Page 101 of The Write Stuff

“What if Eleanor makes him choose between her and me?”

There was no hesitation before Mick answered. “He’ll choose you.”

“She’s his mother.”

“Yes, and he’s a man who knows what he wants. I have no doubt that’s you.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“He told me a lot of things over lunch.” Mick smiled. “He told me about the shirts on your first date, and how when you were mad, you swore at him in Klingon.” He checked the spot behind us before continuing. “Have you told him about the app?”

I shook my head. “No, and Lucy knows I made money from something else and that I won’t tell her the details. She hasn’t let up trying to get the information either.”

“Maybe you should tell all of them and get rid of the secret.”

I’d been considering telling Huxley. It wasn’t as if it was an embarrassing secret or anything. It was actually kind of cool. I hadn’t pulled the trigger, though. “Yeah.” I blew out a sigh and returned to my ice cream. “Let’s get through the Eleanor thing first. Then I’ll worry about telling them about the app.”

He nodded. “Any idea when Eleanor will be getting here?”

“No. I haven’t heard from Huxley. I think he needs some time to himself.”

“Don’t worry. He’ll be back before you know it.”

“I hope so.”

He leaned his cheek against the top of my head. “I know so, Wylie. Just have a little faith. Something tells me he’s earned it.”

And, since he was right, I let it go. “What do you think Lucy will go to school for?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I have no idea, but I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with. I have hope that both our girls will be well on the way to happily ever after before we leave town.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Oh, definitely.”

I COULDN’T SLEEP WITHOUT HUXLEY and was still tossing and turning at two in the morning when my bedroom door opened.

At first, I assumed that Lucy couldn’t sleep either, or maybe that she wanted to bounce an idea off of me for her future school plans, but the silhouette illuminated in the open doorway was much too big to be her.

My heart seized as I realized there was a man in my apartment, and then he moved, pulling his shirt off in one fluid motion. I recognized the way he carried himself immediately, and I propped myself on an elbow as Huxley dropped his pants and crawled into bed next to me.

“I thought you were a robber,” I hissed as he pulled me into his arms.

“I’m here to rob you of your heart,” he teased in a voice that wasn’t completely normal but didn’t sound despondent either.

“You scared me.”

“I’m sorry, baby. I assumed you would be sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.” He buried his face in the hollow of my neck. “I just couldn’t sleep without you.”

“I didn’t mean just now, although you totally did. Next time risk a text.”

He chuckled.

“I meant when you went quiet after your conversation with Mick,” I explained. “I wasn’t sure if I would ever see you again.” Tears sprang to my eyes, unbidden.

“Shh.” He pulled me as tight as he could against him, even though there was zero room between us already. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just … I had to figure out what I was going to say to my mother. What Mick told me, I just didn’t want to believe it.”

“Do you think Mick is lying?” I knew Mick wasn’t lying, but I wanted to gauge where Huxley’s head was at.