Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“Doesn’t matter. He’s hired me to watch you, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“Miller said that he’s former military. Are you as well?”
“No.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter, sitting back with an exasperated sigh. I catch Simon’s lips twitching in the mirror. “I saw that.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
After we both scarfed down a couple of slices of pizza, Simon drove us over to the dance studio and has been by my side for the entire performance.
You’d think he was my date.
It’s annoying.
“When is Connor coming home?” Dani asks.
“I don’t know. Hopefully soon.”
Birdie struts on stage and gives the performance of a lifetime, making us all cheer for her.
Even Simon claps.
Maybe he’s not a robot after all.
After the recital is over and I’ve hugged my girl, Bridger turns to me.
“Want to go get ice cream with us?” he asks.
“Please?” Birdie adds. “It’s my big night.”
I grin and run my hand down her pretty braid. “Of course, I want to celebrate with you. Let’s do it.”
Filling my evening with my family helped to get my mind off missing the hell out of my billionaire.
But now I’m home, and I miss him so much that it hurts.
This house is massive. It’s a mountain mansion, and I love everything about it. But without Connor here, I feel so … lonely.
I take a long, hot shower and wash my hair, then spend an hour drying it and styling it so it’ll be easy for work tomorrow. I go through my entire skincare routine, and while my face mask does its job, I walk into the closet and sort through some clothes I’ll take to Martha the next time I go to Big Sky.
Before leaving the closet, I stop by Connor’s suits and carefully smell them so I don’t leave mask residue on them.
“I miss you, billionaire,” I whisper before I pad into the bathroom to wash my face.
At around midnight, with no sign of sleep in sight, I walk down to the library and sigh happily when I turn on the light and the room practically glows.
I’ve spent most of my sleepless hours organizing this room while Connor's been gone. I unpacked all my books and lined them up, alphabetized by author.
Then I decided to reorganize them by genre, which I like better.
I have plenty of space to add more books, which I can’t wait to do.
Tonight, there’s no organizing to be done. I finished it all yesterday. The library is my happy place, and I don’t think Connor could have found a better gift to give me.
He sees me.
And I love him for it.
Maybe I should adopt a cat. They’re relatively self-sufficient and would be company for me when Connor is away on business. I could picture a little black cat curled up in my lap, here in the library, while I read.
It’s definitely something to think about.
After grabbing a favorite title to reread tonight, I relax in one of the plush chairs and settle in to read the night away.
By three in the morning, I’m no closer to sleep, but my brain is too tired to make sense of the words on the page, so I stand and stretch.
Now what am I supposed to do?
It’s a beautiful late summer night out, and remembering that I’ve hardly been able to drive my new car, I decide this is a great night to go for a drive.
I’m dressed in a loose T-shirt and shorts, so I shove my feet in some flip-flops, grab my handbag with the key fob inside, and deactivate the house alarm as I walk out to the six-car garage, open my bay’s door, and fire the Porsche to life.
I love this car. I love the rumble of the engine, the soft leather seats, and I really love how fast this thing can go.
Moments later, I’m cruising down the driveway, through the gate, and onto the highway, headed out of town.
I’m careful not to go too fast because of all the wildlife that could pop out at any moment, but I do put the sunroof back and blare the music. As Taylor Swift sings about being the antihero, I belt it out with her and feel energized.
Getting out of the house, in the fresh night air, is exactly what I needed.
Driving my new car without Simon hovering? Even better.
I love driving around Bitterroot Lake. It takes about an hour because it’s a big lake, but it’s such a beautiful drive, even at night. I’m only twenty minutes away from the house when a vehicle drives up behind me, their lights flashing, and I hurry to pull over and let them by because they’re clearly having an emergency.
Except they don’t drive by.
They pull up behind me, and just as I’m about to speed away because fuck that shit, I look in the mirror and see … Simon?