Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Adelaide’s eyes jerked up to meet mine and she frowned. “Did she?”
I nodded.
“She was supposed to bring me lunch hours ago. I think she forgot I was here until now.”
Laughing, I asked, “Are the forks and spoons still in the same place?”
She nodded, wrapping a heavy blanket around herself.
“Have you taken your temperature?” I asked before I started through the dining area to reach the kitchen. Like my home, Keegan and Barbara’s place wasn’t an open floorplan. Hardly any of the older houses in Seaside were, unless people had done major renovations.
“Not in a few hours.”
After grabbing some utensils, I headed back to the family room. Adelaide hadn’t touched any of the food.
“Are you not hungry?” I asked as I sat down in the chair opposite the sofa.
“Starving, but I wasn’t sure what was what, or if you wanted me touching your food with all my germs.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please, I never get sick.”
She raised a brow. “Still? I always hated that you never got sick when I did.”
I winked. “Good genes, I guess.”
“Are you saying I don’t have good genes?”
“Never.”
After unwrapping both sandwiches, I handed her one along with some baked potato salad. It was my favorite thing Barbara made at the grill.
“Thank you, Gannon. I’m sorry my mom put you up to this.”
“She didn’t put me up to anything. Besides, I’ve been dying to see you again, sick or not. I’m sorry I’ve been working so much and that we haven’t been able to find a time to get together.”
Adelaide took a bite of the sandwich. “Really?” she asked with a mouthful of turkey, swiss, and rye. Covering her mouth with her hand, she added, “Sorry.”
I smiled. “Your manners always did go out the door when you were sick.”
She nodded and swallowed, set the sandwich down, and then pulled the blanket around her again.
It was my turn to put my sandwich down while I chewed and swallowed. I wiped at the corners of my mouth.
“I was hoping to take you out to dinner,” I said, “but looks like we’ll have to wait until you’re feeling better.”
She pouted, those gray eyes of hers looking down to my mouth for a quick moment. “I hate that I’m sick.”
“Me too.”
“So, you want to take me out on a date, huh?” She crinkled up her nose, and it was the most adorable thing ever.
I nodded. “Yes, I would very much like to take you out on a date, sweetheart.”
She was about to say something else when she started to cough. It soon turned into a coughing fit, and I rushed to grab her a glass of water.
“Jesus, Adelaide, you need to go to the doctor. That sounds terrible.”
She groaned and dropped her head back onto the sofa. “I feel like I have no energy right now.”
“Here, lift your feet up.” I reached for the sandwich. “Try to eat some more.”
With a wobbly nod, she took a bite of the sandwich I held out for her. Then she took a few bites of the baked potato salad.
“Honestly, Gannon, you don’t have to hand-feed me. I’m…I’m…” Her eyes started to drift closed before she snapped them open again. “Wait. This dinner does not count as our first date back together.”
I smiled, grabbing a piece of hair that was stuck to the side of her face and pushing it behind her ear. I could practically feel the heat coming off of her.
“You’re hot,” I whispered as I stared into her eyes.
She smiled. “Thanks, so are you. Like, really hot. I forgot how good-looking you are. And that five o’clock shadow you’ve got going on…yeah, it makes you look even hotter.”
I felt my cheeks tighten around my growing smile.
“Oh, that dimple of yours…” she whispered.
“Sweetheart,” I whispered back before I kissed her forehead. “I was talking about your temperature.”
She blinked sleepily a few times. “Oh.”
“But you are indeed beautiful.”
She raised her brows and gave me a questioning look. “Even right now? ’Cause I’m pretty sure I have drool in my hair and possibly on my face.” She ran her fingers along the sides of her mouth. “Yep, I do.”
I laughed. God, how I’d missed her. The way she made me feel was unlike anything I’d ever experienced with another woman. “Even with drool in your hair and on your face, you’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Always have been, always will be.”
Adelaide’s eyes seemed to gloss over with tears. She rapid-fire blinked again, then looked down at her hands before focusing back on me. “When are we going to go on our date?”
Pulling the blanket around her shoulders a bit more, I kissed her forehead. “Let’s get you fed, then up to bed so you can start to feel better. We’ll talk about all of that later.”
Adelaide managed to eat half the sandwich and a few more bites of the potato salad before her eyes started to fall shut again.