Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 126850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“I don’t care. Relationships aren’t easy, and I’m not going to change how I feel about you just because it might be hard work.” He brushed his thumb over the back of my hand. “Whatever you need—dial it back, start it normally compared to a miniature version of Love Island…”
“Do you watch that show?”
He sighed. “I wish I could say no. I turned it on accidentally once and now I can’t stop watching every year.”
I pressed my free hand to my mouth to hide my laugh. “That is not the TV show I expected you to watch.”
“Yeah, well.” He shrugged. “See? There’s a lot we don’t even know about each other. We were thrown into a weird situation we didn’t have much control over, but now we can change that. We can take it slow, reconnect properly, go on dates. You set the pace, Cinderella.”
“What you want matters, too,” I pointed out. “It can’t all be me dictating it. One person dictating the happiness of another is why I feel this way about things.”
“If I don’t like something, I’ll tell you. If I’m unhappy, I’ll make sure you know,” he said gently. “It’s a two-way street, yes, but I’m not going anywhere. Darling, we can figure this out together, and it takes as long as it takes.”
My lips twitched into a smile. “You’re an insistent little bugger, aren’t you?”
“Thank God I am, or you’d have had your own way and we wouldn’t be here right now.”
“I suppose you’re right.” I stilled. “Oh, Jesus, we’re never going to hear the end of this, are we?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Never.”
***
“It occurs to me,” I said as I unlocked my front door. “That I don’t even know what you do. Do you even have a job?”
William laughed. “I have a job.”
“Okay, so what is it?”
“Uh… I’m an accountant.”
I stopped in the doorway and looked at him. “You’re an accountant?”
He nodded his head. “Yep. Have been since I graduated. I work with Dad.”
I couldn’t help it. The laugh burst out of me, and I shook my head as I turned into the house. “That’s the most boring job in the world! Why on Earth are you an accountant?”
“I kind of happened upon it,” he said warily. “Grandpa said his only requirement for me at college was to do Maths for one of my A-Levels. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I did it alongside a business class and Chemistry.”
“Of course. Those three things go hand-in-hand.”
“It turned out that I really enjoyed Maths and I was quite good at it, so when I’d done my first year of college, Dad hired me during the summer. I was just supposed to be a lackey, really, but I picked up a couple of mistakes in one of his client’s accounts, so he started me auditing some records.”
“Let me guess, you just happened to enjoy that, too?”
“Yep.” He laughed, following me into the kitchen. “So I went to university, studied accounting, and I’ve worked with Dad’s company ever since.”
“I don’t know why, but I just never pegged you as an accountant. You don’t look like one.”
“That’s what my last client said. She was seventy, wanted to go over the financials of her husband’s estate, and told me I would be her next husband.”
“Was there at least an estate to make it worth it?”
“Probably.”
I laughed and turned to boil the kettle. “I don’t know why I’m so amused by it.”
“Amused by what?” Amber said, walking into the kitchen. She stopped when she saw William. “Hello. You’re new. Who are you and what are you doing in my kitchen?”
William tried not to laugh. “You must be Amber.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re the man with the castle.”
“Technically it’s not my castle,” he replied. “Yet.”
She looked at me, then at him, then back at me. “Huh.”
“What are you doing?” I asked her, getting three mugs down. I might as well make a round of tea for everyone.
“I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with him,” she announced, folding her arms across her chest. “He’s tall, good-looking, rich, will one day own a legit castle, and has you tied up in knots. There has to be something wrong with him somewhere.”
“He’s an accountant,” I replied airily.
“Ah, a number weirdo. Well, it was either that or a small penis.”
William laughed, clearing his throat at the same time. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Amber. It’s nice to put a face to all that.”
She took his offered hand and shook it. “Manners, too. Are you sure you don’t have a small penis as well?”
“Yes,” he replied without blinking. “I’m a numbers man with a small penis. You’ve got me.”
“Ah, well, at least you have the castle to make up for it.” She grinned. “Tell me, William, do you enjoy grocery shopping?”
I gripped the edge of the counter and dropped my head down. Jesus Christ. She was giving him the full grilling. “Why are you here? Where’s your car?”