Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 16286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 81(@200wpm)___ 65(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 81(@200wpm)___ 65(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
“Did what?”
“Just relax. Have fun. You know, I’d try to take days off but I would just end up back on my computer, typing away.”
“It’s not healthy.”
“I know.” She sighed. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“For taking me. I don’t imagine you wanted anyone for company. I know William. He’s very demanding, isn’t he? He doesn’t really give you a chance to say no.”
“It’s why he’s such a damn good publisher and guy. I tried to cut off all my life from before, but he wouldn’t let me.”
“Why don’t you talk about your life before?” she asked. “Do you miss it?”
“Fuck no.” He couldn’t help but laugh.
“William said you still work?”
“I do. I work every single day. The land, this life, I love to fix and repair things.”
“How do you pay for stuff?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m being so nosy. It really isn’t any of my business.”
“I built a company. Several technology firms. Yes, look at me with such surprise. I was a computer genius, and I knew how to write software and codes.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, I did. The life, it wasn’t for me. I knew William from high school. We went to college together. We were each other’s crutch, you know. We relied on each other to make the other even more successful. When we had failings, we’d work to drive us both higher. When the time came, and he saw my company was slowly killing me, he showed me this piece of land for sale, along with my list.”
“Your list?”
“I had a list of ambitions from high school. What I wanted to achieve in life. He told me that I was never going to get what I wanted if I was six feet under. Within a month, I sold my companies, bought this land, and never looked back.” He shrugged. “This is my way of telling you I’m a wealthy man, Meghan. I don’t need anything or want for anything. I’ve made it, and now I’m living my dream. Isn’t that what everyone wants?”
Chapter Five
Hearing about Mount’s wealth made her feel a little uneasy. “I’m not a gold digger. I didn’t know.”
“I know that.”
Her stomach growled again, interrupting them.
“I know you’re not. Are you warm enough?”
She nodded.
“Come on, let’s make us some dinner. I’m starving.” He helped her off his lap, and she missed being in his arms the moment he let her go. Rather than linger, though, she walked into the kitchen and waited to see what he did.
She loved to cook but this was still his home, his domain, and she just had to wait and see.
“How do you feel about a tomato and garlic pasta?”
“Love it.”
He got to work, and she was surprised to see him chopping up some tomatoes.
“I saw a little vegetable garden. Do you grow all of your own food?” she asked.
“I try to. It’s winter, so tomatoes aren’t exactly in season, but I like them. I’ve yet to master the art of preserving. Winter is harder to grow, but most of the winter and root vegetables are from the garden.”
“It really does sound idyllic.”
“I love it here.”
“You wouldn’t change it?” She had to wonder if he ever got lonely. She imagined it was easy to do so but didn’t say anything. Licking her dry lips, she watched as he started on an onion.
He diced fast.
“The only thing missing for me is a family.”
“A family?”
“Yes. A wife who could handle this life, and I want kids. Those bedrooms, I never anticipated them staying empty for so long.”
“You want a big family?” she asked.
“Yes. I was an only child.”
“What about your parents?” She was curious about everything in this man’s life. His parents, his life, his world.
“They died when I was in college. Car crash.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
“What about you?” he asked.
“I don’t have any parents. I was in the foster system as a baby. Stayed there until it was time to leave.”
“No foster parents? No adoption?”
“Nope. There was always another kid. Someone more outgoing. I was the kind of girl that liked to get lost in a book. For some reason, people didn’t like that. At least the ones who came to visit. It wasn’t so bad. I know some kids have it rough. I got used to it.”
“You ever want to find your parents?” he asked.
“No. I never saw the reason to go hunting for people who didn’t care about me and dumped me as soon as I was born. It’s what was on my file. Within days of me being alive, I was left on the doorstep of a foster home.” She shrugged. There was no reason for tears.
“Do you want to have a family of your own?”
She’d asked him so she didn’t see a reason to be mad at him for turning the question back on her. “As a girl, it was my dream.” She paused as he began to add the pasta to the pot of boiling water on the stove. It was so relaxing to watch him cook. She could stay here all day long. “I promised myself I’d have, like, a dozen kids, and any man I marry would know I wanted to have a big family.”