Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
My breath catches at what I see….
A light gravel driveway lined with giant trees, rolling green hills and white fences. This place is straight out of a movie. “What are those beautiful trees?” I whisper in awe.
“Oak trees.” Edward smiles as he holds my hand in his. The car slowly drives in and the gates close behind us. We drive up and over the hill and past giant white stables with horses, and not the usual kind of horses you see, like sporty horses. There are people wandering around, one person is leading a horse by its lead, another is sweeping out a stall. There’s a tractor driving along with a load of hay on its tipper.
“What kind of horses are they?”
“Racehorses.”
“Racehorses?” I squeak.
“My mother instilled the love in us.”
“Oh. Well, that’s just.” I search for something nice to say. “Really great.” I look back out the window as another level of inadequacy hits, I don’t know anything about fucking horses. Only that they scare the living crap out of me.
Seriously…what in the hell does this guy see in me?
I feel myself begin to sweat.
We keep driving up the perfectly maintained road and pass more paddocks, this time filled with huge black cows. “These cows look like they are on steroids.”
He chuckles as he looks out at them too. “Black Angus.”
“Right.”
Of course they are…. Ugh, is anyone inferior around here apart from me?
We drive around a winding road and up over a hill and my heart stops as I see the sight over the next hill.
A castle, a fucking bona fide sandstone castle. Complete with giant circular driveway and perfectly manicured gardens. A man in a hat is watering flowers and a woman is raking some leaves under an oak tree.
“How long has your family lived here?” I ask.
“We are the sixth generation,” he replies calmly as his eyes remain out the window. “My children will be the seventh.”
I feel the blood begin to drain from my face…. Honestly, what am I playing at?
Edward at my house in Nice is just the hot guy that I met in Switzerland, he’s just a normal man who I have fallen in love with. He could be Joe Blow from the street and I would love him just as much.
On a deeper level in the background, I know that he has money, but when I’m confronted with just how much…. It freaks me out. It doesn’t reconcile, I can’t compete with this, I can’t…he dates princesses, for fuck’s sake.
What am I even doing here?
Fuck.
I feel perspiration dust my skin and I want to jump out of the car and run as fast as I can to a cheap and nasty hotel where I would at least fit in.
The car doesn’t pull into the castle, it keeps driving along the white gravel road. “Where are we going now?” I ask.
“To my place.”
“Oh…how great.” I fake another smile, of course he has his own place here…because one family castle isn’t enough.
From the corner of my eye I see the driver smirk.
Not funny, asshole.
We go over another hill and drive a few miles and another sandstone house comes into view. It’s still huge but nowhere near the castle’s size; it has a lake with ducks swimming around and a separate garage, dark green vines are growing over it. The same beautiful oak trees surround it and this could literally be heaven on earth. “This is my place,” he says as we pull into the drive.
“Oh.” I bite my bottom lip to hide my smile as the car comes to a stop. “It’s beautiful.”
“Like you.” He leans over and kisses me. “Come.” He gets out of the car and walks around and opens the door for me, he takes my hand in his and leads me up the path. I’ve noticed that when he’s with me nobody is allowed to open my car door but him. Has he told them that he wants to do it or is this some kind of rich-person etiquette that I don’t know about?
We walk up the giant sandstone steps and onto a veranda with heavy double doors and he opens them and pulls me inside. “Welcome to my home, Doe.” He kisses me softly. “I hope you love it here as much as I do.”
My eyes widen as my heart stops.
“Edward,” I whisper as my eyes float over the heaven. “My god, it’s beautiful.” The walls are a warm cream, the furnishings are a perfect blend of modern and antique, there are dark timber floors with giant rugs and the back wall is glass looking over the green rolling hills. “It’s kind of like—”
“Your place.” He cuts me off.
My eyes search his. “Yes.”
“We have the same taste.” He cups my face in his hands and kisses me again. “I had the same thought when I went to your place the first time.”