"I think you've said enough for one day."
Jo planted her fists on her hips. "And what exactly does that mean?"
"I warned you someone wanted to find out your identity, and you went and handed them the answer on a silver fucking platter."
"I did what was right for the people of Willow Creek. My secret was about to be exposed, and I felt they deserved to hear it from me rather than through the rumor mill."
"And what about your safety?" I crossed my arms over my chest and widened my stance ever so slightly. I was in fight mode, and unfortunately the only person I could fight with was the mother of my unborn child.
That seemed to give Jo pause. "You didn't think about that, did you?"
"Of course I thought about it," Jo snapped. "I just figured the good outweighed the bad. And besides, you've placed so many damn security measures in place that I'm sure I'll be perfectly fine."
"Well, I'm about to place one more."
Jo tensed, and I knew she wasn't going to like what I had to say, but that was too damn bad.
"What can you possibly add except invading my house?"
I gave her a slow smile.
"No! Absolutely not."
"Oh, yes. You will have a permanent roommate for the foreseeable future until we find the guy after you."
"I didn't agree to this."
"Sure you did. When you put a big ole target on your back while carrying my child."
I loved saying that. There was something immensely satisfying about reminding Jo that she was the mother of my child. That I was the one to put a baby in her belly. I might not have wanted it when I was younger, but I sure as hell was happy that it was happening now.
"This is ridiculous. You can't just move in."
"And why not. We're going to have to live together once the baby is born anyway."
If looks could kill, the one Jo was giving me would've stopped my heart.
"Says who?"
Apparently we were going to have this argument now. "Do you really think I'm just going to sit by and not see my child every day?"
"We live in a very small town. You can see the child as much as you want, but that doesn't mean we need to live in the same damn house."
It sure as hell did. I wasn't sure how exactly it would work between us, but we were about to find out.
"I'm not having this argument with you now. Just know that I plan to be there for everything, so you better get used to it."
Jo huffed and stormed further into her house. I followed right behind and got my first look at her living space. It was a little boring and not at all what I expected from her. There were no pictures hung up, nothing that screamed personal. In fact, it almost looked like the house was staged rather than lived in.
"Why are you looking at my place like that?"
"I just expected to see pictures of you and your grandmother or at least some of when you were a kid."
Jo shrugged. "I was never big on adding personal touches to the place. It's not like you have a lot of your family either."
"No, but I do have pictures of me with the guys. They're my family."
"Well, good for you, but that's not the kind of person I am."
