Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 47615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
I may as well just stick a sponge between my legs and wring it out every few minutes.
I’ve never been spoiled so much in my life, but it kind of seals my fate.
There’s no going home to my mom’s now. No way could I explain all this new stuff without having to tell the whole story.
And there’s no way I’d be able to spend another night without him either.
Not ever.
Kane even makes sure I get a whole new luggage set, and he only leaves me alone once the entire time we’re out while I’m choosing some new shoes to match my outfits.
Telling me, he’s gotta go get something ‘special.’ And he gives strict instructions to the store staff not to let me wander off anywhere until he gets back.
I figure he means to buy himself something.
Maybe something manly like the secret cologne he wears.
But he only seems happiest when he sees me smile—always putting himself last when it comes to buying or doing anything just for him.
He’s back pretty soon, and with nothing but a knowing smile to give away anything, he runs through his mental checklist of things I’m likely to need before he pays the bill, finally deciding I have enough.
I feel a strange kind of excited exhaustion by the time we get home, and Kane suggests a hot bath and an early night.
Dinner is courtesy of the leftovers that his fridge seems to be overflowing with. But as always, it looks and tastes better the second time around.
There’s a deep rumble from the huge bathtub filling up as we eat.
Kane looks like he’s more than ready to lift New York City up with one hand and find out for himself just what his daughter’s doing over there.
Even when Abby doesn’t answer his calls or even mine, Kane still seems a bit more settled in his mind now.
Knowing that he’s actively doing something about it all instead of just sitting around wondering what could’ve happened with Abby to make her so noticeably absent.
I still feel kind of awkward, though. Almost like I’m taking sides by going along with Kane. Putting finding out about Abby first, while we are sneaking around ourselves before we come clean about what we’ve been doing the whole time she’s been away so far.
But I know he’d do the same for me, and only because he loves Abby so much.
Checking that the water’s just right, Kane helps me into the deep bath before undressing himself and settling himself in behind me.
He washes my hair and scrubs my back.
There’s nothing I have to ask him to do either. He insists on it, loving the sensation of touching me all over as much as I love him doing it.
The bathroom door’s wide open, and my trail of clothes leads from the kitchen to the bathroom.
My new luggage is laid out and already half-packed. I can’t help but feel like we’re almost halfway there.
I ask Kane if he hears it. The sounds I’m sure I can hear from outside.
But Kane assures me that there’s no need to worry when I whisper that I’m sure I can hear something or someone outside.
“I didn’t hear anything,” he murmurs, easing himself back with his huge arms on either side of me in the tub.
And once he gently teases me about being paranoid because of my mom’s habit of just turning up, I figure maybe he’s right.
I finally accept he must be right when I can’t hear anything after a few more minutes, and in no time, we’re both practically dozing in the steaming tub.
One of his arms across my chest, as if he wouldn’t go anywhere without me.
Both of us, the picture of complete bliss and happiness in each other’s arms. Naked as blue jays and only bubbles and steam between our bodies.
Neither of us hears the front door.
And even when I hear what sounds like something dragging across the hallway floor, I tell myself it’s just my imagination.
But, both Kane and I almost leap out of our skins when we hear and then see what I’ve been ‘imagining’ the whole time.
“Dad? Jen?”
Fuck.
I feel Kane tense up, but something in him relaxes instantly, and in me too.
It’s pointless trying to paint this picture any different than it is.
And to our credit, we’re not having sex for once.
“Jesus Christ, Dad, what is wrong with you!” Abby cries out loud.
I can feel my mouth hanging open, my eyes wide with shock still, feeling bad this is how Abby had to find out.
But my eyes shift to the source of that sound I’ve been hearing.
That dragging sound…
“Abby, what happened to your leg?” Kane says, forgetting all about his nakedness or the fact he’s in the tub with her best friend.
I notice, too, the cast on Abby’s lower left leg.
Her arms are on either side of the doorframe to prop her up.