Page 42 of The Sculptor

It’s then, reading her text for the third time, that I realize I’m at the wrong party.

Me: Then let me spend the last few hours with you. Let me remember what it was like to laugh.

To love. To cry. To hold you. Let me remember what it was like to love under the warmth of your sun.

But I don’t say any of that. Instead, I sit tense and sick. But then the message appears, and suddenly, I’m free. I know exactly what I need to do.

Sunny Ray: Okay. 467 Crescent Blvd.

Langston Albrecht won’t get the opportunity to tame my girl.

I’ve waited many winters.

Paid my dues.

Cried my tears.

Grieved my son.

I will no longer grieve his mother, too.

She is—and always will be—mine.

Because she promised me a life.

And I’m back to collect.

Ramsey

Istopped counting after the sixth Sangria.

“Hey, Ramsey. Are you in some kind of trouble?”

I flash Mike a severe frown. “Not for another few hours. Why?”

Mike, my bartender for the evening, pops the top of the beer in his hand and slides it to the guy next to me. “Because there’s a guy by the door who’s been staring at you for the last ten minutes, and he doesn’t look very happy.”

I grin. “Does he also look wealthy and pretentious but has this jawline that could crack the bar nuts without much effort?”

Mike rolls his eyes. “So, what you’re saying is, you know him?”

I shrug. “Depends. Does this guy look more like he wants to hug me or more like he wants to throw me over his shoulder and run?”

Because if Duke is in alpha mode, this bachelorette party will be over before it begins. And I can’t afford Duke to drag me out of here and mess up things with Langston.

I’m so freaking close.

With an awkward round of slow blinks filling the silence, Mike finally turns and says, “You know what? I don’t get paid enough for this shit. Scream if you need me.”

With that, he moves down the bar to help another customer, leaving me with the thrill of knowing my brooding Dr. Potter has arrived.

To spend my last hours as a single woman with me.

It shouldn’t have come to this.

I should have found the information I was looking for, but nothing ever works out like it’s supposed to. Duke and I know that all too well.

But this time is different.

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