Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 104151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
“Because I never thought the Huskies would offer me the offensive coordinator position, but they did.”
I blinked back my tears and reared my head to look at him. He grinned.
“What?”
He nodded.
“Oh my gosh! You got a job with the University of Washington?”
He nodded.
“In Seattle?”
Another nod.
“We’re not moving?”
He shook his head.
I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. It felt like we’d won the lottery.
He dragged his lips from my mouth to my ear. “And I only said yes because it didn’t require us to move.”
I released him and eyed him with distrust. “You mean to tell me that if the University of Iowa would have offered you the same position, you would have turned them down?”
“Correct.”
“Liar.”
He laughed. “I’m not lying. I told you years ago that when you were ready to spread those beautiful wings of yours, I would move heaven and earth to let you fly.”
“You said that in the throes of passion.”
“Baby, whenever we’re in the same room, I’m in the throes of passion. I said it because I meant it. I’m only happy when you’re happy. Again, have you forgotten about this morning?”
I rolled my eyes.
“I have always said the world would be a better place if it were filled with more people like my wife. And you know that you’d never let me go because as much as you love this bakery and your orchard, you believe a job is an afterthought. When people think of you, you want them to say, ‘Eve Collins loves to fish, stargaze, skip rocks along the water, pick apples and bake pies, dance to good music, go to the movies with friends, and make love in fields of wildflowers with her sexy husband who has a little gray in his beard.’”
I grinned because Kyle listened. He heard every word I said as a young woman ten years ago. And I grinned because he was right. It wasn’t about selling cookies and pies, making money, or proving to anyone that I was a success. But it felt damn good that he knew that and still respected my desire to do it anyway.
“Thank you,” I said with a face-splitting grin.
“For this morning?” He was a relentless flirt.
“I’m pretty sure it is you who should be thanking me for this morning, but I meant thank you for not leaving me behind ten years ago when I was newly sober, stupid as the day was long, and so stubborn because—”
“Because you were hot for teacher.”
“Stop.” I giggled, giving him a playful shove. “You’re letting me spread my wings because you know the chances of finding someone who thinks you’re irresistible despite your weird love for arithmetic is slim to none.”
“Slim to none is not a real statistic, baby.”
I shook my head, brushing past him. “You make my job so easy by always proving my point.” I retrieved my spatula and transferred the last batch of cookies from the baking sheet to the display tray.
When Kyle didn’t say any more, I glanced over at him, and he had that smile, the one he always gave me before he kissed me.
“What?” I asked, blushing because he still had that effect on me.
“I love that you’ll never stop taking my breath away. And when I’m old and on my deathbed, I’m going to give you this smile with my last breath, and doing so will be the greatest honor of my life.”