Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“I’m not disturbing your work, am I?” Byron asked and I’d swear the man had a grin on his lips, as if he knew my brain was a rotten mess of longing, confusion, and frustration.
“No. No. Doodling for a bit as I try to come up with some new ideas for work. How have you and Sebastian been? I heard the good news that your proposal saved Courtland Enterprises. Congrats!”
Byron waved me off. A faint tint of pink touched his cheeks. “I wouldn’t go that far. It was merely the start of a good idea. The entire company pulled together and worked hard to make it a success.”
“Pffft.” I dropped onto the other end of the sofa. “Whatever. You forget I worked there too, in finance. I know exactly what the numbers were and how bad the situation had gotten. You saved Courtland. I hope Sebastian has done some proper ass-kissing for your contribution.”
Byron’s face shifted from pink to bright red as he cleared his throat. “Yes, Sebastian has been appropriately grateful.”
Yeah, I could imagine.
At the dinner, I’d seen exactly how in love Sebastian was with his boyfriend. It was as though he couldn’t stand to be more than a few feet away from him.
“None of that is important,” my companion argued, waving both hands in front of himself. “I came here to check on you. How are you doing?”
I drew in a deep breath and prepared to release it in a rush, as I said all the usual things like I’m doing fine, getting adjusted, blah blah blah. But the words became lodged in my throat and my scalp prickled with unease. A clot of twisted emotions pushed to come out, and it was becoming harder to hold them in. Since leaving Declan’s house, it was only Joy and me every day. I’d tried talking to my daughter, but she’d stare up at me with those wide blue eyes, unable to understand what her bumbling father was rambling about.
“Not…good.” The words tumbled from my lips like drips from a faucet that couldn’t be completely closed.
“Have you talked to Declan recently?”
My elbow resting on my knee, I dropped my forehead to the palm of my head and shook it. “I don’t know what to say to him. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.” Tipping my head to the side to look at him, I sighed. “Did I overreact? What the hell am I even doing anymore?”
“Can I ask what triggered it? When you were over with Declan for dinner, you seemed so happy together. Declan came to see us last week and said that you’re taking a break, which isn’t a bad thing. However, he sounded pretty confident that you two were finished. That you wouldn’t patch things up.”
I sat up straight, my mouth falling open so that my heart could nearly jump out. “What?” I screeched. “He said that.”
“Not in so many words. He was quiet. Well, quiet for Declan. Sebastian asked what he was going to do next. He said that he was going to give you space to work things out, but he appeared…hopeless.”
“Fuck.” I pressed my hands to my face and scrubbed hard. “I can’t tell if I fucked up. My mom got in my head, and what she was saying was making sense. Then Declan started talking about a nanny and all I could think about was how his dad hired a nanny for him, allowing the asshole to check out completely. I panicked. That’s it. I panicked, and now that I’m standing in the aftermath of my destroyed life, I don’t know what to do. My heart is screaming to run to Declan, apologize for ever putting him through this, and pray he takes me back. But if I go to him, did I fucking fix anything?”
“Um…let’s rewind a bit.” Byron even made a circular motion with his finger. “What did your mom say about Declan? Did she not like him?”
Byron was always so sweet and friendly, but there was no missing the defensive bite that entered his tone. It kind of made me like him more.
“No, she likes him a lot. She thought he was very kind and considerate. Always very respectful.”
“And what? She didn’t care for the way Declan had taken care of her son?”
“No, her problem was with her son becoming completely dependent on this guy he barely knows and not even attempting to move forward with his life after getting two difficult blows back to back.” I frowned at the empty hands I held out in front of me like they were supposed to be holding the answers to all my problems, but they were just…empty. They fell onto my lap with a soft slap. “And she had a point. Because of course she had a point. She always knows everything.”