Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 91937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“When do you sleep?” he asks, pulling out a stool and sitting on it.
“After I take Wyatt to school, I usually crash for a couple of hours, maybe even take a nap in the afternoon.” I shrug. “I’ll have time to sleep when I have everything set up for us.”
He nods. “Go back to bed,” I urge him and he gets up, walking around the counter. My heart flutters when I see him getting closer to me. His hand wraps around my waist, and he pulls me to him. “Brady.” One of my hands goes on his warm chest as I look up at him.
“Will you wake me before you leave?” he asks me quietly, and I smile.
“If I don’t, I’m sure Wyatt complaining will wake you.” I laugh. “He’s not a fan of waking up and disturbing his sleep for ten minutes to get in the car, only to come back twenty minutes later.”
“Leave him here,” he suggests without a second thought. “Go and do your thing, and then come back.”
“But—” I start to say but stop when the buzzer goes off. His arms loosen around me so I can go and grab the cakes out of the oven, putting them on top of the stove.
“My sister would die to be in this room right now. You might not have any left.”
“Well, it’s a secret, and you can’t tell her,” I remind him nervously, but I know with Brady, he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me or Wyatt.
“Your secret is safe with me.” He stands beside me, looking at the cakes. “Always.”
“Go sleep,” I urge him, walking back to the mixer and turning it off. “I’ll wake you before I leave.” He nods and bends to kiss my neck, then slowly looks into my eyes when he kisses my lips.
“Okay, baby.” He gives my hip a squeeze before walking away from me. I watch his back until he turns the corner.
“I could get used to waking up to that,” I mumble before pouring the cake batter in the pan, smiling.
I work on a new peach pecan cream cheesecake, testing it out by making two loaves, one for Brady and one for Autumn. I pack up the cakes and tiptoe back upstairs. Brady is lying there on his side, sleeping. I go to Wyatt’s room to grab clean clothes from the bag I brought over last night. I just threw a bunch of shit in the bag in my haste, grabbing a pair of yoga tights and a T-shirt before walking out of the room. His snore fills the room as I close the door behind me and head to the bathroom.
When I walk back out, I think about leaving without telling Brady, but I know he would not be happy. So I walk to the side of the bed and think about how to play this. Should I bend and kiss his cheek, or should I tap his arm? I sit on the side of the bed. “Hey,” I whisper, and he turns to my voice before rolling on his side, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me to him.
“Hey,” he mumbles, forcing his eyes open.
“I’m going to go. Wyatt is still sleeping,” I tell him, and he nods.
“Okay, baby.” The softness of his voice makes me shiver. “Give me a kiss.” I can’t help but smile as I lean down and kiss him. “How long does it usually take you?”
“About thirty minutes.” He nods before tossing the covers off him and standing.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m not letting you go outside alone when he could be lurking, and you’re taking my truck.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” I tell him, and he just looks at me.
“If he’s not out there waiting for you”—he puts his hands on his hips—“he might be waiting for you to leave. He might be okay with fucking with you, but he won’t fuck with you if you’re in my truck.”
“But,” I start to say, “Ms. Maddie will see me in your truck.”
“Yeah,” he retorts, like so what, “you’re living with me now. She’s going to know. Lots of people are going to be talking.”
“Living with you,” I repeat, not sure what he’s saying.
“You have to go.” He grabs my hand and pulls me out of the room and downstairs. “Fuck, it smells good.” He walks over to the box and picks it up, then makes his way to the front door. “Grab my keys.” He motions with his head toward the table where his keys are sitting beside the front door. I pick up the keys and follow him down the steps as he looks around to make sure no one is out there waiting for me. He opens the passenger door and puts the boxes on the back seat of the truck, before walking over to me and opening the driver’s door. “See you soon, baby.” He kisses my lips as if we’ve always done this… always.