Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 132097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
“How did it end?” I ask bluntly, knowing Ethan will never tell me.
He’s a human porcupine with so many secrets.
“Like I said, it’s complicated,” Cooper tells me again. That doesn’t explain much. “Ethan, he would never let me apologize face-to-face, but I’m hoping a letter delivered by you might get through. Will you make sure it finds him?”
An apology, huh?
If that’s all it is, then it can’t be half-bad.
Still, there’s something disarming about Cooper’s smile. I nod slowly.
Whatever Ethan’s beef is, Margot doesn’t seem to have problems with him. Maybe it’s an Ethan problem rather than a Cooper problem.
I feel weirdly guilty for thinking it, though.
I’m sure Ethan had good reasons and Cooper’s basically admitting he did something wrong.
This is a confession, after all.
But a handwritten apology can’t hurt.
Margot heads to the back with another pile of books, leaving me alone with Cooper. He flashes another ivory-white smile.
“I really am sorry about the old man.” He sounds so genuine. “For what it’s worth, he meant a lot to me, and I’ll miss him like mad.”
“Me too.” I speak the truth.
No matter how eccentric Leonidas could be, or how bizarre this marriage clause is, he was always kind.
My heart twists, knowing I’ll never see him again.
It’s a grim reality to contend with every day, and I feel another rush of sympathy for the whole Blackthorn clan.
Even Ethan, known heartless ass that he is.
Losing someone you love never goes down easy.
“I’m sure you do,” Cooper says sympathetically. “Were you close to him? I know you’re good friends with Margot.”
“We’ve been friends since we were kids, so yeah. I’ve known the Blackthorns for a long time.”
“So that’s why you wound up engaged to one, then,” Cooper says with a wink. “Give him the envelope, won’t you? And do tell him I’m sorry, and I hope to work with the Blackthorns again one day.”
I nod hesitantly.
“I’ll pass it along. But if you’re hoping for a reply, I can’t promise anything.”
“Certainly not. That’s not what this is about. I just want him to know how I feel.” He gives me a sad smile. “It was nice seeing you again, Hattie.”
“…you too,” I say, but he’s already leaving.
The bell over the door jingles on his way out.
The envelope lingers in my hands, and when I look down, I realize I’m pinching it so hard it’s wrinkling.
10
ALL THE PLANS (ETHAN)
That sneaky, two-timing cobra fuck.
I slam the letter down on my desk and Hattie flinches.
Yes, I regret my temper, but didn’t I tell her to stay the fuck away from Cooper Daley?
“He had no right barging into your bookstore. What part of ‘closed’ doesn’t he get?” I growl, trying to moderate my tone and failing.
My blood roars in my ears.
Cooper Daley has a sixth sense for pushing all of my reddest buttons.
It doesn’t matter if this engagement is a farce designed to appease my dead grandfather and satisfy his bizarre will.
Hattie’s mine for the duration.
As long as she’s with me, wearing my ring, he needs to keep his greasy paws off her or there will be severed fingers to deal with.
She watches me cautiously behind those green eyes.
“See? I had a feeling you’d blow up like this. I knew I shouldn’t have given you that letter.”
“Fucking yes you should.”
“Definitely not before we meet with the wedding planner.” She sighs.
Right.
The damn planner.
That’s why she’s over at my house for the first time since I stormed her lips. We have a wedding to plan with a professional.
Not with Margot’s half-baked input, thank God.
She was pissed as hell we excluded her today, but this is a big deal.
A seminal event.
I can’t afford to make a single mistake. Not when our reputations are on the line and everything leaks to the press, one way or another.
I’d like to be the one controlling that drip, showing the world that everything is solid, and my grandfather wasn’t the last living Blackthorn with any sense.
It’s just hard to do that when I’m focused on what Cooper Daley has up his sleeve now.
I close my eyes, trying to clear my anger so I can shift back into the present. I need to be fucking grounded.
“Whatever. Let’s table this for now.” I take the note and shove it in my desk. I’ll read the cursed thing later, after my blood pressure returns to baseline. “For the record, Daley isn’t getting in the way of anything I can handle now.”
Business I can hopefully handle.
This is my first wedding and probably my last.
“How’s the bookstore coming along, anyway? You made any big decisions to make it fit your vision?” I change the subject, but Hattie’s face pinches.
Her lips press together.
There’s a crease between her eyebrows I want to smooth with my thumb.
“Um, slow going. But that’s okay.” She sighs like she’s holding up the world.
Another touchy subject.
Should’ve known, seeing how she never asked me to buy it for her in the first place and drop it in her lap.