Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 121210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“You know, he should consider hiring a nurse or an aide or something,” I say. “Not, like, full time or as a replacement for doing stuff himself, but it would probably put his mind at ease a lot when it comes to some of the more nuanced things about her diagnosis.”
Clay’s face is warm and loving as he touches his lips to mine and pulls back to whisper, “That’s a good idea, baby. I’ll tell him.” He considers me for a moment before moving us around to hold me close, my back to his chest. His breath is a comfort as he whispers into the skin beside my ear. “You tired?”
“Yeah. I think I’m going to go home and put my feet up for a while. I never should have worn my new shoes to an entire shift at The Diner without breaking them in first.”
“Why don’t you come home with me? Bar’s closed tonight, and we need to take advantage,” Clay whispers, curling the corners of my lips up in a smile. I turn to peek at Summer, who’s now sleeping peacefully in her swing, and then look back to Clay. His eyes look like hot honey in the now-dim room.
“I maybe could. Grandma Rose is at bingo tonight with Melba.”
“See that?” He presses a kiss to my nose. “I love when a plan shapes up so nicely.”
I giggle. “But what about Ben? Does he need your help?”
“I’m pretty sure at this point Ben would be happier to be without my help tonight.”
“Why?” I snort. “What’d you mess up this time?”
He shrugs, spinning me to face him. “The bottle. A little. Maybe. But I remade it really carefully the second time.”
“I swear, watching the two of you is like watching baby ducks trying to learn to swim. Or…like Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg try to take care of Mary.”
His chin jerks back, confusion about my reference rife in his features, and my mouth drops open, appalled.
“If you tell me you haven’t seen Three Men and a Baby, we might have to break up,” I threaten.
He should be scared, but instead, he smiles. “Break up, huh? Are we official?”
“Don’t change the subject, Clay. Have you seen the movie or not?”
His eyes narrow. “We can watch it tonight.”
I pull away in a tease, grabbing my purse from Ben’s taupey-tan living room couch and slinging it over my shoulder. “Well, that was a close call. To think I almost ended up with a man who hasn’t seen—”
Clay scoops me up and over his shoulder, and I shriek as he carries me right past Ben in the kitchen and out the back door. “Sorry, Ben, we gotta go! I have to get Josie out of here before she loses her mind and says something she’ll regret!”
I pound at his back, but Bennett cracks a smile and waves, and I devolve into giggles at the sight. Seeing Bennett lean toward cheerful is like spotting a baby at the top of Mt. Everest. It doesn’t happen, and maybe even deserves a call to the cops.
I’m beginning to think Clay Harris and his boldly beautiful personality can brighten even the gloomiest of rooms.
It’s a superpower not held by many, and even though we’ve only been dating for a few months, it makes a future life without him look pretty damn bleak.
13
Clay
Monday, September 22nd
I kiss Josie’s chin and her neck and her collarbone and run a hand along the line of her perfect thigh as she straddles my hips. She’s laughing—my favorite sound in the world—and I’d do almost anything to keep it going.
“Okay, you were right,” I whisper between kisses. “Seeing Three Men and a Baby is definitely a relationship deal-breaker.”
She shoves me in the chest, and I grab her hand and pull her in to seal my lips to hers again. Our tongues tangle in a fight for kiss dominance, but when I put my hand to her ass and pull her up to meet me, she relents and lets me win.
I reward her selflessness, deepening the kiss until it starts to tingle, and we have to come up for air before we’re depleted of oxygen.
Watching her with Summer today…everything I’ve thought about how special she might be and how hard I need to fight to keep her in my life was affirmed tenfold. Her confidence and gentle nature and even her ability not to laugh too hard in Ben’s and my faces at our ineptitude—it’s exceptional and speaks volumes about what a life truly shared with her would be like.
Growing up, I never thought I’d be a one-woman kind of guy. I lived hard and fast, and I chewed my way through Manhattan with all the gluttony my parents instilled in me. I figured I’d end up dead or arrested at some point, but at least I’d enjoy the journey to get there.