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 know,” she agrees. “There were so many different ones.” I fist my hands, ready to punch a hole in the wall. “One of them was that she was traveling through Asia on sort of an Eat, Pray, Love trip. Another couple were that she found him cheating.” She laughs. “That we all thought was for real since someone heard they caught him and some girl in the stairwell making out.” I close my eyes. “Anyway, she’s obviously here now.” I don’t say anything else, my stomach tightening when I think of the lies that he no doubt started to save face. “Don’t fuck it up.”
“I won’t fuck it up,” I confirm. “Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow after I meet with her and give you the details.”
“Great. Also, I’m going with an ecru for the walls.”
“Great.” I smile. “That was the color I wanted you to go for, but was testing you.” She laughs. “You passed.”
“Good day, sir.” She hangs up the phone and I pull back up the text thread. I delete the text and start again.
Me:
It was great seeing you again. Thanks for the cinnamon roll.
I press send before I overthink it and make it more complicated than it has to be. I don’t think she’s going to answer me at all, and I’m definitely not ready for her to answer me right away.
Lexi:
It was great seeing you again also. Hope you warmed up the cinnamon roll, it’s better that way.
I look down, wondering if I should answer her when Jefferson comes back down and jumps up on the couch beside me. She takes one look at me before turning and lying at the opposite end of the couch, away from me. “She asked me if I warmed it. Should I answer her?” I ask Jefferson who just blinks her eyes closed. “Solid answer,” I tell her. “I’ll answer her tomorrow in person.”
I toss my phone to the other side of the couch before I do something even more stupid, like call her.
I pull in the parking lot with ten minutes to spare. Getting out of my black Land Rover with my phone and my keys in one hand, I walk into the restaurant, pulling open the door and seeing the hostess behind the stand smile at me. “Good afternoon,” she greets when I walk in.
“Good afternoon,” I reply, taking off my sunglasses. “I have a reservation under the name Make the Choice.” I smile at her as she looks down at the paper.
“For a party of two?” she asks me and I nod my head. “The other party is already here,” she says, shocking me. “Right this way.” She turns and leads me past the walk and into the restaurant. Half the tables are filled and I do a quick scan of the room when I see her. She’s sitting down, her head turned to the side, looking out the window. She must feel me staring at her because she turns her head and spots me. Her blue eyes go big as I get closer and closer to the table. “Right over there,” the hostess says, stopping two tables before and holding out her hand to the table Lexi is sitting at.
I nod at her. “Thank you.” I make the rest of the way to the table with Lexi. She is wearing a white button-down shirt with blue stripes. The top three buttons are undone with a gold necklace hanging around her neck. The long sleeves are pushed up to her elbows and I can see she’s wearing a gold watch with two Cartier bracelets. “Lexi,” I say once I get to the table. She looks at me and the need to bend and kiss her lips is like the need I have for air to breathe. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
“Meeting with you?” she asks, confused, and then sits back in her chair. “Wait a second, are you Make the Choice foundation?”
I pull the chair out and sit down in it, placing my phone and keys beside me. “I am,” I confirm. I’m about to say something else when the waiter comes over and introduces himself.
“I’ll have a sparkling water,” I tell him and then look at Lexi. Holding my breath, I wonder if she’s going to get up and storm out. Maybe I should have told her it was me.
“I’ll have the same,” she tells him with a smile and waits for him to walk away before turning back to look at me. “I’m going to need you to explain this to me.”
“I will explain whatever you need me to explain, but then you have to tell me how you found out about us.”
“You go first.”
“Okay, we talked a little yesterday about my stepfather, and after playing hockey for years, I’ve wanted to start a foundation. Something meaningful that I’ll have a hand in when it’s time to step off the ice for the last time. I finally took the leap and hired Ms. Hayes.” I use Kylie’s name, not sure I want to tell her she’s actually my sister. She might think it’s a family business and not want to get involved. “Now, you can tell me how you found out about us?”