Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
He stared at me bewilderedly in the rearview.
“Well?” I asked impatiently. “No, I can’t promise I’ll need you to drive me as much while they’re staying with me, but for goodness’ sake, I’m trying here. I don’t want to feel bad for spending time with them. It’s not permanent. I just…” I let out a big breath. “I just want to be happy, Vincent. Please help me out.”
Vincent refocused on the road as he started driving again, and I heard him sigh. “Fine. I get it. It’s ridiculous that you believe this is temporary, but I’ll help you.”
“Thank you so much,” I replied, my voice heavy with sarcasm.
I couldn’t see his face, only his eyes, and they crinkled with mirth.
I glared. He thought this was funny now? Asshole.
He cleared his throat. “Would ice cream put you in a better mood again?”
“Yeah, I fucking think so,” I snapped. “Go to the place with the good sprinkles.”
“You got it, boss,” he chuckled. “Where are we off to after that?”
Good question. I didn’t know the name of it—or where it was. And I was still too annoyed to show my lack of knowledge, so I huffed and hoped for the best.
“To the wall paint store.”
He coughed. “Ah, that place. Gotcha.”
Thirteen
That was the color! I crawled over to the green samples and snatched them up, and then I sat back on my heels as I flipped through the booklet of green tones. I had the exact shade in my head; it had to be in here.
“He said what?” I scrunched my nose and cocked my head, listening to the lyrics of the song pouring out. “Ohh…” So Jack, the singer’s friend, wasn’t a person. Boy, country music sure loved its alcohol. There was a drink for everything. No, legitimately, that was a song title. I shook my head and dragged a finger along five shades of green. We were getting warmer. Next page, maybe. “Bingo!” There it was. A light, warm shade of khaki green. “Hello, my next wall color.”
After crawling back to the spot by the TV where I’d dumped all the swaths of fabric samples, I grabbed the one with the dark red I’d found and held it up against the green. Just perfect. Rosa was a genius. She’d told me about the place that had created the cover for our couch and suggested, because I actually did love the couch, that I didn’t buy a new one. I could just order a new cover. And it was going to be dark, dark red.
I was bobbing my head to the beat of a song when I heard keys wiggling in the front door.
“Alexa, stop the music,” I said.
I leaned back as much as I could to see who it was, and then I grinned. Good lord, Colt was hotter than hell today too. I’d never seen him in a polo shirt. I kind of wanted to be the collar so I could sniff his neck all day.
“Hi, Daddy! Come look!” I held up the samples next to each other. “Don’t they look great together?”
Colt left a couple binders of…something…on the hallway table and entered the living room with his brows high up. “Hey, baby. Is Home Depot turnin’ this place into a showroom?” He was staring at the hundreds of samples that littered the floor. “Or is that where you got a job?”
I laughed. “No, that’s not starting until August, and it’s with Linda’s charity organization. I don’t know what I’ll be doing yet.”
“I’m sure you’ll ace it.”
I stared up at him expectantly, and he smiled and dipped down and kissed me.
“Sight for sore eyes.” He touched my cheek and straightened. “So, what exactly is the plan here?”
“I’m gonna redo everything.” I scrambled to my feet and held up the green. “That’s gonna be the color here, I think. If you and Lucas like it. And the couch is gonna be dark red, and then I was thinking, um…” I scanned the floor for the strip of wood I’d found perfect. There! I picked it up and read the label on the back. “Walnut. Furniture in walnut. What do you think? I want your approval.”
I want you to want to be here forever with me.
“Huh.” A slow smile took over, and he gave my neck a squeeze. “I like it. Right up my alley.”
Awesome! I tapped my cheek. “What is up Lucas’s alley?”
Colt shot me an amused look. And he waited. Well, so did I. I was curious.
“Do you really not see it?” he chuckled.
My forehead creased. “I mean, I know he likes both black and white.”
Colt coughed into his fist, and he seemed to be trying not to laugh. Except he was definitely laughing.
“What?” I asked. What was I missing?
He cracked up and squeezed me to him. “You’re killin’ me, kid. He’ll like this just fine. It’s pretty close to the theme he picked for our bedroom at home.”