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)
My gaze flits up and hits Aurora’s, who’s looking back at me.
“Gabby and I aren’t well suited, and splitting up was the right thing to do. I just wish things had been different. But then again, I have Willow, so I also don’t wish things had been different. The most important thing is there’s no acrimony between us. Gabby’s happy and just got engaged to another guy.”
“Engaged. Wow. How did you take that?” she asks.
“Frustrated that she wants to change our nesting arrangement. But other than that, I’m happy for her. I’ve met him—I insisted before he met Willow. He seems like a good guy.”
“How does she want to change things?” she asks.
My jaw tenses. I don’t want to talk about this kind of shit with Aurora. I want to hear about her and everything going on inside her head. Why’s she in New York specifically? Is she a morning person? Do I need to kill the guy she had a crush on?
Her eyes search my face like she’s looking for answers.
I pause, watching her watching me. I want to know her. But for some reason…I want her to know me too. “She wants Willow to go between our homes.”
“Oh,” she says. “So you’ll have your own place?”
“That’s what Gabby wants.”
“But you don’t?”
“I like the arrangement as it is.”
“I suppose if your ex is getting married, it makes sense that she wouldn’t want to live in two different places. This might be a good thing. You’d save money on hotel bills.” She grins.
“Not my primary concern.”
“But your daughter is. She might like having a mum who’s married and happy.”
“Yeah,” I say, letting her words sink in. “I hadn’t thought about it like that. I just don’t want to disrupt Willow.”
“I’m pretty sure she has a dad who adores her. That’s got to count for something.”
“She has a dad she can wrap around her little finger,” I add with a grin.
“They’re the best kind. Honestly, happy parents count for a lot. I got lucky, my parents are still together. What about yours? Did you say they lived back in the UK?”
“Yeah. And honestly, I’m a little surprised. They didn’t see a whole lot of each other when we were young. But they figured it out, I guess.”
“My mum would always say to me that you never know what goes on behind closed doors. It’s a good adage to live by.”
“I don’t want to know what goes on behind people’s closed doors. And I sure as hell don’t want people to know what goes on behind mine.”
She presses her lips together, like she has to stop herself from saying more and my dick twitches.
“You’re beautiful,” I say again.
She offers me a modest smile and glances around the empty Manhattan rooftop. “So, tell me about this.”
“Tell you about what?”
“About this rooftop restaurant whose only diners are you and me.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Is this a thing?” she asks. “Part of your seduction routine?”
She said she doesn’t want to get hurt. Is that why she’s suspicious? I know a lot of women who would think me buying out this restaurant for the night was romantic. But I’m coming to realize that Aurora isn’t like a lot of women.
“No,” I say. “I don’t have a routine. I rarely go on dates. I’ve never been to this restaurant before. And I’ve never rented out a restaurant before.” I pause, waiting for her follow-up.
“I wasn’t trying to be rude.”
“I know,” I say. “I’m not offended. You think I might be trying to manipulate you. That’s not my style. I’m direct. Upfront. I don’t do things I don’t want to do. But you don’t know that. You don’t know me.”
“But I want you to.”
The truth of that hits me in the chest. I want her to know me. I really do.
Aurora nods. “I want that too.”
The words provide a calming balm to my discombobulation and I sit back in my chair, my eyes never leaving hers.
“When I arranged it, I thought it was because I wanted to have you to myself. I didn’t want to be distracted by the noise of other people. That’s all true. But I also think I was trying to impress you.” I’m not sure I’ve ever tried to impress a woman before, but with her it comes naturally. It makes sense.
Aurora’s a woman who’s worth trying to impress. Maybe I’m crazy, but it feels like she looks at me in a different way to most people. It feels like she’s not interested in my job title and my status. She wants to peel every layer back and get to the core of who I am. And I want to show her.
“I’m impressed,” she says. “By the thought. And the effort.” The corners of her lips lift. “Although, I imagine the effort was a request to your assistant.”