Stripped - By Brenda Rothert Page 0,73
quirks, he and Chris had a lot in common. Chris had never understood why Reed had gotten married so young, but he finally did as he looked at him with Charlotte. He’d found the love of his life. Chris hadn’t known what that felt like until it had happened to him.
“Look at it this way, Chris,” Charlotte said. “How does being with you affect Abby? Do you make her happy?”
He nodded, a smile playing on his lips.
“I do. We make each other happy.”
“If you love her and make her happy, that’s all that matters,” she said.
Chris finished his salad and got up from his chair.
“Thanks for dinner, guys. I have to go so I can see Abby before work.”
Abby wandered through the dark, a grin on her face. The blindfold over her eyes blocked out the world as Chris led her by the arm.
“How much further?” she asked, shuffling her feet tentatively.
“Maybe 40 feet. We’re close to the door. Come here, just get on my back and I’ll carry you.”
Abby reached around his neck and hopped up, wrapping her legs around him. She smiled as she pressed her nose to his neck, taking in his woodsy, familiar smell.
“If this place is worth a blindfolded surprise, it may be out of my budget,” she said. Chris had been bursting with nervous excitement about showing her the place he had in mind for her and the girls to move to. He had blindfolded her as they were walking over, just a quarter mile from his apartment.
“I have to put you down so I can unlock the door,” he said, sliding her feet to the ground.
She took a deep breath as the keys jangled, reminding herself to be excited and like the place no matter what. He was so happy about it, and it was so close to his apartment.
“This way.” He led her by the hand, and she tried to get a sense of the place by the smell, but she only picked up on wood and something that reminded her of old clothes.
“I feel wood floors,” she said. “That’s good.”
He stopped, taking a deep breath before he pulled off the blindfold. Abby pasted on a smile, but it dropped away in an instant.
“Oh. This is … nice,” she said, craning her neck to look up. They were in an old warehouse, and she realized he must have a renovation in mind, which she didn’t have the budget or the time for.
“Hear me out,” he said, seeing her confusion. “This building – if you want it to be – will be your dance studio. You can teach classes here. You’d be an amazing teacher, Abby.”
“Wow,” she said, smiling in spite of her shock. “I’ve never even thought of doing that, but it would be pretty great. I don’t know, though. I can’t afford to leave my job for something uncertain.”
“If we make this your studio, we can renovate the upstairs into a living space for us and the girls. This used to be a textile plant. It’s such a neat building, and I’ve already had an architect look at it and make up some plans. It’s perfect for us, Abby.”
“It is beautiful,” she agreed, admiring the high windows that let light pour onto the dark wood floors. The brick walls and open steel beams gave the building an industrial feeling, which she liked. It would make a perfect dance studio: spacious, open and full of natural light.
“The studio would be ready to open quickly, but the upstairs reno would take about eight months,” he said. “You’d love it when it was done, though. You can pick out everything so it’s your perfect home.”
“Oh, Chris. You’re so sweet. If I was ever going to live with a man, it would be you, and it would be here. But you know I can’t. Not with the girls. I have to give them stability, and with my income from the club gone, I’m just on too tight of a budget to leave my job.”
“Just wait. I’m not done yet,” he said, fishing in his pocket. As he dropped one of his knees to the wood floor, Abby’s eyes widened with shock. One of her hands clamped against her chest, and her knees wobbled with uncertainty. Was this what it looked like?
“Abby Gillis, I love you more than anything. I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want to make a life with you and Audrey and Sara. Will you marry me?”
His dark brown eyes were