“Anything for you, darlin’.” James winks and goes back to work.
I grimace. “With all those repairs, is it even realistic to think it’ll only be a two-week delay?”
“Well,” Kara says. “If the water isn’t in the walls, yes.”
“This is really frustrating,” I rasp.
Kara’s laugh is brittle. “Tell me about it.”
I try not to bristle, but she’s acting like she’s the one who’s being inconvenienced. As eager as she is to get me out of Liam’s house, she’d probably hire a hit man if she knew he’d kissed me.
Liam claps me on the back. “There’s nothing that can be done about the situation,” he says brightly. “Just have to make the best of things.”
“I guess,” I say, painfully aware of his touch.
Kara’s expression is sour. “Looks like you’re stuck with a roommate a while longer, babe. Unless something else opens up.”
“No problem,” Liam says. “Jude knows he’s welcome as long as he needs.”
“Yes.” Her voice is curt. She’s not even bothering to hide her displeasure.
“Can I still sign the lease?” I ask. “Lock it in so it doesn’t go to someone else?”
“Absolutely.” Kara brightens at that. “I have the paperwork with me. If you have the deposit, you can sign today and the place will be yours as soon as the repairs are done.”
“Let’s do that then. I don’t want to let this place slip away. I’m sure it’s a great house when it’s not literally underwater.”
“It’s a great home.” She nods. “Let me give you a tour. You haven’t even seen the place yet.”
The first bedroom is a decent size with a window facing the side yard. The closet isn’t huge but I don’t own enough clothes to fill it anyway. The second bedroom is smaller, more of an office, with a window that looks out at the spruce tree in the front yard. The master bathroom has a clawfoot tub that surprises me. It’s deep and long, the enamel slightly yellowed with age but in good shape.
“That tub is original to the house,” Kara says. “The landlord almost replaced it, but I talked him out of it. You don’t find craftsmanship like that anymore.”
“It’s great,” I say, and I mean it. The whole place has character that the Blue Pine Apartments never had. It feels like somewhere a person could actually build a life.
The back door opens onto a good-sized fenced yard. There’s a patio for a grill and chairs, and the yard is big enough for a dog. “Is the landlord okay with pets?” I ask, remembering the dog Liam and me had dropped off at the rescue yesterday.
“I can ask,” Kara says. “He might want a little bigger deposit if you have a pet.”
“Okay. That’s fine.”
Kara frowns. “As far as I know, you don’t have a pet.”
I shrug. “No. But I might get a dog.”
Liam meets my gaze, appearing surprised. “Really?”
“Yeah. I might adopt that dog we rescued yesterday.” I laugh gruffly. “He seemed like a great dog.”
“He did seem like a good dog,” Liam agrees.
“Hopefully you’re not planning to do that until you move out of Liam’s place.” She shudders. “I can’t stand dogs. I’m more of a cat person.”
“To each their own,” Liam murmurs.
“I like both,” I say, glancing at my watch. “We’d better sign the lease. Our lunch is almost over.”
Once the paperwork is out of the way, I go to the car and try not to cringe as Kara and Liam kiss each other goodbye. I don’t miss the possessive way Kara clings to him, laughing gayly and looking over at the SUV as if making sure I notice. I can’t help feeling her behavior isn’t that of someone who’s confident in their relationship. She tries too hard to prove Liam is hers.
