Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
And fuck, I wanted to believe her.
16
Katherine
By the time my birthday arrived, my ass finally stopped hurting. I’d had a fun time explaining to my friends why I didn’t want to sit down. But fuck, it had been worth it. Every smack on my ass had been like a fire I’d never be able to douse. When I sat and it still stung, the residual pains heated me through again. I wanted more. His fingers had done the job, but they weren’t enough. And I was damn well going to get the rest of him tonight.
He’d said maybe. But a maybe on his lips meant yes.
He was not a man of maybes.
I still didn’t know where we stood, but that was part of the point of the truce. No discussions of the past and no fighting. It was much easier to be physical with him when we weren’t ripping into each other. But there were buried issues. Things we’d have to discuss. I didn’t really want to think about it. Not yet. Not when things were actually going well for once. I could pretend we had no issues for a little bit longer.
At least through my birthday party tonight.
It felt strange, getting dressed for the event and knowing I wasn’t going to be wearing heels. They were a staple of my closet, but not at a beach party. Bare feet and sun-kissed skin and wind-tossed hair were the requirements for my birthday this year. And cake, of course.
“Will there be cake?” I expectantly asked Lark as we took the path down to the beach.
“God, you are impatient. Can’t you wait and see?”
I gave her my best look of disbelief. “Do you know me at all?”
“Right. Surprises aren’t your thing.”
“I don’t mind a really good surprise, but I’m a planner. The details are important.”
“Let me handle the details for a change,” Lark said. “Also, I have English on it, too. If I can manage the mayoral reelection campaign and English can run an entire PR firm, I think we can handle one birthday party.”
“Maybe,” I conceded.
Lark laughed and looped our arms together. “You’re going to love it.” She looked over at me shrewdly. “How are things with you and Camden? Will he be your midnight kiss this year?”
I shrugged, nonchalant. “We’re good. It’s fake, of course. But good so far with the truce.”
“Why does it have to be fake?”
“Because it is. If we never discuss our issues, they don’t just go away. We’re just ignoring them right now.”
“So that you can have sex?” Lark asked with a grin.
“No… actually, we haven’t had sex… yet.”
“What?” Lark asked in confusion. “Then what about…” She gestured behind me.
Okay, so maybe I hadn’t been so great about hiding why I couldn’t sit down.
“We’ve been… intimate,” I amended. “But, yeah, no sex.”
“That blows. Well, let’s hope he gets his shit together for your birthday. You deserve to get laid.”
I grinned ferally. “Let’s hope.”
“Aw, look, you want to sleep with him. That seems like an improvement since last fall. And the fact that you even want to be anywhere near him is a huge improvement since when you got married. Maybe it will only keep getting better from here.”
I thought that was a bit optimistic. Camden and I were not a straight line. We didn’t start at one point and end at another with a happily ever after. We were the road less taken. We meandered, found our way back to each other, and diverted again. I wished that things could stay like this forever.
But eventually, we would have to leave paradise behind and return to the real world.
I was not certain where the road would take us from there.
* * *
Lark and I stopped at the edge of the beach where the resort had set up their first New Year’s Eve bash. Since it was also my birthday, we were commandeering it for my party. A two-in-one, as most of my birthdays had always been. Only my daddy had ever made it so that my birthday was its own separate event. No black, gold, and silver events, and only I had been allowed to wear a tiara. But those days were long over.
And now, I enjoyed when everyone was required to wear black, gold, and silver to events. So, when I showed up in my signature red, I stood out as the guest of honor.
Whitley and English loped across the sand with wide smiles on their faces. I realized that Lark had paid attention to the details. While Lark was in gold, highlighting her burnished hair, Whitley was dressed in silver, and English was in black. With my red dress, together, we were a set. Just how I liked it.
“Happy birthday,” English said, pulling me in for a hug.
Whitley was there next. “You look beautiful, you lucky bitch.”