Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“If making you come makes you late for work, then sign me up!”
She laughed and quickly got out of bed. “I’ll remember that when you’re getting ready to head to The Muddled Moose!”
The image of Aurora on her knees making me come was nearly my undoing. I quickly got out of bed and headed behind her and into the bathroom.
Aurora held up her hand. “Oh, no!”
“I promise not to touch you.”
She narrowed her eyes but then turned on the water. Once it was at the right temperature, she stepped inside. I followed her, taking her bar of soap and washing her body for her. I moved quickly since I knew she was in a hurry to get down to the bookshop.
While she rinsed off, I soaped up my own body. Aurora stepped out of the shower and began to dry off as I turned the water temperature colder. I needed to get rid of my erection somehow. If this was how it was going to be around her camping, we were going to have to find a way to be quiet in that small RV.
I’d never seen anyone get ready as fast as Aurora had. She hadn’t washed her hair, and it was piled up on top of her head in a messy bun. She was already dressed when I finally got out of the shower and started to dry off.
“I’ve got to run, but make yourself at home. I’ll call you once I’m finished with lunch and make sure Lou doesn’t have any questions for when I’m gone.”
Kissing her on the lips, I fought the urge to deepen it. Now that I’d had a taste of Aurora Banks, I needed more, but it would have to wait.
“Have a good morning, and we’ll talk soon.”
She smiled, blew me a kiss, and dashed down the steps.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy before,” my father said with a wide grin.
With a smile of my own, I replied, “I don’t think I’ve been this happy before.”
He put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “You deserve this happiness, Liam. I hope you know that.”
I let out a soft breath. “I do know that. I won’t lie and say that a part of me still feels guilty, but Hope and I weren’t meant to be. No matter how many times life threw us together, it wasn’t meant to happen. I just hate that Hope won’t ever get a chance to live the life that she deserved to have as well. Or watch Winnie grow up.”
“Hope can see her from where she is.”
I sighed. “You’re right.”
With a nod, he turned and faced the RV. “So you’re going to start this relationship up on a camping trip, huh?”
Laughing, I replied, “I am and lucky for me, Aurora is excited about it. I don’t want to pretend to be something I’m not this time around. I did that with Hope, and I know a part of me always hoped that she would want the same things I wanted, and she thought the same of me.”
When I stopped talking, my father said, “Does she know about Winnie?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “I told her everything.”
My father and I had always been close, and he knew everything, including my feelings for Aurora. He had never tried to tell me what to do, but allowed me to figure it out on my own, and I would forever be grateful to him for that.
“And have you decided what you’ll tell Winnie someday?”
I looked at my father. “The truth. There have been way too many secrets, and I’m done with all of that. When the time comes, she’ll know the truth. But for now, I want her to have a childhood like I did. Camping, fishing, being a part of a family that loves one another.”
A sad look appeared on my father’s face.
“Have you heard from Mom?”
He nodded, drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “I have. She said she is enjoying her time in Italy.”
I didn’t want to admit how that felt like a knife in my chest, but that was my mother for you. She didn’t care about anyone but herself. “I’m sorry, Dad.”
He waved off my concern. “Don’t be. Honestly, it’s for the best, Liam. Your mother has this mean streak in her that I don’t think will ever go away. She is bitter that Hope lied to you about Winnie, and she can’t move past it. She should stay away.”
“She can’t even accept Winnie as my daughter, Dad. How can she be so cruel?”
“I’m not sure, son. The good news is you don’t need her in Winnie’s life. She has so many people who love and care for her now. In the end, that is all that matters.”
I nodded, but it still hurt that my mother didn’t want to know her granddaughter. “You’re right.”