Yesterday morning had been spent sneaking into my apartment and this morning I was moving myself, my mom, and my daughter into Nick’s house. How had that happened?
When we walked outside, Kurt was waiting beside the black SUV.
“Good morning, ladies.” Kurt nodded.
“Good morning!” Callie chirped.
“Morning,” my mom purred.
“Mornin’ handsome.” Ri winked.
Within seconds, he had all of our bags in the back of the SUV. I gave Ri a hug. “Thanks for letting us stay.”
“Of course. Text me later,” she kissed me on my cheek before I climbed into the back seat.
Callie and my mom made small talk with Kurt the entire ride across town.
It’s just temporary,I told myself.It’s like staying at a really nice Airbnb.
Except, the owner, who I’d had sex with, was also staying there. So why had I agreed?
All my life, I’dnevergiven into peer pressure, but last night I hadn’t been able to say no after seeing how excited Callie was at the thought and then Nick saying she’d have the best summer. I hadn’t realized how much guilt I carried around for not being able to give Callie the family that she deserved and always wanted. Two parents who loved her, siblings, a house with a backyard, and a couple of dogs.
She used to ask Santa for all those things every year for Christmas until she was seven and found out that he wasn’t real. Then, she stopped asking the bearded one and would write her list directly to me asking for the same thing until she was ten and stopped making lists. From then on, she went directly to me and asked, no begged for a little brother or sister. Apparently, she’d given up on the whole dad, dog and house thing. All she wanted was a sibling.
I was lost in thought and didn’t even notice we’d arrived until we pulled into the garage next to Nick’s Range Rover. Oh shit. We were here. The butterflies in my belly were throwing a full-blown rave, glow sticks and all.
We all got out and I went to the back to get the bags, but Kurt said, “I’ve got these, you can go inside.”
“No, you don’t need to take my bags.”
“It’s not a problem.”
I could see by his expression that this wasn’t an argument I was going to win.
“This place is incredible!” Lola looked around the garage. It was impressive, with epoxy flooring, bicycles hanging on the walls, state of the art storage containers with smart screens on them.
“Wait till you see the house,” I said.
We walked inside, into the kitchen and found Bella, Nick, Jada and Carmen all seated at the breakfast nook.
I quickly made introductions and Jada offered, “Would you like a tour?”
“Yes!” Both my mom and Callie enthused.
“Great!” Jada led the way with my mom right behind her and Callie and Bella behind them. I noticed that Bella was holding Callie’s hand. It made my heart squeeze. The same guilt that had caused me to say yes to coming to stay here, overwhelmed me now. She’d wanted a little sister so badly. Had I made a mistake by not finding someone to build a family with?
“Are you okay?” Nick asked, his deep voice rolled over me like a cool breeze on a hot day.
I blinked up at him. “Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just…it doesn’t matter.” I cleared my throat. “Thanks again for this. I really appreciate it. We’ll try to stay out of your way.”
“What are your plans today?”
“My plans?”
He nodded. He was standing at least three feet away, but I could feel his energy vibrating from him. It was like that with him. He didn’t even have to be next to me and I couldfeelhim. Tingles of awareness spread through me, popping like butter in a hot frying pan. My mouth watered and my heart was beating so hard I was sure it was visible through my shirt.
I did my best to mask my reaction. I’d been so adamant about no one knowing anything and no funny business, and two seconds in, I was drooling over him. “Um, I was just going to get settled in.”
