“Hardly,” I teased. “Thinking about how little work we’d get done.”
He grinned, but it faded quickly. “Is everything okay? You got suddenly pensive.”
“Everything’s great. I have enough money to cover the mortgage and my expenses for at least six months.”
“That should give you time to find another job. Want me to talk to Tyler about sending your resume out through the placement office?”
“Thanks, but no. I have something in mind, actually.” I glanced at his face, saw his attentive expression, and hurried on. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, now. Ever since I started house-hunting. I think—I think I want to get my real estate license.”
“Do you?” He nodded slowly, as if he was seriously weighing my words. And then an easy smile crossed his face. “I think you’d kick serious ass in real estate.”
Tension I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding drained from me. “Do you really think so?”
“It’s the perfect job for you. You’re good with people, you know how to sell a thing and a concept. You can bullshit with the best of them,” he added with a cocky grin. “Yeah, I think it’s good.”
“You are just raking in the brownie points today.”
“I’ll be sure to cash them in soon.” He turned a slow circle in the room. “Yeah, this place was a great find. It has a ton of potential.”
“In other words, it needs a lot of work.”
He laughed. “That, too.”
“Will you help me?”
The answer was there in the way he looked at me, his words only underscoring the truth. “You couldn’t keep me away.”
I took a moment to simply look at him and soak him in and wonder why it had taken me so long to go after what I’d wanted. Because now that I had Cole beside me, all those empty days before seemed even emptier. And I was determined to fill to overflowing all the days that were still to come.
He tapped the end of my nose. “You’ve checked out again,” he said. “Where to this time?”
“Away,” I said with a grin. “With you. To fantasyland.”
His grin was bright and wicked. “I’m happy to make your fantasies a reality.”
“And I am going to take you up on that. After I get your opinion on the rest of the house,” I said, then laughed as I grabbed his hand and led him toward the second bedroom. “I’m just going to do a basic paint job in here. I figure Flynn can decorate it however he wants.”
“Flynn’s moving in with you?”
“He’s my roommate now, and he’ll be my roommate when I move. He needs one, and I always appreciate saving money. Especially since he’ll be helping build my equity.”
“I’m really not sure I like that.”
“No?” I folded myself into his arms. “Then I guess you’ll have to spend a lot of time right here to make sure I’m being a good girl.”
“Kat . . .”
I’d been teasing, of course, but Cole’s expression looked anything but amused. “Don’t be jealous,” I said, and though I tried to keep my irritation out of my voice, I don’t think I succeeded. “You know there’s nothing going on with me and Flynn. And honestly, if either of us has cause to be jealous, I think that would be me.”
The minute I said it, I regretted it.
“Really?” He spoke in the overly polite tone of a boardroom executive.
I cocked my head and crossed my arms over my chest. “Come on, Cole, seriously? We’re not playing this game. I know about the Firehouse, remember? And I have an idea of what goes on there. And I know that you fuck that girl, Michelle. And,” I added, because I’d gotten myself worked up and was on a roll, “I don’t even know if you’ve been with anybody since me. Because you told me that I had to be exclusive, but you didn’t say a thing about yourself.”
“Is that what you think?” he asked in that dangerously flat voice. “That I’m with someone else when I’m not with you?”
“Oh, hell, I shouldn’t have said anything at all. I’m sorry. Truly.” I drew in a breath. “I’m not sleeping with Flynn. I’ve never slept with Flynn. But he can’t afford to live alone and I’m not leaving him high and dry. And no,” I added, “I don’t really believe you’re with anyone else.”