Look at me being creative.”
I laugh, privately delighted that he’s so adamant about me staying with him.
“Does that ease all of your concerns?” he asks.
“Not really. You could be making yourself a loophole. You could do something to make me want to break up with you if you wanted out.”