Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 146107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 731(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 487(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 731(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 487(@300wpm)
Waving at the postman who had come to a stop to let her cross, she turned down the street to the one-story house she had rented.
Another gust of wind had her placing her bags in one hand to button her thick coat higher as she walked. Glancing up when she was done, she came to a halt at seeing the man sitting on the porch a few yards away. There was enough distance separating them that she could have easily taken two steps backward and been out of sight.
With a graceful movement, the man stood, catching sight of her, and began striding purposely toward her.
Shakily, she pushed her hair away from her eyes to get a better look at Desmond. He had lost weight. Even under the mid-length black coat, she could tell the difference. Both hands in his pockets had the coat pulled tightly across his shoulders, showing he was tense, unsure of her reaction.
Haley licked suddenly dry lips, waiting for him to speak. Was he going to say something harsh because she had left him in the hotel room? Or had he come to thank her for sending him the location he had been searching for? He did neither. Desmond just stopped an inch from her.
Removing his hand from his pocket, he reached out and plucked a leaf from her hair. “I missed you.” His raspy voice sent her stomach into cartwheels.
“I missed you.”
“All you had to do was go home. You made it pretty impossible for me to find you.”
“I didn’t want to be found.”
“Obviously.”
“How did you find me?” Her mind went through different scenarios that could have led to him finding her. She came up with nothing. She had been too careful.
“Nadia told me.”
“Nadia wouldn’t have broken her confidence to me.”
“She didn’t want to. I had something she wanted back.”
“What did you have?”
“Her puppy.”
Haley frowned. “Nadia doesn’t have a puppy. Dante refuses to have a dog.”
“I might have given her one, as an apology for hurting her best friend.”
Haley tried not to smile, but imagining Dante with a puppy was making it hard. “Typically, you give the person you hurt the present.”
“I would have if I could have found you,” he said, exasperated.
“So, you took the puppy back?”
“More like puppy-napped.”
Pressing her lips together in a tight line, she succeeded at holding in the laughter. “You didn’t.”
“Oh,”—he nodded his head—“I did.”
Haley couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer. “I can’t believe you dognapped Dante Caruso’s dog.”
Desmond gave a pained expression at her laughter. Taking his other hand out of his pocket, he raised a finger that had a Band-Aid wrapped around it. “The little fu—puppy bit me, too.”
Haley reached out a gloved hand to take the finger, pulling it toward her lips. Pressing a gentle kiss on the bandaged finger, she then released his hand. “All better.”
“No, it isn’t. You hurt something far worse.”
“What did I hurt?”
Expecting him to give her a litany of things that he could say she hurt, like his ego, his plans, his pride …
“My heart.”
That one was definitely not at the top of her list.
“How did I hurt your heart?”
“You made me fall in love with you, gave me unbelievable sex, and then you ran away before I could tell you how I felt.”
Haley shook her head at him in denial. “You’re not in love with me, Desmond.”
Reaching out, he took one of the bags away from her to place her gloved hand over his heart. “I am.”
Haley shook her head at him. “Are you looking for an affair? You weren’t the only one who lied. I did when I said I didn’t want a commitment, or children, and I didn’t need monogamy.”
“You’ve never lied, Haley, not once to me. You were only repeating my words back to me. To say I’ve been miserable the last three and half months is a fucking understatement. It doesn’t matter if other women are willing to accept my conditions, because none of them are you. I want to marry you.” Reaching inside his pocket, he took out a black velvet box and opened it.
Haley didn’t glance at the ring he was showing her. She looked into the depths of his eyes and found what she had always searched for—the truth.
“Don’t say no. If you want to stay here, I’ll find a place until you decide to accept me. I’ll give you any money you need to help with Moonbeam.”
When she started shaking her head at him, he grew more plaintive.
“If you don’t marry me, Dante’s going to have me killed for puppy-napping his dog.”
“I thought it was Nadia’s.”
“I didn’t figure on Dante getting attached to it, too. I barely escaped Kansas City with both of my kneecaps. You marrying me will save my life.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“No, I’m not. Marry me, please.” Closing the ring box, he dropped it into the bag he was holding to pull her into his arms.