“Itmighthave been on purpose,” she admits with a snicker.
“And the mismatched socks?”
Her eyes widen. “What mismatched socks?”
Okay, so maybe she just didn’t even notice. I didn’t know that was possible. But the way she is always wearing mismatched socks…
“What about you and how you have to have your keys on the same hook?” she says.
“I do not,” I scoff.
She raises one eyebrow, sets her glass down and hops off the counter, then walks to the entry hall. She grabs my car keys and moves them to the far hook.
“See?” I shrug. “Doesn’t bother me.”
Lucy folds her arms across her chest and taps her foot on the floor.
I outlast her.
She finally pivots and walks to the kitchen.
I quickly shift the keys to the other hook and follow.
“So, you’re serious about letting me bring my dog here?” she asks as she pulls things out of the fridge.
Funny how my normally empty fridge is loaded with random ingredients now. Things that I have no idea what to do with.
“As long as he’s not going to eat me in my sleep, then I’m fine with it.”
I act like I’m digging in the cupboard for my protein powder and blender…but really, I’m hoping she’ll take pity on me and feed me something delicious. I didn’t know that getting a roommate would mean living with a five-star chef.
It’s about the third cupboard I open when she clears her throat.
“You realize I’m making you dinner tonight, right? You just offered to let Alexander live with us.”
“Alexander?” I freeze at the name.
“Yeah, my dog.” She looks at me with a little smirk on her face.
“Right. Your dog.” Not another man. I don’t want to dissect why picturing her living with a man bothers me. Hell, I’m a man. Doesn’t bother me that she lives with me. “Can’t wait to meet him.”
“You say that now.” She turns on the stovetop and sets a cast iron pan on top. That is definitely not my pan, and I don’t know what you even do with it. “Alexander is very loving. Very. I don’t know that it’s a good idea.”
“What are you worried is going to happen?” I fold my arms across my chest and stare down at her.
“He’ll knock everything off the shelves with his tail.”
I look around the kitchen and the living room. “I sure hope so. Every breakable knickknack in this house is something Ainsley has left here just to annoy me…”
Lucy finishes adding oil to the pan and looks around. With a laugh, she says, “Well, Alexander can definitely take care of that.”
“And if we decide to get married?” I dare to ask. “Will we share custody of Alexander?”
“I don’t know. Are you ready to be a dad?” she says as she tosses some fish filets onto a cookie sheet.
“I wouldn’t want to overpromise. Maybe we can see how we hit it off.”
I lean against the counter and watch as she works. She squeezes some lemon juice on top of the fish, then sprinkles some salt, garlic powder, and Parmesan on top.
