“This is our house,” I clarify. “Wanna go inside?”
“Ours?”
“Yep. Well, mine, yours, and Jinx’s.”
“It’s huge.” She walks closer to the front door.
“We’ll need the space,” I tell her, but leave off my desire to fill her stomach with more than one baby and we needed a place we could grow into.
Yep, I’m that guy now. The one that never wanted to be tied down has transformed into the man who’s looking forward to changing diapers, getting up in the middle of the night, and rocking a cranky baby to sleep.
“Imagine the walkway lined with flowers and a porch swing right over there.” I keep my hand low on her back as she walks up the front steps. “Watch your step in here.”
I let her enter the house first and the second she walks into the foyer; she spins in a circle trying to take everything in.
“So, this is where you guys have been?”
I grin, knowing that she isn’t upset that we’ve been lying about work when Jinx and I, along with several guys from the club, have been working on fixing this place up. There are drop cloths in the corner, tools stacked on the kitchen counter, and if she goes room to room, she’ll see several half-completed projects.
“It’s amazing.”
“It’s going to be amazing. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I couldn’t keep it from you.”
“I was such a bitch yesterday.” Sadness fills her eyes as she walks toward me, then wraps her arms around my waist and presses her face into my chest.
“Technically I was lying.” I lift her chin, pressing a sweet kiss to the tip of her nose.
“But you weren’t at the clubhouse having wild orgies with your biker friends.”
“No,” I chuckle. “I definitely wasn’t.”
She was borderline mean yesterday when I told her I had things I had to do. She had two days off in a row, an anomaly these days, and she didn’t feel like staying at the apartment. She was livid when I told her she couldn’t come to the clubhouse with me. There were accusations thrown around, and tears. I had to kick Jinx out of the apartment to sleep on the couch because she locked me out of the room. It was a mess, our first big fight since we started this whole thing.
I should’ve confessed what we were really doing last night, but I was wounded that her mind would automatically go straight to me being with someone else. After lying awake all night staring at the ceiling, I had to accept that building trust was just going to take longer due to the damage her ex-husband did to her.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it.”
“You never agreed to move in with us,” I remind her.
“I guess I have to now.” She smiles, but her words make me take pause.
“You don’t.”
I keep my palm on her cheek, refusing to let her lower her head. She does that when she’s struggling with her emotions and when she wants to say something that she thinks will upset me. This is another thing we’re working on.
“If you don’t want to move, you don’t move. I want you here because it’s where you want to be.”
“If I say that I want to be where you are?” She blinks up at me, waiting for me to respond.
“That would make me the happiest man alive.”
“Then keep smiling, buddy.”
I kiss her lips, keeping it as chaste as I possibly can with the way her fingers are tangling in the back of my shirt.
“How about a tour?”
“Please.” Her response is breathy and fuck me if it doesn’t hit me right below the belt.
“Living room,” I say as soon as we step into the massive open plan room. “We’ll get to that later.”
I point at the picnic arranged on the floor. She looks longingly at the containers of food, but she lets me drag her from room to room.
“Kitchen. Pantry. Laundry room.”
We head upstairs, her smile never faltering.
“Jinx is over there. Three extra bedrooms.” I shove open the last door. “The master.”
We’ve spent a lot of time in here. The room has been completely gutted and remodeled. The en suite bathroom has brand new tile, fixtures, sink, and shower.
“This is amazing.” She turns in my arms, pressing her warm lips to the side of my neck, and I know she can feel my pulse pounding just under the surface. “Where’s your room?”