Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
He chuckles. “We can go by your place before we leave,” he assures me, and I look over at Beatrice.
“What about Beatrice?” I ask, and he smiles from ear to ear. I even think about taking her with us, or we can get a dog sitter to come and walk her.
“She’s going to stay with her favorite human in the whole world,” he says, looking at her. “Steven, my co-captain, is going to take her.”
I nod at him. “Then it’s settled.” I take a deep breath and smile to make sure he knows I’m okay, but deep down inside, I’ve never been more nervous.
CHAPTER 26
XAVIER
“Don’t look at me like that,” I tell Beatrice when I turn to pack some of my T-shirts in the luggage on my bed. She is sitting in the middle of the bed, just watching me. “You think I want to do this?” I shake my head, walking to the closet and grabbing the three suits I have. “It’s complicated.” I place the suits in the middle of the garment bag. “You’ll be fine.” She yawns in my face. “You think I’m not freaking out?” I shake my head, my heart speeding up when I think about it. My chest gets just a touch tighter, but I breathe through it. “Steven is going to come and take care of you.” Her head perks up, and she looks over at the door, listening to see if he’s here. When I called him last night to ask him to watch Beatrice, he jumped at it. It also helped that he wanted to come and stay on the boat. Out of everyone she’s met, she loves Steven. It helps he’s always bringing her some treat or another.
I look back into the bag, wondering if I am packing enough or if I am packing too much. It’s been such a long time since I had to dress up in suits. “Do you think I should pack another suit, or is three enough?” I put my hands on my hips, settling for the three suits. “Three is good enough.” Beatrice just yawns at me. “Toiletries.” I turn, walking to the bathroom and seeing the towels from this morning are still on the floor. After our walk this morning, Vivienne was going to go to her boat to shower since all her stuff was on her boat. But I persuaded her that we should conserve water by showering together. So now her stuff is in my shower. Picking up the wet towels, I hang them up on the hooks. When Miles called me, I was going to say no, but something just said yes. I grab the black leather bag, throwing my toothbrush in there with my toothpaste, along with my deodorant and aftershave. I zip it up at the exact moment I hear Steven call out my name.
I walk out of the bathroom seeing Beatrice look over at the door, not sure she heard him or not. “Who’s that?” I ask her, and then she hears him.
“Where is my pretty, pretty girl?” he calls, and she’s off like a bat out of hell. I can hear her tail hitting the walls as she runs up the stairs. “There she is.” I hear Steven, then I hear him laughing. “I guess you missed me.”
I shake my head, tossing my toiletry bag in the luggage and zipping it up. I take a deep inhale and exhale. “Here we go.” I grab the bag and walk up the stairs. Steven is sitting in the middle of the living room playing with Beatrice, who is on her back, waiting for him to scratch her stomach. He wears shorts and a T-shirt with a baseball cap. “Look who it is.”
He looks up at me and smiles. “Who the fuck are you, and what have you done with Xavier?” He laughs, and I shake my head and look down at my outfit. Gone are the boat clothes, and in their place is my other look. I’m wearing blue pants with a white shirt tucked in and white leather sneakers on my feet.
“I don’t look that different,” I say, walking to the door and putting down my bag. “Just more put together.”
He shakes his head. “Still rough around the edges.”
I laugh at him. “Thanks for doing this for me.”
“Thank you,” he says. “It’s been too long since I’ve been on the water.”
I nod at him. “I should be back in about a week, maybe before.”
“Take your time,” he urges. “If you miss her, you can always FaceTime me.”
I walk over to Beatrice and squat down in front of her. “I’m going to be gone for a bit, but I’ll bring you back something.” I rub her head, and she looks at me. “Try not to miss me.” My chest contracts a bit less than it did before. “Call me if you need anything.”