Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
It looks like she went through an entire tube. She drew hearts on his cheeks with it and colored in his entire forehead. His eyelids are covered in something blue and glittery. She used the lipstick to draw long earrings down his earlobes to the side of his neck.
“Doesn’t Uncle Carter look beautiful?” Hallie says, grinning.
“Um...yes, he does.”
Carter glances at me. “She wanted to give me a makeover and I said she could if I could watch the game while she does it.”
I arch my brows and reach into the pocket of my lightweight sweatpants for my phone.
“Can I get a picture of you two?”
Carter lowers his brows. “Only if it stays on your phone and is never posted anywhere.”
“Okay, deal.”
Hallie looks proud of her makeup artistry as she sits down in Carter’s lap, putting an arm around his shoulder. He smiles, too. I feel a pang of wishing Rachel could see this.
“Okay, got my new screensaver,” I say lightly.
I walk into the kitchen, Darling following me. He’s wearing a doggie onesie covered with tacos today. I have to get in all the cute outfits I can before he outgrows the largest size made for dogs.
“Are you hungry, D-man? Do you want a snackie?”
He knows that word well. He snorts in approval and goes over to the pantry.
“Not this time,” I say, opening the refrigerator and taking out a container.
I’ve started keeping pureed pumpkin, roasted sweet potatoes and squash prepped for him. He doesn’t like them as much as Goldfish, but he doesn’t turn them down.
I fix him a plate and set it on the floor. He walks over to it, sniffs it, and then looks back at me.
“That’s my only offer,” I say, shrugging.
He scarfs it. I leave him in the kitchen and go up to the bedroom, eagerly anticipating my hour of reading.
Before I started working two jobs, I read every night. With two jobs, I was too tired. After a full day of caring for the girls and Darling, I’m usually too mentally tired to read. I either watch Carter’s games or scroll mindlessly until I fall asleep.
I lie down and open up the sci-fi romance paperback I’ve heard great things about. I’m about fifteen minutes into it when Carter comes into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
“How’s it going?” he asks.
“Good. How are you?”
He gestures at his face. “I’m gonna go wash this off.”
“Aw, what about Hallie’s hard work?”
“I let her take a picture. I never agreed to leave this shit on my face for hours.”
He goes into the bathroom and I hear him turn on the shower. Less than ten minutes later, he comes back into the bedroom, his face clean and his hair damp. He’s wearing a gray Penn State T-shirt and black athletic shorts. I like him this way, wearing his casual, around-the-house clothes that the rest of the world doesn’t get to see.
He lies down on his side, looking at me. “You’re sexy when you read.”
I look away from my book, smiling at him. “I feel like I’m sexy when you’re horny.”
“I’m horny a hundred percent of the time, so that tracks.”
“Are you angling for a quickie?”
“Nah. Not with the girls awake.”
“Maybe later.”
He hums his disapproval. “Won’t be a quickie, though. Take a nap and a multivitamin, baby, ’cause I need to make up for all the nights I’ll miss with you on my next road trip.”
Tyler used to call me “baby.” It feels different from Carter, but I still feel the stab of betrayal and anger I get every time I think of Tyler.
“I’m going back to the game,” he says, getting out of bed.
“Hey, don’t forget Darling’s bath.”
He groans. “Fuck. Fine. If you aren’t sure how much I love you, that should say it all.”
My heart pounds faster and I meet his gaze. He looks a little alarmed, but then his expression softens.
“Yeah. I do love you, Suki. I wanted to talk to you about us, actually.” He stands at the foot of the bed, crossing his arms. “This isn’t a one-year thing anymore. I want you to stay.”
My brows shoot up. “Stay?”
Aggravation flickers over his face for a split second before he schools his expression back to neutral. “Yeah. Neither one of us is faking anything anymore. I love our family and I want it to be permanent. Don’t you feel the same way?”
I set my book down and take a deep breath. “Where is this coming from? It’s only been a couple of months and we just started sleeping together a few days ago.”
He knits his brows together, the aggravated expression back. “So what? I don’t need any more time to know what I want.”
I pull my knees up to my chest, emotions warring inside me. I swore to myself I’d never blindly fall hard and fast for a man again. I was so depressed and humiliated after Tyler left me it took months to start feeling like myself again.