Gee, do you have to rub it in? I get it; I repulse you. Can we move on?
Obviously, I kept that to myself. My cheeks trembled as I forced a smile, but hopefully he wouldn’t look too closely for fear of catching cooties.
“Jake, calm yourself,” I said with a lightness I didn’t feel. “I don’t expect a proposal because we slept in the same bed. Nothing happened.”
The laugh I gave him sounded fake to me, but he relaxed, and tension faded from his face.
“You can make it up to me,” I said, inspired.
Maybe we can get back to normal. Please, please let us return to normal
“Were you serious when you told Beau I’d have free reign of your kitchen?” I batted my lashes at him in an exaggerated fashion. “I want a kitchen that doesn’t have my mother’s Corelle Ware or Beau’s melamine dishes.”
He stared at me blankly.
“Okay…” he said, trepidation clear in his voice.
“There’s no need to look so suspicious. My housewares are in a storage unit, and it’d be a lot easier to get it with your truck.”
He brightened.
“Housewares? Like dishes?”
Laughter poured out of me.
“Yes. Dishes, silverware, pots and pans, curtains, sheets, towels, that kind of stuff. I wasn’t able to fit my queen-sized bed in my car when I moved, so I gave it to a women’s shelter, but I kept my fancy latex mattress topper. This is gonna be like Christmas. I’ve had most of my stuff in a storage unit since I moved here.”
“Why didn’t you have your things when you moved in with Beau?”
My nails became incredibly interesting. I swallowed and plastered on another bright smile I didn’t feel.
“You know how it is. When one person is already entrenched in a living space, it’s easier for the new person to use what’s there.”
His eyebrows got that crease between them that always tempted me to smooth it out. I never dared in the past, and I sure as hell wouldn’t now. We were on thin ice, and I wasn’t going to be reason we almost fell through again.
“We’ll get all your stuff today,” he said gruffly, “and anything else you need. A bed. Plants. Decorations. Sweet smelling things. Girlie shit. Those annoying little pillows that multiply on the couch. Shit, we need a couch.”
My lips trembled from the effort to avoid laughing at him, but I needed to laugh so I didn’t cry. It wasn’t fair to keep comparing them, but in half an hour, Jake made me feel more welcome than Beau did in three years.
“We don’t need a couch today, but we should probably figure out the bed situation. Maybe I can borrow the one in my parent’s guest room until I figure something else out.”
“That’ll be our last resort. You already said that bed wasn’t very comfortable. We can get lunch and go shopping.”
“Damn, I forgot I’ve got lunch plans with Vanessa today. I’d better cancel.”
“Why would you do that?” he asked.
I blinked at him.
“Shopping?”
“Nah, you have so little time to relax as it is, and you’re saving me from dealing with dishes and shit. I’ll follow you to your storage unit and bring it back here while you’re at lunch.” He frowned as a thought occurred to him. “Unless you don’t want me in your stuff.”
“You’re welcome to go through all my boxes. I promise there’s nothing interesting in there.” I winked at him. “All my salacious stuff is hidden in the closet next door.”
Was it my imagination, or did his ears turn red?
Chapter 17
