Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
A myriad of emotions swirled. The pleasant anticipation that always came with the possibility of pleasing my family, the pinch of confusion and anxiety I’d been experiencing lately, and a vague panic I couldn’t identify. “We’re not making any decisions before the party,” I told my mother.
“Oh, well that makes sense. I know nothing’s set in stone,” my mom said quickly, “and we don’t mean to pressure you. But…sometimes passion grows with time, darling.” She glanced at my father and gave him an affectionate smile. “I didn’t realize I could love your father any more than I did on our wedding day, but things have only gotten better.”
I resisted making an ick face. I definitely didn’t want to think of my parents and passion in the same sentence. But in actuality, the only visual the word conjured was that of an assprint in green felt. And while that image brought with it a minor buzz of excitement, a whirl of disappointment also spiraled through my veins.
Maybe passion wasn’t all it was chalked up to be anyway. Maybe I’d do without passion by choice.
Because look where passion had gotten me so far.
I’d decided to wait for the weekend when Faith had a public showing at her gallery to speak to her as privately as possible and demand answers about why she was collecting art from Calliope citizens under false pretenses. But fate stepped in the next day when I was driving to work and spotted a woman walking a few blocks ahead, ebony hair glinting in the sun, her arm extended as she held several leashes in her hand attached to a trio of dogs who trotted ahead of her.
What the hell are you doing now, woman? And whose dogs are those?
My heart lurched as, without thinking, I made a sudden turn, coffee sloshing from the cup I was holding and splattering across my lap as horns blared. “Damn it,” I muttered, taking my hand off the wheel momentarily as I wiped the coffee that had spilled on my gray pants with my hand, only making it worse. Fuck. I was due to make a presentation in thirty minutes.
Up ahead, Rory must have heard the horns because she paused and turned, our eyes meeting through the windshield as I halted at a stop sign less than a hundred feet from her. I watched as her eyes widened and she pulled in a breath, glancing at the dogs quickly and then raising her head to look around, obviously weighing her options for escape.
Some unnamed thrill took up inside me and I tried my best to tamp it down. But I couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face right before she turned and ran.
Oh, no, you don’t.
I pressed on the gas, shooting through the stop sign even though it wasn’t my turn and causing the car to my right to hit their brakes. “What the hell, Gage?” a man yelled out his window.
Up ahead, Rory turned right into the park, the dogs all barking in excitement at the sudden, unexpected run she was taking them on. The dogs split apart when they came upon a low bush and she easily jumped it, shooting a look over her shoulder.
I swore I saw exhilaration in her expression.
“Is this a challenge, Cakes?” I caught sight of my own face in the rearview mirror and noticed I was grinning. “Okay then, it’s on.”
I sped up, taking a sharp turn as I bypassed the park entrance and raced around the corner to head her off on the other side. I watched out the side window as she wove and dodged, jumping over hedges, the dogs now barking and tangled and attempting to run in three separate directions. The little black one wearing the Burberry sweater looked positively gleeful.
Morning walkers scurried out of the way, turning as she flew by them, utterly out of control.
I turned again, a pedestrian who’d just been about to step off the sidewalk jumping out of the way. I raised my hand and waved, giving old Mr. Dornbusch an apologetic smile. He raised his cane and angrily waved it in the air as I sped by.
Rory did a half turn, whirling around a mother pushing her baby, Rory lifting her arm so that her handful of leashes didn’t get caught on the stroller. Nice save. I let out a laugh, my heart pumping with the adrenaline of a chase. And damn if I wasn’t having fun even while my annoyance jumped three more levels. She was literally running from me now. No one ran from me. Women ran to me. A few of them had literally launched themselves in my direction a time or two.
And this confusing little fraud was leaping over park benches to get away from me. I pushed on the gas, turning another corner, well on my way to heading her off at the only exit that wasn’t fenced in. I would park at the end of the path she was currently sprinting along with her barking bevy of pups and—“Holy shit!”