Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 124971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“What about Gretchen?” I started panting. I was very close to climaxing.
“Gretchen?” He sounded surprised. “I told her to go screw herself months ago. She was in town from DC while you and I were married.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” My question was more of a sigh. The pressure building between my legs was unbearable, and I knew I was about to come apart any moment now. Riggs increased the pressure, and I tried not to think about how we were doing this in my parents’ kitchen and any one of my family members could walk right in at any moment and catch us.
“There wasn’t a point.” He trailed his tongue along my jaw. “You were stressed about finding a job, and it wasn’t like Gretchen stood half a chance. From the moment I saw you, Poppins, I was all yours.”
I came riding his hand. Riggs watched me the entire time. When the brain fog of the orgasm began to evaporate, I got up on shaky legs and hurried to get some water. Riggs leisurely stood up and washed his hands.
“So . . . what’s next?” I heard myself ask tightly. I still couldn’t believe my luck. “You’ll be traveling the world and coming to visit me here?”
I couldn’t help but remember what had stopped me from fantasizing about something more with Riggs. His inability to stay in one place for a long period of time was always there, and I doubted he wanted to change.
Riggs smiled. “I was thinking our marriage could be more traditional. As my wife might say—I’m no spring chicken anymore. Besides, settling down is not all that bad when there’s someone next to you you’re obsessed with.”
We met halfway in my parents’ kitchen.
“London or New York?” I asked.
“Let’s flip a coin.”
He produced one from his wallet.
“Heads New York, tails London,” I said.
He tossed it in the air, then flipped it on the back of his palm, covering it.
“You ready?” He looked up at me. I nodded.
Riggs revealed our future location.
We both laughed.
“Perfect.” He kissed my forehead. “Absolutely perfect.”
EPILOGUE
RIGGS
Emmett: Free for freelance work?
Riggs: Where?
Emmett: Croatia. Some of the shots require special skill, mountain climbing, etc.
Riggs: I’ll ask my wife and get back to you.
Emmett: Thanks.
Emmett: And Riggs? You’re missed.
Riggs: Don’t make me barf my lunch, Emmett.
A month after my reunion with Duffy in London, we both traveled to Alaska to fight my demons. We declared it our real honeymoon, the one that never was. We took the opportunity to spread Charlie’s ashes in Auke Lake, which—he told me on his deathbed—was his favorite place growing up.
We went to all the places my mother spent time in, and it also felt like coming full circle. It humanized her further in my eyes. To see where she partied, where she worked, where she fell in love.
Speaking of coming, we did a lot of that too. Which was good, because Duffy finally decided what she wanted to do with her life—become a mother and a newborn photographer. “They’re the best clients,” she explained. “Cute, sleepy, and never self-conscious about their bad angles.” I loved that she loved photography. And I loved that I was the one to introduce it to her. Of course, not everyone was dazzled by my wife’s mere existence.
“That’s your aspiration?” Arya bellowed while we were FaceTiming them from our Juneau hotel. “To become a mother?”
“Aren’t you one?” my wife asked briskly, shrugging Arya’s abhorrence off. “And aren’t you pregnant with another child right now?” Duffy added. She’d become pretty close with Arya and Winnie this past month, once they were both positive it was okay to get to know her without running the risk of my giving her the boot.
“Well, yes, but you need something for yourself that isn’t the newborn photography stuff.” Arya frowned. “You know I hear there are poop accidents on a daily basis? And some of those things they tuck the babies into are just ridiculous.”
“This is what I want to do for myself,” Duffy said with conviction. “I want to raise really great humans. And I think it’s a purpose just as high and good as becoming an engineer or a marketing manager or an architect.”
Attagirl.
Arya sighed. “I guess you could have your first client in me when that baby pops out.”
Winnie, who was also on the line with Arsène, giggled. “And I’ll be booking you right after. Three weeks apart, if my OB-GYN is correct.”
Duffy turned to Winnie. “By the way, Win, I wanted to say congrats on your pregnancy too.”
Winnie blushed deeply, ducking her head with a shy smile. “Thank you. I got your flowers and card too. I really appreciate it.”
Winnie and Arsène had been trying for a while. I knew because the bastard was extra butthurt about everything to do with his wife while they were trying to conceive. If I breathed the wrong way under their roof, he’d throw a fit, thinking it made her uncomfortable and gave her unnecessary stress.