Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
We have to drive all the way to the beach to get to Hayden’s house. I don’t know the neighborhood at all, but I go where my phone tells me.
Even though I knew Hayden had money—and a lot of it—when the GPS tells me I’ve arrived at my destination, I can’t quite believe it.
The sprawling hillside mansion in front of me is somehow not what I expected.
“Whoa,” Parker says, echoing my thoughts as I roll tentatively into the driveway. “This is where we’re going to live?”
It’s white and black, three levels that I can see. The bottom level has windows of onyx glass like I might picture in a super villain’s lair. The main level has a balcony that wraps around the sides and the back of the house. The top level sits proudly against the backdrop of a darkening sky, and while the purples and swirls of pink are beautiful, somehow the sight strikes an ominous chord.
It doesn’t look homey, that’s for sure.
Then again, home isn’t a building with four walls and a ceiling. A house is what a family makes it, no matter how cold and imposing the structure.
“I like it,” I say decisively, so my mind will fall in line.
This is our opinion. We like it.
Parker nods, but she doesn’t say anything for a minute. “Should we go in?” she finally asks.
“I don’t think so. Let’s wait and see if he comes out.”
We only have to wait a moment more before Hayden walks out the front door, looking incredible in a black suit with gleaming loafers. Parker and I get out of our car and I push the lock button on my key fob, then we climb into Hayden’s Maserati.
He starts up the car without mentioning Landon, so I assume that means he’s not coming.
Parker doesn’t assume; she asks.
“Is Landon coming with us?”
“Uh, no,” Hayden says. “I think he needs a little more time.”
She sighs and looks at the house. “He should come. If we’re going to do this, we should do it right.”
“Well, I would have liked that as well, but it was his choice, and he’d rather stay home.”
“Do you want me to try?” she asks.
I open my mouth to say no, but Hayden shrugs. “If you want to. He’s in the living room.”
“Why don’t I go with you?” I say, putting my hand on the door latch.
“No,” Parker says before I can open the door. “I’ll just be a minute.”
Tension gathers in my shoulders as I watch Parker walk up the staircase to the front door. Hayden reaches over and rubs them a bit, like he can tell the tension is gathering there.
“I don’t like her being in there alone with him,” I state.
“We’ve gotta let them work it out on their own. They’re going to live together, Gemma. They’ll be together in the same vicinity from time to time.”
Not alone, not like this.
It’s too soon. It stirs too many memories of that night and her frantic calls for help.
“Maybe this is a bad idea,” I say quietly. “Not the engagement, but the moving in. I’m down to be engaged, but… maybe since we’re taking the engagement slow anyway, we should pump the brakes a little. My house isn’t the mansion yours is, obviously, but it’s perfectly fine. You could stay there with us as often as you like if your goal is to spend time together.”
I’m crawling out of my skin waiting for her to walk back out that front door.
“It will be fine,” Hayden says with a calm I don’t understand.
“She said she’d only be a minute. This feels like longer. I think I should go in there.”
He squeezes my shoulder, partially to knead out tension, partially to keep me from getting out of the car. “Don’t. Just let her handle it.”
“He broke into our house to get to her, Hayden.”
“He was drunk. He wasn’t in his right mind. I assure you, he’s completely sober right now.”
I give it another minute, but when Parker still hasn’t returned, I shrug his hand off. “I’m going in there.”
I get the car door open, but as soon as I do, Parker comes back out.
Relief envelops me as I sink back into the seat. Her long hair blows in the wind as she makes her way down the steps.
I notice the troublesome kid from the police station isn’t following her.
The back door opens, and Parker slides in.
I wait for her to close her door, then I look back. “No luck?”
She shakes her head. “No, not this time.”
“Well, we’ll have fun just the three of us,” Hayden says, checking the rearview and then backing out of his driveway.
Turning back around, I ask, “Was he at least nice?”
“He was Landon,” she says, which translates to no. “But give it time. I’m sure he’ll come around.”
“Yeah.” Hayden says it like he agrees, but just yesterday, he was telling me he wasn’t trying to convince me he was my destiny, and today, he proposed marriage.