Page 43 of One Hot Moment

"Tabitha is the most wonderful woman in the world. And she's the best, most efficient assistant any executive could hope to have."

"What a sweetheart you are." She cranes her neck to look at me. "I bet he's fantastic in bed, huh, Tabby?"

"If you don't stop talking about my sex life, I'll mutate into Catwoman and smack you down hard."

We've just reached the front door, and my parents are already inside the house. Mom waves and smiles. "Come on in, Spence. Have you ever visited a tiny house before?"

"No, I can't say I have. Never heard of such a thing until I met Tabitha."

Thankfully, my sister lets go of my boyfriend and jogs into the house.

Spencer holds my hand as we approach the front door. "This doesn't look as tiny as I expected."

"It's three hundred square feet. That's tiny for sure, but with the right layout, a structure like this can seem almost spacious."

As soon as we step inside the house, Mom starts to give Spencer the grand tour. "You saw our cute little patio out front. Now, let me show you around the inside." She waves toward each element in turn. "We're in the living room, and that futon can serve as a sofa or a bed, if we have guests. The floor you're standing on is made of real bamboo."

Spencer seems genuinely fascinated by this house. He sits down on the futon to try it out, then rises to stretch his arms above his head. "Yes, this is a surprisingly spacious tiny home. I rather like it."

"Let me show you the kitchen, sweetie." Mom commandeers my boyfriend's hand, leading him toward the open kitchen. She halts at the little island that separates the living room from the kitchen-slash-dining area. "Barry and I just love our little house. Think of all the electricity we save."

"You use electricity? I suppose I assumed you have some variety of green energy. Tabitha told me you lot used to live in a commune."

"That lifestyle was hard to keep up, especially with two little girls. As for our tiny home, it's very energy efficient, though it's not totally green. We have an old-fashioned windmill, but that's just for aesthetics."

Spencer peers over the island to study the kitchen.

Mom pulls him away from there. "Want to see where we sleep?"

Chapter Nineteen

Spencer

"Ah, why not." This tiny-house idea intrigues me, and I can understand why some people enjoy the lifestyle. It's much simpler, and as Connie said, cheaper too. But as I gaze up at the ceiling, I swear my muscles are cramping up just from thinking about sleeping in this miniature home. "What else is there to see?"

Connie grabs my hand again and starts walking backward, forcing me to do the same. Then she points up toward the ceiling. "See that little loft up there? That's our bedroom."

I crane my neck but can't see much of the loft. What I can see convinces me I do not want to live in a tiny house. "How do you get up there? I don't see any stairs."

Connie drags me over to the wall, where a ladder is attached to it. "We climb up there, sweetie."

"Can you stand up inside that cramped loft?"

"Oh, sure. It's an A-frame roof."

As if that explains everything. The ladder seems rather flimsy, particularly for a man of my size. I have never done any mountain climbing, but I think I would need to take a course on that before attempting to scale this ladder.

Connie turns to Tabitha. "Would you like to show Spencer around the property? I'm sure he'd love to see your house."

"And mine too," Sabrina says. "It's a tiny-house masterpiece."

Whether Tabitha and Sabrina have genuine sibling rivalry going on here, I can't tell. I rather doubt Tabitha would behave that way unless she was teasing her sister. Sabrina was definitely teasing Tabitha when I first met the youngest family member.

Barry marches over to the door and thrusts it open. "Tabby, why don't you and Sabrina show our guest the rest of the property while Mom and I prepare for target-shooting practice."

Am I actually going to shoot a firearm? I've never even used a water pistol. But I don't want to offend Tabitha's parents. Besides, I might actually enjoy a bit of target practice, just to find out if I have any talent for it. I was good at rugby back at uni, but I failed miserably the one time I let Dominic Rigby talk me into trying cricket. I lost the game but went home with a collection of bruises.

I doubt my rugby experience will give me any advantage with target shooting.

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