Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 65944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
“She’s still pretty,” he says, and I grunt my agreement, knowing pretty is an understatement. Then again, it’s not just her appearance that is a turn-on for me; it’s her. Aria back in high school was stand-offish and unapproachable. Aria today is warm, welcoming, and a little unsure, which makes her easier to relate to and a fuck of a lot more attractive. I’m also realizing that if I don’t play this just right, she will slip through my fingers before I even have a chance to catch her.
After I get everything picked up, I move toward the living room, where both women are standing near the bay window, obviously talking about the plant that Gia brought. “Ari,” I call, and she turns toward me.
“We’re gonna head upstairs to set up your bed.”
“Oh.” She blushes when her eyes meet mine. “Okay.” She licks her lips. “Do you guys need help?”
“We’ve got it,” I assure her before heading up to the second floor with Colton on my heels.
“It’s just a guess, but it seems like something happened between you two,” Colton says when we reach the master, a room I’m surprised to see is spacious and completely remodeled with fresh paint, and carpet that is almost identical to the one I laid downstairs just a few days ago.
“Something happened,” I agree, dragging the frame of the bed away from the wall, not sure I like the idea of her sleeping in a bed that she shared with her ex.
“Wanna talk about it?”
“No.”
“It will work out,” he mutters before helping me set up the bed and put her side tables in place. Once we have the room together, we head down the hall to one of the other rooms where we set up the bed, that doesn’t have a mattress and put the drawers in the dresser before we go downstairs. Finding the boxes in the kitchen gone, we head for Aria’s office, where we find both women on the floor, sitting cross-legged, surrounded by piles of books.
“Everything okay?” Colton breaks into their conversation, and both Gia and Aria look up at us.
“We’re good, honey,” Gia says with a smile for her husband, while Aria ducks her head, focusing on the book in her lap. “Aria is just trying to figure out what to do with all the signed books she has.” She waves her hand out. “I told her that she needs a wall of shelves on the back wall in the living room, but she’s not sure.”
“I can build that.”
“You can?” Aria’s eyes meet mine.
“Shelves are easy. Is that what you want?”
She looks at the books surrounding her then licks her lips before meeting my gaze. “Will it be expensive?”
I want to tell her that she can pay me in another way but bite the comment back, sure that she won’t think it’s funny—at least not right now.
“Just a couple hundred dollars for the material.”
“But what about your time? I know that custom shelves are expensive.”
“We’ll work that out later.”
Shaking her head, she stands. “I’ll just put them in the garage for now.” She starts loading the books into one of the empty totes stacked near her desk, and Gia gets up to help her but not before shooting me an apologetic look.
“We finished setting up the beds upstairs. Do you know where you want the TVs hung?” I ask, wanting to change the subject and put her at ease.
Pausing, her eyes meet mine before she rattles off where she wants the TVs, and once she’s done, Colton and I put them in place and make sure they’re working. When we are finished, we find the girls upstairs hanging clothes in the master closet and tell both of them it’s time for a break. We order sandwiches from one of the local shops in town and pick them up before bringing them back to her place to eat.
Sitting at Aria’s dining table, I feel my cell phone buzz in my pocket, and I pull it out. Biting back a curse when I see Anna is calling, I stand without a word and move away from the table, then outside onto the front porch.
“What’s up?” I answer after putting my phone to my ear.
“You need to talk to your daughter,” Anna says, and before I can ask if she’s okay or what’s going on, I listen to her shout, “Daddy is on the phone! Come talk to him.”
“Daddy?” Olivia’s sweet, quiet voice rings over the line, and I take a seat on the top step, watching two squirrels chase each other around the base of a tree by Aria’s driveway.
“Hey, angel, I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Mommy is making me eat brussels sprouts,” she informs me, and I grimace, because even as a grown-ass man, I don’t like eating them. “I don’t want to eat them.”