Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Diesel jumped up from the bench. “I’m going to kill him,” he announced.
“No, you are not.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him back down to sit. “He’s not worth it. Not even a little bit. He’s gone. History. Besides, his whole plan backfired spectacularly. I absolutely refused to appear as his character witness under the circumstances.” And it had been kinda lowering to see just how shocked Payne had been by that. “That set his whole case back by months. And just before I moved down here, I saw on Facebook that Natasha ended up winning primary custody. Payne was not happy about it at all, and he sent me some pretty vile messages blaming me, but it was probably for the best. The boys adored her. I think he lied to me about what kind of mother she was.”
“Because he’s a piece of trash, lying cheater who used you, and you’re an amazing, loving—”
“Shush,” I soothed, stroking his arm and the side of his face, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me feel incredible that he was ready to stand up and fight for me. “I didn’t tell you to upset you, I just needed you to know why maybe I’ve been skittish or hesitant. It’s not that I didn’t care about you or think for one minute that you weren’t good enough. I was just scared that I was falling too hard and fast. I needed a minute to make sure it was real.”
Diesel shook his head. “I don’t know how you ever agreed to this, baby. God, if I’d known you had all this in your past, I never would have asked you—”
“I know.” I summoned a smile. “I know. So I guess I’m glad you didn’t know, because if you hadn’t asked me to lie, I would have missed out on having a real relationship with the kindest, most honest man I’ve ever met.” I grabbed his face with both hands and forced him to look at me, because it was so important that he believed me. “You are the best man for me, Diesel. Don’t ever doubt it.”
He nodded, his eyes shiny. “Parrish, I—” he began. I leaned toward him to catch every word, and he blurted, “I’m a vegetarian.”
“You… What?” I stared at him, stunned. “But, but… What?”
“I’m sorry. I lied. I couldn’t tell you. You brought me that apology casserole, and I wanted you so much, Parrish—not just for the custody arrangement, I swear, and I’ll work as hard as I can to prove that to you, but because you’re gorgeous, and funny, and loving, and—”
“Get back to the chicken,” I interrupted.
“Right, well.” He licked his lips and darted a look at me, like he worried that I’d be furious, which was kind of adorable—okay, maybe more than kind of—but even though I tried hard to summon some outrage, I couldn’t seem to.
“You know I got Talia first, right? But then I got Brenda—she’s the silkie with the huge hairdo—”
“I know which one Brenda is,” I scoffed. “Obviously.”
Diesel smiled at me dopily for half a minute, then pulled me in for a quick kiss. “Yeah. I guess you do.”
“The chicken?” I repeated.
“Right, well, Brenda has this totally bitchy attitude, which is why I named her that, so when she first came, I had to spend a ton of time with the girls making sure she didn’t peck anyone to death, and… I dunno. I got to talking to them.” He shot me a sheepish look. “I bet you think that’s crazy.”
I tried hard not to laugh. “Not nearly as crazy as you might think.”
“Anyway, once I got to know them, I couldn’t bring myself to eat them. It seemed inconsiderate.”
I did laugh then. “I can see that. But you’re telling me that our whole relationship was a lie, based on an apology casserole you never even ate?”
“It maybe started out as a lie, but you said it yourself a minute ago: this is real,” he promised, leaning in to taste my lips again. “And I’m gonna take you home and prove just how real, once you’re done watching the butterflies.”
I bounced to my feet in front of him. “I’m ready.”
“But…” He frowned. “Baby, we have all the time in the world. Enjoy your surprise.”
“I will,” I said, looking down into the eyes of the biggest and best surprise I’d ever gotten. “We can come back another time. Heck, we can bring Mari here every week. But if you study butterflies long enough, you learn that they don’t live very long in the human scheme of things. When you find beauty you have to enjoy it while it lasts, with no hesitation.” I pulled him to his feet and told him solemnly. “I’m so happy I found you.”
“Me too. I knew that day in the courthouse that my life was going to change, but I had no idea how good it could be. And finding out I was really married to you was a shock, but it was also the best thing that ever happened to me.”