Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Really?” I ask in surprise, my chin pulling in just a tad as I look over at him. “Josie whose big hobby is cozying up to a hard jigsaw puzzle?”
Aiden lets out a bark of a laugh. “Yes, that girl loves her puzzles, but she’s got an athletic side. She’s not bad actually.”
“Haven’t seen that side of her yet,” I mutter in contemplation.
“Yup,” Aiden confirms with a fond smile on his face. “It’s one of the things we’d always do to blow off steam from the pressures of residency.”
I shake my head slightly as I gaze at the road in front of me. It doesn’t seem like a big thing, but it bothers me slightly that I didn’t know Josie liked to golf. We’ve been hanging out for almost two months, been intimate for going on four weeks. And not once have I thought there might be more to Josie than being an amazing doctor and a woman who likes to quietly sit at home while she works on puzzles to unwind. I’d just taken what I’d been given and didn’t look past it, conforming herself to fit into a narrow box I’d put her in.
Those thoughts do not sit well with me at all.
And here I am sitting next to a man who knew her intimately for three years. My thirty days versus his three years, and I realize I know nothing.
“So, what else do I need to know about Josie?” I ask as I roll my head to look over at him.
He glances at me before turning back to the road, but in his expression I don’t detect any amusement, gloating, or opportunistic desire. Just a guy who isn’t bothered by the question.
“Not sure I’m the right guy to be asking that,” Aiden says with a slight laugh. “I’m the one who broke her heart, you know.”
“And just why is that?” I ask him, my words sounding a bit aggressive as I think of Josie hurting, and it pisses me off.
“We had different dreams,” he returns matter-of-factly, sounding like a man who is at peace with his decision. “I wanted excitement and to travel to exotic places. She wanted her slice of the American dream.”
“American dream?”
“Josie wanted to start a family fairly quickly,” Aiden says, and I reel a little. “Kids, the white picket fence thing. I wanted that too, but I wanted it down the road. I asked Josie to go with me, but she didn’t want that, and I just knew the time was right for me to get those things out of the way so I could settle down later.”
“And you’re back to settle down now?” I ask him.
Aiden chuckles. “Yes, I am, but I’m not going to try to get her back if you’re worried about that, Reed. That might have been my intention when I first got here, but I see she’s happy, and despite what you may think of me for hurting her in the first place, I care for her. I want her to be happy, and she is.”
I do believe that. Josie is happy with me right now, but is she the happiest she could be? Do I have what she needs or wants?
“But I’m sure you already know all about that,” Aiden continues as we pull up to the clubhouse. “I mean, that whole wedding fiasco with Josie’s sister…Well, the pressure is on her now.”
“Wait. What wedding fiasco?” I ask, completely lost. I know Josie has a sister, but that’s about all I know.
“Her sister, Jeanette,” Aiden says as he puts the car in park and turns to face me. “You know…eloping at the last minute with another guy and leaving her fiancé at the altar and her parents holding the bag on a very expensive wedding that didn’t occur. Pressure’s on Josie now to do it up right. It’s the only way to save face for the esteemed Dr. Joel and Mrs. Ives of Beverly Hills.”
My head spins. I knew none of this. I mean, I knew her dad was a doctor, but that’s it. I knew she had a sister, and I think she lives in Vancouver now, if memory serves, but that’s it.
Aiden snickers. “And you know how meticulous Josie is in plotting and planning things. That ten-year plan of hers. Funny, right? But she also knows she can’t control everything like that.”
Plotting? Planning? I sure as fuck didn’t know Josie had some type of clock ticking on starting a family. She’s just always been so spontaneous with me. The type of easy, laid back woman who sort of goes with the flow. I have to wonder if I missed something that was staring me in the face, or has Josie been hiding her true nature from me.
“Look,” Aiden says as he gives me a pointed look. “You’re a great guy. Josie’s happy. As long as you give her the right type of support in her career, which as you know is extremely important to her, everything else will shake out fine.”