Page 97 of Unraveled

He was quiet before saying, “I heard it was close.”

“It was. Too close. I’m sorry I didn’t call, but—”

“Don’t be. I had you covered.” He went into some details about a paint change and a few other minor things and how it was all taken care of. I couldn’t have been more appreciative.

“I owe you.”

“No, you don’t. It felt good to be able to do this for you. I can’t say the same about seeing Carly. However, the expression on her face when I showed up was, uh—well, let’s just leave it at interesting. I told them you’d be in touch for a final walk-through. Considering it’s Thanksgiving weekend, I think you have a few days.”

I’d forgotten all about the holiday. “I’ll call them to set it up. Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. Let me know when you’re free. We’ll grab a beer.”

“Sounds good.” And it did. It felt as if I wasn’t in competition any longer. That I could focus on the more important things. Like the love of my life.

As one would expect, Layla was in a hurry to get out of the hospital. And I was anxious to have her in my house. While taking her home on Wednesday, I broached the subject with all the finesse of a bulldozer.

“I think you should move in with me.”

She looked over with a raised brow, her voice still hoarse, but getting stronger every day. “Do you now?”

“I’d like you to.”

“Why do you want me to move in?”

This was a test. I remembered she’d said she didn’t want to move in with me just because of finances. So, I went with the simple truth. “Because I don’t want it to be me staying with you in your bed or you in my bed. I want it to be us in our bed. Our house. Our kitchen. I want to come home from work and anticipate seeing you every night. Then wake up with you every morning. I want to make bacon, horseradish cheddar, mushroom, and avocado burgers on pretzel buns together. Make coffee in the mornings with you and, dammit, spend as much time together as possible.”

She grinned. “You had me at burger.”

I expelled a breath, grinning back at her. “Fair warning, I’ll have a period where I’ll probably annoy you with my excessive worrying. But my obsessing would happen regardless, whether we’re together at your place or at mine.”

What could I say? I’d almost lost her. It would be a while before I wasn’t hovering over her. While I was relieved she was out of the hospital, there’d been some comfort in knowing that there she’d been hooked up to machines to alert me to any health issues.

“I understand. But don’t go sticking mirrors under my face to check for breathing or anything crazy.”

I shook my head. “It’s too soon to joke about that.”

She chuckled. “I saw your lips twitch. As for your proposition, I’ll move in with you. On one condition.”

Now I let myself smile. “Of course.”

“We start looking for property on which you can build, or a fixer-upper for you to renovate, so we can have our dream house.”

My hand took hers in the center. “Your conditions always seem to be something which benefits me more than you.”

“Please. You haven’t seen the specs for my closet yet.”

“Babe, I’ll build you one bigger than your apartment if it’s what you want.”

She lifted my hand to her face, giving my knuckles a kiss. “My hero.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Layla

Two weeks after leaving the hospital, I officially moved in with Kellan. Thankfully, he was done with Carly’s family’s house. Now he was working on two smaller projects, which seemed a lot less stressful for both of us.

He put up a Christmas tree in the living room and hung lights on all of the windows of his townhouse. I’d shopped online for ornaments and decorations. Considering I barely left the safety bubble of the house, it was probably a good thing to have the place looking so festive. We were following doctor’s orders in limiting my exposure to the outside world since it was the cold and flu season, and my immune system had taken a beating with both the chemo and the pneumonia.