Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Do it!” I hear my uncle Max yell. “Best thing I ever did.”
“Would you mind your business and go away?” my father hisses at him. “Vivienne Allison Grant.” He uses my full name
“I’m not getting married, Dad.” I let him off the hook. “Xavier is here for business.” I stick to the minimum of why we are here.
“Is he meeting Bernie?” he asks me.
“Who?” The name is not ringing any bells.
“The GM of Vegas,” he informs me who Bernie is.
“I have no idea,” I tell him the truth.
“Only you would go with someone and not ask any questions.” He laughs. “I didn’t know he was looking to get back into it.”
“I think he’s just weighing his options.” I won’t go into any other details because it’s his story to tell and not mine.
“Well, how will it work if he does pick Vegas?” my father asks me the loaded question I was asking myself for the last two days.
“We are not there yet, so I have no idea.” My mouth goes dry. “Is that what you called me for?”
“No, I’m reminding you about the gala next week,” he says.
I close my eyes and hiss, “Shit.”
“Yup, so it’s next Saturday night,” he reminds me of what I already know but forgot. “Are you staying with us?”
“Negative,” I reply. “Remember the last time?” He just laughs.
“I take it you are bringing Xavier?” he asks, and I look at the phone in my hand.
“Who are you?” I ask him. “Where is my father, with the whole no one touches my kid?”
He laughs. “What can I say? The other three wore me down. He’s a good guy,” he says softly, and I have to wonder what he knows. I also know that I don’t want to know what he knows because I’m afraid I’ll tell him the truth. “That doesn’t mean that I am not going to have a sit-down with him when he comes here.”
“There he is,” I declare, shaking my head.
“I want to know what his intentions are with my daughter.” He says the words, and I groan.
“Dad, it’s not the eighteen hundreds.” I laugh. “We are dating. Leave it at that.”
“Negative,” he replies. “Call me tomorrow to just let me know you are okay.”
“I’ll be fine. Love you,” I tell him and disconnect the call. I’m about to put my phone down when it rings again. I pick it up expecting it to be my father again just to make sure I’m okay but it’s my aunt Vivienne.
“Bonjour,” I say in French as soon as her face fills the screen.
“Bonjour, ma petite poulette.” She uses the nickname she gave me when I was little. “How are you doing? It feels like I haven’t spoken or seen you in years.” I roll my eyes at her.
“It’s been almost a month,” I tell her and she just stares at me.
“Something is different about you.” She pushes her face even deeper into the screen. “You look a bit different. Your smile is a bit brighter.” She taps her finger on her chin. “Could it be a penis smile?” I laugh at her. “I know that smile. I wear it often.”
“Eew,” I say, trying not to picture my aunt and uncle naked.
“C’est la vie.” That’s life, she shrugs. “Now tell me why you look so happy.”
“Do I really look that different?” I ask as my heart speeds up. “Could be I met someone.” I know the minute I say those words it’ll be like opening Pandora’s box. There is no way she is just going to let me drop this little hint and not expand on it.
“Define you met someone?” she asks me seriously. “Like, you met someone and took him home for a roll in the hay or you met someone like you saw him more than twice?”
“Like, I met someone that I really, really like,” I say to her.
“What?” She holds up her finger. “This sounds a little serious.”
I shrug. “I think so,” I admit out loud for the first time. “I told him,” I say the three words, “I told him what I do for real.”
She gasps, looking around her, making sure she is alone when she says, “Like, about Cooper Parker?”
I nod my head. “Mon Dieu.” My God. “This is so much more than getting good sex.” She puts her hand on her lips. “This is like slip a ring on my finger and marry me.”
I hold up my hand showing her no ring. “We can relax about that but I told him everything.” I smile. “And get this, he’s a huge fan.”
“Who isn’t.” She rolls her eyes. “Maybe now you can perhaps tell your family so I don’t feel like I’m keeping a secret from my best friend.” I laugh at that. “You don’t know what it feels like.”
“Well, perhaps I just might,” I tell her and I hear someone calling her from the background.