Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 112884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“I’ll go whatever way you want me to go,” I say softly. “Which way do you want to go?” I ask her to make her choose. Something I don’t think she gets to do at all.
“Um.” She hesitates. “I don’t know, should we go right?”
I laugh. “It’s not that big of a deal, and there is no wrong answer. You either go right or left.”
“Okay, let’s go right.”
“Lead the way,” I urge her and I can see her guard slip, and her eyes light up. “I’ll follow your lead.”
I follow her the whole way, and when she turns, she does it flawlessly. The smile on her face reaches her eyes for the very first time I’ve seen. It takes my breath away.
We turn around in a circle twice and David claps his hands. “Look at those two.” He points. “Try that.”
It’s two hours later when we finally get dismissed. “I will be here if you guys need more lessons,” David announces. “Otherwise, have fun.”
“Okay.” Lexi looks at all of the guys getting ready to head out. “If I can have your attention for just five more minutes,” she says as we circle around her, “or less.” She holds both of her hands in front of her. “Now, I don’t know if Cheryl told you, but we’ve decided we are going to film a short video of each of you.” She looks at us, doing a sweep from left to right. “It’ll play before the auction, sort of a ‘get to know you.’”
Some of the guys groan. “It’ll be quick, I swear, fifteen minutes tops,” she promises. “It’s for a good cause.”
“You’re lucky that I like you,” Darryl declares, “and I promised Bernetta I would be on my best behavior.”
“You are the best, Darryl, and I’ll be singing your praises the next time I see her.” She smiles at him. “And who knows, you might actually get a real date with this auction, and then dare I say the B word.”
“If you say bride,” Darryl teases her.
“I was going to say a birdie,” she jokes back to him, “but a bride might be good also. Next Tuesday, I’ll be texting you all the time sheet.” They say their goodbyes and turn to walk out of the room and I look over at her. “That didn’t go as bad as I thought it would,” she says with a chuckle, “and I didn’t step on your feet.”
“I call that a win for today,” I reply. “Have a nice night, Lexi.” I walk out of the dance studio, reminding myself that not only is she a married woman, but married to someone dimming her light little by little until she snuffs out.
seven
Lexi
I walk into the kitchen wearing my silk robe, my hair wrapped in a towel on the top of my head, wet from the shower. “Good morning,” I greet when I spot Trent sitting at the island with a bowl of yogurt and fruit in front of him.
“Morning,” he replies and I stop by his chair to kiss him. I wait a full minute before he realizes I’m here and then chastely kisses me. “You’re up late.”
I press the side of my phone and see it’s a little after seven thirty, before placing it on the top of the island. “I know, it feels like I’ve wasted the morning away.” I open the fridge to grab my homemade almond milk before heading over to the coffee maker. “Chelsea couldn’t teach me this morning so I decided to sleep in.” I pour the coffee in my cup and then add a splash of the milk to it, taking a sip. “It was glorious.”
The phone rings from the counter and I see it’s my father calling. A picture of me and him, side by side, both of us smiling at my mother who was taking the picture. “Good God, why is he calling so early?” Trent huffs and I reject the call, sending it straight to voicemail. Not really wanting to answer it in front of him anyway, since he likes to sit down and time how long I talk to my family members.
“He knows I wake up early and I usually get busy during the day, so it’s the best time for us to talk.”
He rolls his eyes. “He’s always in your business, it’s overbearing,” he grumbles and I take another sip of coffee, but it tastes bitter in my mouth. “Thank God we only have to see them a couple of times a year.” I put the cup down on the counter. “You’re lucky I love you so much.” He laughs, pushing away from the island and leaving his plate there before grabbing his suit jacket and shrugging it on. “Don’t forget we have dinner tonight with Bernie and his wife.” He mentions his best friend.