Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
“You don’t even have shoes on,” Sampson scolded. “Did you cut yourself? Let me see.”
“It’s nothing.” She held her finger tightly.
“Maeve,” Sampson said warningly.
Maeve showed him her finger.
“I’ll get a First-Aid kit,” Immy said.
Oh God, Maeve hated blood. Nausea rolled in her tummy. She’d vomited while cleaning her hands and knees the other day. But this almost felt worse. Thankfully, Immy came back with the First-Aid kit and Sampson doctored her up while she looked away.
“I’m so sorry, Jenner. I’ll pay for the glass.”
“Maeve, stop,” Jenner said, almost impatiently. “The glass doesn’t fucking matter.”
“Jenner!” Immy scolded. “Don’t swear at her.”
They all stared at Immy in shock. She never got harsh with Jenner.
Jenner looked the most surprised out of all of them, but then he turned to Maeve with a frown. “You’ve got to stop thinking we see you as a burden. You’re our fucking sister. We’d burn the world down for you, got it?”
She nodded. She was used to Sampson or Cat speaking to her like that. But not Jenner.
He nodded back, looking satisfied.
“Well, okay, you can swear at her this once,” Immy muttered. “But only because that was quite sweet.”
“So we’re agreed that I’ll stay home tomorrow?” Abe said after he cleaned up the broken glass.
She sent him a smile of gratitude. “What is going on?”
“Charity auction,” Immy told her. “We’re auctioning off a night with some of the city’s most eligible bachelors. Jenner and Sampson included. I’m helping organize it so I have to be there.” She gave Maeve an apologetic look.
“Not like we’d leave the two of you alone here,” Jenner said. “Maeve can’t even kill a fly and you’re scared of the dark, Immy.”
“I could fight off an attacker,” Immy protested. “I’ve been working with Sampson.”
“Sampson is being auctioned off?” She looked at her friend in amazement.
Sampson shuffled around, looking uncomfortable. “Immy got me at a weak moment.”
“Everyone thinks that Sampson is hot,” Immy confided. “He’s been photographed lots as Jenner’s bodyguard. He’s got his own fan club.”
Sampson’s cheeks were turning red.
It was so cute. She’d never seen him embarrassed before.
“I’ve booked a plane ticket. I leave early tomorrow,” Isaiah said.
“And I’ll stay here tomorrow night with Maeve,” Abe said.
“Fine, but I want Andy here too,” Sampson stated. “He can stay outside.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” she said.
But everyone just stared at her.
“All right then.” She shuffled forward and Sampson helped her down. “Isaiah, could I talk to you a moment? In private.”
Isaiah gave her a surprised look. “Sure.”
She ignored everyone, giving each of them a kiss good night before following Isaiah out into the living room.
“What is it?” he asked, putting his laptop down.
“If I gave you the name of someone, could you find their number?” she asked.
“Is it someone you suspect is your stalker?”
“No, it’s a friend. Only I don’t know his number since it was on my phone.”
“I should be able to retrieve the information from your phone.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Just give me a while?”
She wanted to urge him to hurry, but she couldn’t do that. “Of course.”
“What’s his name?”
“Gray Hawkins.”
“He means something to you?”
“Yes, he does. He means a lot to me.”
And it hurt more than she could express that she might never see him again.
23
Maeve couldn’t sleep.
It was dark outside, but it was still hot and she was wandering the house unsure of what she wanted. She and Abe had some Thai for dinner and watched a movie after. But then he’d gone to his office to do some work.
And she was left walking around the house, feeling lonelier than ever. She’d slept until nearly midday.
That might have something to do with why she couldn’t sleep right now. She wanted to text and ask Isaiah if he’d found Gray’s contact number, but she knew he was busy.
Still, she really, really needed to talk to Gray. It was gnawing away at her tummy, being away from him.
Why was it so hard? Why did she let him rent so much space in her head?
Maybe because you love him, idiot.
No. Nope.
She did not.
Oh, crap.
Maybe she did. This was not the way her life was meant to go. She couldn’t fall in love with someone who she knew next to nothing about. And who wasn’t ever going to love her back.
Fuck. Moving out onto the covered porch at the back of the house, she sat on the side of the pool and dunked her feet in.
“Maeve, you’re an idiot,” she muttered to herself. “What are you going to do?”
She’d have to work out a way to get over him. Pining away for him forever wasn’t a good option.
Fuck. Deciding that sitting there and thinking was getting her nowhere, she figured she’d go upstairs and try to get some work done. She’d spent the afternoon emailing clients and telling them about the unfortunate delay. Immy had been kind enough to go get her some supplies earlier today. She was going to pay her back, of course . . . but she felt so helpless. Useless.