Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
I don’t have to ask if he’s thinking about Ryan, probably imagining all the twisted scenarios his son is currently suffering through. Then he begins to cut into his steak, the dark mood leaving him for now.
“What are you going to do after school?” I ask.
“Well, there’s the Korea trip.”
He registers confusion, then nods. “Oh yeah, I remember. You mentioned it before. How long are you going to be there?”
“A month,” I tell him, stunned at the fierceness of my desire to stay here and be with him, but can I put all my dreams on hold? Well, if he’s the man of my dreams, maybe so. “After that, I’m going to become a teacher.”
I remember Ryan’s face twisted up viciously whenever I’d say that. Mocking me for wanting to teach because, apparently, it means I can’t do anything else.
“You’ll be an incredible teacher,” Duke says after a mouthful of steak.
“How do you know that?” I counter, grinning again. It feels more natural, less forced this time. “Maybe I’ll be a complete mess. That’s why I’m going to Korea. I’m going to teach English as a foreign language for the experience. I… I have my dad to thank for that.”
I stare down at my plate.
“I know you’re going to be incredible,” he says, “because I can see how passionate you are. You’re patient, charismatic, funny, and interesting. You could do anything you wanted, Molly.”
“Even play in the NBA, huh?”
He chuckles. It sounds more natural and less forced, just like mine. “Within reason, then.”
I look up and see him staring at me intensely. My thoughts return to the gym, the padded floor. My sex still aches from what we did, his tongue licking up and down, and then the nerves that slammed into me when I chose to go all the way with him.
“What did you mean you have your dad to thank for it?”
“Dad had a good job,” Molly replies. “He worked in advertising as an executive. It was one reason he drank so much and maybe one reason Mom was so forgiving of it. When he passed, he left us a lot of money. Enough for college. Enough for trips like this.”
“You don’t have to be ashamed because you started life with money,” Duke says, reading me like an essay.
“It’s difficult,” I admit. “Being in college, knowing everybody else is eyeballs-deep in debt or working several jobs.”
“If you gave them a choice between the cash and their parent, they’d all choose their parent. Life is never as simple as it seems.”
“Oh, I know that,” I say, giving him a look.
I love how easily he can read me. He knows I’m talking about us and the strange path our desire has taken, bringing us together despite all the viciousness with Ryan.
We eat without talking for a while, and then Duke says, “How long until you leave for Korea?”
“Just over three weeks.”
He swallows and looks out the window, but it’s not like he’s searching for Ethan this time. It’s more like he’s searching for an answer. Warmth whelms in me when he faces me again, pain in his eyes.
“I had a proposal in South Korea a few months ago, a business opportunity to open a gym there. It was a good proposal. I rejected it because I needed to be here for Ryan.”
Hope tries to flare in me, but then Duke sighs and shakes his head. “But we shouldn’t talk about the future,” he says. “Who knows what’s going to happen?”
I swallow. “Yeah, but…”
“Go on,” he says, leaning forward.
“I’ll miss you,” I say.
“Of course you will. I’ll miss you more.” He smiles, but there’s a tinge of sadness to it. It’s like he’s holding off on being happy until he knows his son will be okay. Since we’re going to have children together one day—I hope, I dream—I respect him for this. I’d want the same for our son. “You’re my woman.”
“What does that mean, huh? Being your woman?”
“It means nobody else touches you or kisses you. It means nobody else is intimate with you in any way. It means we’re together.”
“Even if…” I bite down. I can’t say it. Even if things don’t work out with Ryan…
“You’re mine,” he says gruffly.
“That means you’re mine, too,” I reply. “Doesn’t it? Or is this a one-way deal? Are you going to date other women?”
“No,” he says firmly. “I’ve got no interest in anybody else. Only you.”
Forever, I wait for him to add, but then he turns back to his steak. After a minute, I ask, “When does Ryan’s mom get here, anyway?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “Susan? She’s not coming.”
“What?” I almost yell. “I don’t understand. She knows Ryan has been kidnapped, right?”
Duke nods. “She knows everything but said there’s no reason for her to be here. She’s not a cop or a hostage rescuer. She said it’ll all be over by the time she arrives.”