Page 347 of Dark Love

“That bad.”

“There’s something you need to learn about men. They have to make their own choices in life. You can’t tell them what to do or it just breeds anger and resentment.”

Uh oh. “Poor Daddy. What did you do?”

“I just went shopping to get a few things to wear to the beach while he golfs.” Her voice is so sweet and innocent it’s practically wicked.

“And what did you get?”

“Did you know they made things called cheeky bikinis? I never saw either of them before. So I bought ten.”

“Poor Dad’s heart.”

“Your father’s heart is just fine. He changed our hotel to a room with a private beach in the Caribbean. And it was all his idea.”

“Of course, it was. Do I even want to know what you would have done if that hadn’t worked?”

“Nope.” I can all but see her sipping her tea with a self-satisfied smile on her face. “Your father says hi. We’re going to watch a game now, then head to bed. We’ll see you soon.”

“Bye, Mom. Love you.”

“Love you too. Try to make some friends while you’re at it.” She clicks off before I can respond.

If I stare down at my blanket-covered feet for long enough, can we just pretend this never happened?

“Your mom seems nice.”

Vex used the word nice in a sentence. Why does it scare me more than him using it to describe my mother? “She’s anything but nice. My father loses every argument.”

Vex laughs. “Seems to me he won this one.”

“But he wanted to golf.”

“When a man has the choice between golf and the woman he loves, golf is never winning.”

That’s so romantic. Do men really think that way anymore? Instead of responding with something cheesy, I put my phone back in my purse. “Your cookies! How could I have forgotten your cookies?”

“What?”

“Your ‘thank you’ cookies. I forgot all about them. They were the whole reason I came to your club in the first place.”

“You brought me cookies?”

“What you did that night… how could I not make you ‘thank you’ cookies?”

His hand flexes around mine.

“All of this is… well, I get that it’s way more than a thank you cookie event, but I need you to know how much I appreciate all that you have done for me. I don’t know… I don’t know how I would have handled all of this waking up in a hospital… scared, alone, and confused.” Tears slip out. “Thank you is not enough, but I need to say it anyway. Thank you for taking care of me.” It’s a long moment before I can bring my eyes back to his inscrutable ones.

Is he regretting his decision to bring me here? Maybe I should go home?

“What kind of cookies did you bring me?”

“Chocolate chip. You said they were your favorite.” Why can’t his face be a bit more expressive so I can figure out what he’s thinking?

“And what did you choose for nuts?”

He remembers the conversation! “I added my favorites, pecans and caramel chips.”

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