Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
“I marched up to the table and said, ‘Hi, Brad, good to see you.’ Then I turned and offered my hand to the woman and asked her name. Then I asked her if she was Brad’s wife, and she said she was, so I said that her husband had told me that he was divorced, and that we’d been dating for the past three months.”
I wince. “Then what happened?”
“Then I left. I hope he ended up wearing his entrée and losing a lot of money in the divorce.”
“When our brother found out, he said we weren’t allowed to date anyone again until he’d done a full background check on them.”
I laugh. “I like that idea. So, is that what you do now?”
Poppy sighs. “Honestly, it’s made me a little gun-shy. I’ve only gone on a few dates since and my heart hasn’t been in it.”
“I get that,” I reply.
“You do?” she asks. “Were you seeing someone back in the UK?”
“No one serious. And I think when enough things don’t work out, you start to wonder what you’re doing wrong.”
“Nothing I can see,” Poppy says. “You’re gorgeous and so fun.”
I smile. “Same with you girls. I guess we just haven’t found the right guys.”
“Yet,” Avril says. “I have to believe it’s going to happen.”
I pull in a breath. “You know, part of the reason I came here was because I thought my life would turn out differently. I thought I’d be married and have a family by now, and it hasn’t happened, so I decided I couldn’t stand around waiting for it to happen. Something had to change.”
“And so you came to New York,” Poppy says.
“Right. Not to find my person, but to be proactive. Instead of letting life happen to me, I wanted to make a choice.”
Poppy nods enthusiastically. “We know how that feels. You make a plan and then you’re on the road to that plan, and you don’t think about it too much. That was like you as well, wasn’t it?” She nods at Avril.
“Yeah, I was studying economics, can you believe it? Hotel on Ninth Street wasn’t even a dream. And now, here we are.”
“It’s so nice that you get to work together.”
The two sisters exchange a look. “It is. Most of the time. And our brother keeps out of it, so that’s good too. He and his wife have a baby, so he’s all about that or his other businesses.”
“Cute,” I say. I feel like I’m surrounded by talk of babies and giving birth. Maybe I’m just hyperaware at the moment.
“But he’s going to invest if we get another hotel,” Poppy says. “We’re looking in Boston. He used to have a place there, but it was too small. We’re on the lookout again.”
“We’re not talking about work,” Avril reminds Poppy.
“We’re talking about Worth.”
Avril shrugs. “We’re in the friend zone.”
“In a good way,” I say, grinning. These two funny women are starting to feel like friends. They’re the first new friends I’ve had in a while and the only friends I’ve ever made without Darcy right by my side. If you don’t count Mr. Black.
FOURTEEN
Deacon
It’s Tuesday night, so if I don’t see Aurora again tonight, it’s going to be Sunday before I get the chance again. I didn’t see her at all yesterday. I’ve had room service delivered, but Aurora was nowhere to be seen. She wasn’t on reception, or at the bar earlier. I punch the button on the phone for housekeeping and order some additional towels.
Maybe she’ll deliver them.
I’m clutching at straws, but I want to see her. I want to ask her to dinner again.
I don’t know why I didn’t get her number the night at the restaurant. I guess with her working at the hotel, I thought I’d have plenty of opportunities. Also, what happened that night had been unexpected. If I’d asked for her number and then afterwards decided I didn’t want to use it, it could have made things awkward.
Now I know I would have used it. I’m pretty sure I would have blown her phone the fuck up, I’d have called her so often.
She haunts every dream I have and she dominates every second thought. It’s like she’s put some kind of spell on me. I don’t know what happened to me during that dinner, but something did. Something shifted inside me. Maybe it was the way she got me to talk about things I try to bury. It feels like she really wants to know me, and I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that from anyone. Or at least I haven’t let myself.
She looks at me like she’s searching for something deeper than just my body and my money. She exudes a mixture of naivety and determination that is intoxicating.
I pace my hotel room, waiting for the knock on the door. I feel like a caged animal. If this doesn’t work, I’m just going to call reception and ask her to come up to my room. Although she might hate me if I do that. She’s already said she doesn’t want people to know that anything’s happened between us.