Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
That did not sound overwhelming at all.
“Where are you going to sleep?” Larissa asked.
“I’ve already set up the guest room,” George said. “Where Raven stayed when she lived here.”
Larissa nodded. This was fine. It was going to be a piece of cake.
George was going to be around, and she was going to have some help around the house. Ava was going to find another employee, it was all going to work. Although, she did have doubts.
“Did you see what happened to Wilcox?” George asked.
Larissa looked up. “What?”
George pulled out his cell phone and pushed it toward her. There was a video on the screen that required her to press “play.” At first, she hesitated but then figured she might as well get it over with. It was just a short three-minute video that explained all of Mr. Wilcox’s bad deeds. She was shocked.
“How did this happen?”
“I did some digging. Found out he has a lot of skeletons in his past, and it was time to expose them. I wasn’t going to let him get away with what he did to you.”
“You didn’t have to—”
“I know. I’m going to protect you, Larissa. That means no one gets to mess with you and get away with it. Not on my watch.”
Chapter Fifteen
George was not kidding.
Every morning, he was there waiting, and prepared breakfast. Larissa was able to keep down what he made her, which started out as some toast. He did extend to a couple of fluffy pancakes, and even some waffles, but they were a little harder for her to handle.
He was there to hold her hair back in the morning. She and her father shared a bathroom. It was something Raven had to get used to.
Now, as he held her hair back, Larissa felt a little relieved as there had been a couple of times she had to take a shower because of it. She’d even been tempted to cut her hair.
After doing all of that, he made her a nice warm tea. No coffee. She did miss her coffee. Sometimes, he even gave her a little warm milk, or a nice hot chocolate.
Then, it was driving to work, and George didn’t stop there, he helped her in the mornings. The moment she was all set up, he did leave for a few hours to return at lunchtime, with food. He would stay with her until she ate, check to see if she needed anything, or if there was anything she would want. After that, he would leave again and be there when she closed. She didn’t have any time to see Hailey. For the whole week, this was what happened.
By Sunday, she was a little terrified of seeing his parents. Their evenings were spent in companionable silence. Sometimes, she would go to bed early and attempt to read a book. The truth was, she didn’t read a single page during the entire week he was there.
Her thoughts constantly drifted to him, wondering what he was doing. She had to keep reminding herself to call him George, and not think of him as Big Dick. It was hard.
She was nervous by Sunday, and her father had called to let her know he was going to be another week. Every time she tried to get him on the phone, it was next to impossible to get him on for longer than a couple of minutes. He refused to force George out of the house. As far as he was concerned, George was doing the right thing. He wanted to be there for her and their child. Her father had advised that she needed to open her heart. To stop being so stubborn. Since then, she hadn’t called her father back. She didn’t need to stop being stubborn.
This ... hurt.
And yet, waking up to him in the house, and living as if they were a couple, felt real, and at the same time really hurt. This wasn’t real. This was his guilt trying to make up for what he did.
By Sunday, she was a little deflated and nervous. Meeting George’s parents seemed like a terrifying prospect. Also, meeting his family as his pregnant ... friend, seemed ... wrong. This was another element of her life that hadn’t gone how she had hoped. It was just a long list of shit that kept happening, and she didn’t know how to make it stop. One thing after another.
“My mom’s name is Nancy, and my dad is Drew,” George said, as they climbed out of his car. Several cars already sat in the driveway.
According to George, they didn’t need to bring anything, but Larissa had made a batch of cookies that morning, in order to give them a gift. Her father had always taught her to bring a gift when you were invited for dinner. She didn’t have time to pick or buy any flowers. Homemade cookies had an extra edge to them, because they were homemade, and that made them even more of a treat.