Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Today, he’s clean shaven.
“Delia, this is Donovan,” Matt introduces me to the man I can’t stop thinking about it. “He’s the guy who has made most of my career dreams come true.”
That hits hard and is an instant reminder of why I can’t go anywhere near Donovan again.
I feel like I was falling for him - hard. It was more than great sex. It was the beginnings of real feelings based on how much I enjoyed just hanging out with him.
Donovan extends his right hand. “It’s a pleasure.”
It has been a pleasure, and it can never be again.
I take his hand for a very quick shake before I drop it. “Hi.”
Matt looks at me. “You haven’t touched base in a while. Callum told me you had fun on the cruise.”
All I told my younger brother is that I appreciated the gift and used the time to enjoy myself.
I’ve never spoken truer words in my life.
“It was great,” I play it off because the man responsible for the good time I had on the ship is less than a foot away from me.
“Good,” he says as he scans the interior of the store. “It’s Carolyn’s birthday today so we need chocolate.”
“You came to the right place.” I turn my back to both men to face a wall of candy bars. Each is a distinctive flavor and I can personally attest to the deliciousness of each one since I’ve sampled everything in this store.
“Kita sells baskets of chocolate bars, right?” Matt rounds me to face me. “With a dozen different ones I think. Assorted types.”
“Yes.” I nod. “I can grab a couple of examples for you to check out.”
“Do you like chocolate, Delia?” Donovan asks from behind me.
“Yes,” I say again, but softer this time.
“You strike me as a woman with excellent taste, so choose what you prefer.”
Matthew nods. “She does have excellent taste, and I think that’s a smart way to go.”
“Follow me and I’ll ring you up,” I say to my brother.
“It’s on me.” Donovan moves into my view. “Why don’t I follow you so you can ring me up?”
“Sure,” I say just as my brother’s phone starts ringing.
He slides it out of his pocket. “It’s Faith. I’ve got to take it.”
Before I can beg him to stay, he’s headed toward the door he just entered.
“Alone at last,” Donovan whispers as soon as he spots my brother on the sidewalk in front of the store. “How are you, Delia?”
Lonely. Aching. Wishing the ship had veered off course for a year long journey around the world.
“I’m fine,” I say with a small smile. “How are you?”
“Truthfully?” he asks.
I want to say no, but I can’t. I need to know how he truly is, so I nod.
“I fucking miss you,” he confesses, his hand raking through his dark hair. “I want to pick up where we left off.”
Before I can get a word out in response, my brother wanders back into the store. “All is good. Faith aced a test so I had to tell her how fucking proud I am of her.”
Faith is on her way to becoming a doctor. She’s going to devote her life to working in the fields of obstetrics and gynecology. I’m secretly envious of the fact that my future sister-in-law who is set to celebrate her twenty-second birthday soon knows exactly what she’s supposed to do professionally.
“I’ll text her to tell her I am, too,” I say.
“She’d love that, Delia.” Matt smiles. “Are we good to go?”
“I need to ring up the gift basket.” I start walking toward the checkout counter. “Once I do that, I can grab it from the back.”
The two men follow close behind me. As my hands tremble and my heart thunders in my chest, I shut my eyes briefly, hoping that I can keep it together until they exit the store.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Delia
Nikita pushes a strand of hair back from my forehead. “You should take off, Delia. You look tired.”
I’m not tired. I’m experiencing lingering shock from seeing Donovan and from hearing him tell me that he misses me and wants to pick up right where we left off.
That would be naked together somewhere in this city.
The mental image of that has been crowding every other thought out of my mind for hours. It’s the main reason why I rang up a candy necklace as a big bucket of caramels. The woman who wanted to buy the bracelet was quick to point out that I had made a mistake.
I apologized. She tossed me an angry look but left with a smile on her face when I added a free candy bracelet to her bag.
“I can stay,” I offer with no real meaning behind the words.
“Go,” she orders. “Mary is going to hang around for an extra hour and before you know it, I’ll be closing up shop for the day.”