Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
But she had let me in and listened. Now I had her in my arms again, a warm, soft weight on my lap. I inhaled her feminine scent, feeling the calm she brought with her. It settled into my chest and thawed me. Eased away the tension I had been carrying around all day. First the fear of something happening to her, then her anger when I stuck my foot in my mouth.
I had wandered my condo all day, unsure what to do with myself. How to put aside the feeling I had somehow lost something intrinsically precious to me with no idea how to get it back.
She eased back, cupping my face. Her lovely eyes were damp.
“I’m sorry,” I said, sliding my hand around to the nape of her neck, the skin silky under my touch. “Please tell me you forgive me and we can go forward.”
“Is that what you want?” she asked quietly. “To go forward?”
“Yes,” I insisted. “Aside from this morning, has anything indicated I don’t?”
“Our lives are so different. You need to get somewhere fast, you take a helicopter. I take the bus. You can buy anything you want. I save for the smallest of treats. I don’t think I can compete, and I wonder how long it will be until those differences become too much.”
I shook my head, the panic returning. “I don’t want you to compete. Yes, I can buy anything I want. For me. You. AJ. Anyone. Those are material things. I can’t buy the feeling I get when I’m close to you. When AJ makes me laugh. How much of a man I feel like when I do something and you smile at me. Kiss me. Those things are far more precious and rarer.”
She frowned, and I pulled her close, kissing her again. “The time I spent with you and AJ made me feel alive. Happy. I have missed you so much and was so anxious to get back here. The only other person I have ever missed is my mother.”
“What about your dad?”
I sighed, hating this subject. “My dad wasn’t a bad person. He didn’t beat us or hurt us in any way, except to avoid us. Mom was the main parent. He was driven to succeed. Work was his top priority all the time. The only disagreements they ever had were about his being gone so much. I remember her telling him that his presence was more valuable than more money in the bank. But he was obsessed with wealth. He’d grown up dirt poor and made himself into the business tycoon he became. He always said he’d stop when he had enough money to relax.” I barked out a low chuckle. “He was never satisfied. After Mom died, we had housekeepers, babysitters, tutors. He buried his feelings and his mind in accumulating more wealth. Power. Status.”
“He never remarried?”
“No.”
“He must have loved your mother very much.”
“She was easy to love.” I ran a finger down her cheek. “She would have liked you.”
Rosie smiled, a gentle expression on her face. I loved her softness, the way emotions played out on her face.
“Suzy and I were close. Dad was just a figure who passed through the house at times. He wasn’t mean or nasty—simply withdrawn. There was no lack of money. Anything we wanted, we got. We could have ended up spoiled and entitled, but somehow, I inherited my father’s work ethic and my mom’s love of family. Suzy got my mom’s heart—she loves as fiercely as my mom did. I made sure to keep my feet on the ground. When Dad died, all the money was split. I inherited most of the businesses. Dad was old-fashioned and always thought men should run things. I sold some of the companies and gave Suzy half, but I kept many of them. They’re profitable and let me keep giving money away. I have the right people in place running them. I oversee most of the time.”
“You must be a busy man,” she murmured. “No time for anything but work.”
“I thought so.”
Our eyes met and locked. “I can find the time for something better, Rosie. For you and AJ. I want that. I don’t want to be my father.”
“Your world is—”
I cut her off. “Lonely. Empty. It’ll be lonelier if you don’t forgive me.”
“I do forgive you.”
The weight pressing on my chest vanished. “You do?”
“We need to talk about boundaries. You have to understand something, Asher. AJ comes first. You might call or text, but if I am busy with him, he is my priority. If he were sick, I would cancel plans with you. If he needed me, I would stay with him.”
I nodded in agreement. “I do understand, and it’s one of the things I adore about you. You put your child first. Your love for him is fierce. I get that and respect it. I wish my father had been the same way.”