Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“You’re not, you know.”
“Ugh!”
And there was his Dru.
Jamie grinned.
“I already told you I don’t feel like that anymore, Dad,” she finished.
“Just making sure,” he muttered, his lips still tipped up.
They heard footsteps on the deck and looked up the stairs to see Judge coming down.
He sat behind Dru and mussed her hair while she batted irritably at his hands.
Judge did this saying, “No fair you two squeezing out the older child and giving him a complex by whispering secrets to each other on the deck steps.”
“We were talking about Dad and Nora,” Dru didn’t quite lie.
“I think JT really cramped Dad’s style,” Judge announced.
He definitely did.
“Eww! Gross, Judge!” Dru cried.
“He’s just a man,” Judge kept at her.
Dru made a mock-gagging face.
Jamie started chuckling.
“So, I’m asking for an island to get over my possible-new-stepmom woes,” Judge stated. “You should ask for a car,” he advised Dru.
“Why do you get an island, and I only get a car?” Dru asked in return.
“Because I’m the eldest so I get special treatment,” Judge razzed.
Dru blew a raspberry at him.
“Neither of you are getting gifts because I found someone special,” Jamie stated.
“You ruined it.” Judge immediately fake-blamed Dru.
“Like Dad was ever gonna buy you an island,” she retorted.
“I think he was close,” Judge muttered, shooting a smile Jamie’s way.
“You understand now,” Jamie said to him. He turned to Dru. “And if it’s your choice, you’ll someday get it. But trust me, right now, sitting here with you two, I feel like the luckiest man alive.”
“Dad!” Dru cried and threw herself in his arms.
He held her close and looked over her shoulder to Judge.
“I’d say you suck, because you ended all the fun, but you don’t, which also sucks,” Judge said.
Jamie started chuckling again.
Dru pulled away, wiped under her eyes and then smacked Judge’s arm. “Don’t be a jerk!”
“Ow!” Judge yelled, rubbing his arm dramatically. “Dad! Dru’s picking on me!”
Jamie had no clue if Nora sent Judge out to drive the point home. Maybe. Maybe it was Chloe.
And maybe it was that his son was just as determined to make sure Dru didn’t get lost in all that was happening because the only person she biologically belonged to was gone.
It didn’t matter.
Judge had driven the point home.
Biology didn’t matter.
Family did.
And Jamie had the greatest kids on Earth.
CHAPTER 9
BOTTEGA VENETA
Nora
Jamie and I were sitting in the back of his car. His driver had picked us up from the airport.
Our luggage was wedged in the trunk, and we were headed to my apartment.
I was hoping this wouldn’t be just his first stop, but his only one.
I was also gearing myself up to make certain it was, by inviting him up for the evening if I found it wasn’t.
I had no idea why I was hesitant about that. I’d never had an issue with sharing my desires.
It was just now that the time was nigh (very, very nigh), I felt timid about it.
One of the vagaries of being a woman, or perhaps being human, that I wasn’t fond of.
It was mid-evening New York time, early for us in the time zone our bodies were accustomed to.
So truly, there were no longer any reasons why we couldn’t fully embrace the change to our relationship at my apartment.
The last several days with Chloe, Judge and JT had been fabulous, but Jamie and I had lives to get back to, and that family had to get used to being a family without a whole host of loved ones trooping through all day.
This meant our parting was bittersweet, at the same time necessary.
Jamie was currently on his phone, scrolling through his email.
I was on mine, scrolling through my schedule.
My eyes caught on something, and I turned fully to him.
“Darling, can I assume we’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming now that the parent trap was successful?”
Jamie turned fully to me, a handsome smile on his lips, his hand reaching out to capture mine.
One thing I noticed of late that was delightful and tortuous (both for obvious reasons) was that Jamie was an exceptionally affectionate man. He held hands. He snuggled. He cuddled. There was close contact when sleeping. Hell, I couldn’t even walk past him and be in reaching distance without him touching me, even if it was only to trace his finger along the back of my hand as I passed.
In other words, for the last couple of days, the tortuous had beaten out the delightful.
He’d been gentlemanly before, guiding me by a touch at the small of my back, standing beside me with his arm curled around my waist.
But this was very different.
And very gorgeous.
And very much—too much—to handle when I was cut off from all the rest.
“Are you talking about the store opening we agreed to go to this Saturday?” he asked.
Hale and Elsa had some friends who had a store where they sold furniture they refinished. They’d been able to grab the lease on the space next door to expand their business to include selling vintage stoneware, china, glassware and home décor. And Saturday was their grand opening.