Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 97337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
By the time there was a knock on the door almost an hour later she was making waking noises. She picked at the steak she’d said she wanted and barely looked at the rest of her meal. She did throw back about a gallon of water though without bringing it back up so I figured she’d been a bit dehydrated. Maybe fucking her in a hot car in a dense forest on a summer day wasn’t the best idea.
“You want to go for a walk or you want to rest up and start fresh tomorrow?” She looked towards the sliding glass doors that led to the balcony and beyond, out to the night sky with a few smattering of stars. We could hear the water crashing against the rocks that lined part of the beach and she seemed to get a second wind because her eyes lit up and she pulled me up from my seat.
“Wait-wait-wait, I need to grab something.” She made as if to head for the door, calling over her shoulder for me to meet her downstairs.
“Elizabeth!” She stopped short and looked back at me.
“Wait right there don’t you dare go out that door.”
She looked a bit startled at first but she took her hand away from the door and stepped back. I may be overreacting but I’m not too jazzed about her wandering off anywhere without me. That’s something I’ve seen dad do my whole life. Not just with mom, but with us kids as well.
Whenever we travel anywhere, whether in the states or abroad, he’s a stickler for that shit. She may have no idea of my worth or my family’s for that matter. But it’s something we’re never allowed to forget. Not since some ancestor in the last century was taken without a trace.
It struck me then as I went into the bedroom to grab her ring, that we’d never had this conversation. I’m sure she had to know something of my family’s wealth. You can’t step foot on nana’s property, or my parents’ for that matter and not know that there’s serious money there. But somehow it’s never once came up in conversation.
It’s a testament to the kind of person she is as well that not once, in all of mom’s arguments had she hit on that as a possibility. That Lizzie could be after my money. It sure was a relief.
Not that I’d spent any amount of time worrying that the females I’d tangled with in the past were after my bank account. But none of them had ever meant what she does and I was never in any danger from them.
Lizzie on the other hand is a whole other kettle of fish. Had she been so inclined she could’ve taken me for everything I have. I came back out of the bedroom to find her standing right where I’d left her. She didn’t look like she wanted to argue and she didn’t question why I’d made her stay.
It’s little things like that that makes our relationship run smoothly. She’s intelligent enough to know that I must have a valid reason for calling her back, and so she wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. Something I appreciate since I hate wasting my breath.
She’s a hardheaded, opinionated brat. Okay let’s rewind shall we. Last night we’d walked hand in hand from the hotel to the water’s edge. It was dark because there was only that smattering of stars I mentioned earlier and it was much darker down there than it had been from our fourth floor hotel room.
There was no one about so we had the swath of beach pretty much to ourselves and I found a nice place next to an outcropping of rocks, and after making sure there were no little critters running around, I pulled her down to sit on the sand beside me, wishing I’d had the foresight to bring a blanket.
It was the perfect setting, just a little bit of moonlight, waves crashing against the shore and the sounds of frogs and crickets and who knows what else coming from the surrounding grass and foliage.
She repositioned herself to rest back against my knee as we both looked out over the water. So far so good. I had the ring burning a hole in my pocket and an empty head. I’d forgotten all the words I’d practiced saying about a hundred times, no biggie. I can wing it.
“Lizzie?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?” Not exactly Shakespeare but it was direct and to the point. No way for her to misconstrue where this was going.
“You know I do.” At this point she still sounded half asleep but it only took her a few seconds to catch on. She sat up straight and looked back at me in the dark but I had no doubt she could see my eyes just as easily as I could see hers.