Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
God, she was fucking talented. A creative genius and Ben had spent years denigrating her art.
He was ashamed and disgusted by his own arrogance. All those times he’d dismissed what she did as nothing but a frivolous hobby. The immensity of her talent humbled him and he wanted her to know exactly how fucking proud he was of everything she’d achieved despite his lack of support and encouragement.
He’d be damned if he went another six weeks without seeing her or talking to her.
“Your three o’clock is here,” Kirby announced two weeks later, dragging Lilah’s attention from yet another confusing and peculiar letter from Ben.
God, the man was infuriating. What the hell was he up to? And would she foolishly reply again, like she did last time? She wouldn’t. She knew she wouldn’t, she had no reason to. Best to nip whatever madness this was in the bud right now. She refolded the letter and shoved it into her desk drawer. Her movements sharp and decisive.
She even dusted her hands off afterward. It could stay there, collecting dust, until she forgot all about it.
“Lilah?” Right. Her three o’clock was here.
“Yes, Kirby, buzz them in and show them to the studio. Offer the usual tea or coffee with biscuits for the owner, doggy treats for the client. I just need to pop into the ladies’ room for a spell.” Fortunately the bathroom was in the studio. Some of the other rentals in this building didn’t have indoor plumbing and their tenants had to use the public restrooms.
It was as she was washing her hands that it occurred to her that her period was late. She froze and stared at her reflection blankly, hands still under the stream, while she frantically tried to recall when last she’d had her period. In all the chaos and confusion following Gramps’s death and then leaving Ben, she honestly wasn’t certain if she’d had one last month.
It was nearly two months since she and Ben had slept together, and even though she’d been relatively certain pregnancy was not a concern, she now had major doubts. She drew in a shuddering breath, not sure how she felt about the possibility of having a baby. Being a single mother.
Feeling the panic set in, she took a few deep, slow breaths, fighting for calm. She was putting the cart before the horse here, no need to panic or worry right now. It was one—maybe two—missed periods. She’d had a topsy turvy few months, it was quite possibly just a stress response.
She rinsed her face and patted away the excess moisture with some paper napkins, still practicing her deep breathing. She took a moment to center herself and—relatively calm again—stepped out of the bathroom. Only to slam right into a solid brick wall that hadn’t been there only moments ago. She reeled for a disorienting moment, and a hand came up to her arm to steady her.
“Whoa, easy there, leannan. Are you okay?”
Oh, God, this was the last thing she needed right now.
“Ben?” She hated how flustered she sounded and inserted a bit more authority into her voice. “What are you doing here? You can’t be here! I’m working.”
“I know.”
“I have a client coming soon.”
“Yes. That’s us.”
Us?
Lilah’s eyes tracked to his feet, where a tiny, shivering dog hid behind Ben’s legs, just one teary black eye and a perky ear showing as the little animal stared up at her fearfully.
“Ben, please tell me you didn’t obtain this poor creature just to have a valid reason for worming your way into my studio?”
“I could have wormed my way in here sans dog, Lilah,” he said, his deep voice chastising.
Damn it, she’d missed the sound of that sexy voice. She’d missed that half smile and those striking blue eyes, and just the sheer presence of him. And she didn’t even know how much, until this very moment.
She refused to show him how his presence was affecting her, and hated that he’d caught her at such a vulnerable moment. The possibility of pregnancy still loomed fresh in her mind and now here he was. She was terrified of simply blurting out her concerns to him, but she knew Ben well enough to recognize that he would try to use the news to his advantage. He would attempt to convince her to come back and give their marriage a chance if there was a baby on the way. And Lilah knew, baby or not, she was not going back to that cynical excuse of a marriage.
She also knew that if she was pregnant, Ben had the right to know. And she would tell him… eventually, and then only after she was absolutely certain.
“Do I even want to know what’s going on in that complicated brain of yours?” Ben mused, and she glowered at him.
“You should take this poor dog back to his owner, Ben,” she said. “I have real work to do.”