Page 35 of Resisting my Roommate

“You, too,” I manage to say, hiding the emotion in my voice.

She pulls back, giving me a once over before dropping her hold on me and moving toward Jude.

“Love you, Jude.”

“Love you, too, Ma.” He leans down and brushes a soft kiss to her cheek.

Once the door closes behind her, Jude shifts his gaze toward me.

“You really don’t have to come tomorrow if you don’t want to,” he says softly. “My mom can be a bit pushy. I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing something you’re not comfortable with. You’re not required to come just because you live here.”

“Do you not want me there?” I shift my weight, crossing my arms in front of my chest.I notice his eyes briefly dip to my cleavage before returning to my face.

“I just don’t want you to feel obligated. That’s all.”

“Well, I want to come. I mean, go. I’d like to go.”

“Okay.” He nods, his gaze lingering on me a little longer than normal before he finally turns and disappears up the stairs.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

JUDE

“I see you invited the runaway bride to Second Sunday,” Finn remarks, plopping down beside me as I relax on the back patio of my parents’ house.

“I didn’t invite her.” I take a long swallow of my beer and turn toward my brother. “That was all Mom’s doing. I walked into the house after my run yesterday morning to find her at my kitchen table, drinking coffee and having banana bread with Abbey. For a minute, I thought I walked into the wrong house.” I roll my eyes, feigning irritation.

But when I steal a glance across the expansive back yard as Abbey helps Dylan with my niece and nephew, I can’t ignore the warmth that spreads through me. We only arrived a short while ago, yet Abbey’s already charmed everyone, as if she’s known these people her whole life instead of just a few minutes.

“She’s a cool chic,” Finn offers, his gaze trained on her as Jeremiah toddles toward her.

At a little more than a year old, he stumbles a bit on his feet, but Abbey manages to catch him before he falls. After giving him a reassuring hug, she sets him back down to continue playing.

“Good with kids, too,” he adds.

“Who are we talking about?” Beckham interjects, taking a seat in the chair opposite us. “The runaway bride?”

“Who else?” Finn replies with a chuckle. “This is the most exciting thing to happen to this family since you surprised all of us by announcing your plans to marry Haley. About time you pulled your head out of your ass.”

Beckham brings his glass of wine up to his lips, trying to hide his smile, but he fails miserably. His marriage to Haley may have started as a business arrangement, but there’s no denying it’s real now. Hell, it was real from the beginning. It just took the two of them a little longer to admit it.

“I knew there was something going on when I dropped by the taproom a few weeks ago and he was dismissive about his new employee,” Beckham tells Finn, as if I’m not even here. “I found it strange he’d hire someone who didn’t even know how to change a tap.”

“She needed a job,” I argue in my defense.

“And a place to stay?” Finn arches a brow.

“It’s just temporary until she finds something else.

“Really?” He grins mischievously.

“She’s my employee. And roommate. So whatever ideas you have, get them out of your head right now.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I asked her to dinner,” Finn retorts with a gleam in his eye.

“Don’t even fucking think about it,” I growl, my response coming out harsher than I intended.

“That’s what I thought.” He settles back into the couch and takes another long sip of his beer.

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