Page 89 of The Grumpy Billionaire
His eyes had narrowed. His lips twisted in a riddle-solving look of concentration. “When you say youagree… what exactly are you agreeing with?”
“I agree that she’s lucky to have gotten out of that relationship before something worse happened. She could have married Mark and thought they were happy only to have him leave her a few years from now… or even ten years from now when they could’ve had a couple of kids. I mean, you can never really know someone or what they’re capable of.”
“And we’re still talking about Kenley and Mark, right?” Reid asked.
“Of course.”
Locating my lacy pink bra halfway under a slipper chair in the living room, I got down on my knees to reach for it.
“But the principle applies to anyone, really. The fact is, you can’t predict the future, and you can’t count onanyonecompletely.”
When I stood up, I saw that Reid had walked around the counter and was close to me. He put his hands on my upper arms, halting my underwear hunt.
“Mara. Look at me.”
When I finally managed to meet his eyes, Reid continued, “You can count on me.”
I nodded and dropped my gaze to his chest.
He slid a finger under my chin and lifted my face to his again. “You. Can. Count. On. Me.”
And then he kissed me in a way that very much made me want to believe him. If only I could.
Reid pulled away, pressing his forehead to mine, his blue eyes clear and beautiful in the morning light. “What are we doing today?”
I backed away and resumed my panty search. “Well, Mom’s coming home tomorrow, and I need to clean the house, do some laundry, go grocery shopping. I want everything to be ready for her. It’ll probably take all day.”
Realizing it sounded like a brush-off, I added, “Somebody’s been ‘making rather merry’ this week and procrastinating on her chores.”
I gave him what I hoped was a convincing smile.
He studied my face intently. “But you’ll come over tonight? And sleep over?”
“Oh, here they are.” I pulled the elusive panties from between two couch cushions. My tone was carefully nonchalant. “I should probably get some sleep tonight. I’m not sure what kind of shape Mom will be in, and I want to be rested in case she needs me.”
Reid stood with his hands gripping the back of the couch, his lips forming a tight line. I walked over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before going into the bathroom to get dressed.
THIRTY-ONE
Take Two
Mara
Sunday afternoon I drove to Boston to bring Mom home. It was amazing what a difference five nights and six days could make.
She looked and sounded like… herself. It scared me to realize just how far away from that she’d gotten in recent months.
We went to fill her prescription for an anti-depressant which she’d started taking at the clinic and looked over her schedule of therapy appointments. She would go every day for a few weeks and then cut back to a couple days a week if all went as planned.
“So, what do you want to do tonight?” I asked. “You up for some Bond, maybe some takeout, or I can cook if you’d like. I bought a whole bunch of—”
“Let’s go out,” she said.
“What?”
“Let’s go out to dinner. I feel like getting dressed up, going somewhere fun.”
Wow. “Okay—that sounds great. Sure.”
