Page 47 of Family Bonds- Jarrett & Andi

He wondered how she was able to afford it alone but didn’t ask. It wasn’t his business and he had no idea if she was getting money from what happened in her past.

“Many have roommates around here,” he said. “Did Amanda tell you how she came to this island and met her best friends?”

Andi laughed and got out of his SUV. “She did. She said she rented afour-bedroomhome and then subleased the rooms and met Sidney and Kayla that way.”

“Yep, the Bond men are irresistible.”

“I’m beginning to see that,” she said, laughing.

“You can say it,” he said. “I’m being cocky.”

“You are, but I like it. I like a lot about you.”

“Good,” he said. “The feeling is mutual.”

“Oh, you like a lot about yourself too?”

Andi wasdefinitelymore outgoing and open today than she’d been in a while.

“I think I like myself about as much as the average person does,” he said. “I meant that the feeling is mutual in that I like a lot about you too.”

“Even though you’d like to know more?” she asked.

They hadn’t brought up her past again. He tried not to. He didn’t want to get frustrated over it.

He believed when they talked about things she liked to do, that she was completely honest. He also believed that her stories about her childhood were the truth too.

What her name was in the past,that wasup for debate.

She never agreed or disagreed when it came up. She just didn’t answer or said she couldn’t say things.

“I would,” he said. “But I’m going to trust you’ll tell me what you can when you can.”

“Thanks for that,” she said.

He took his keys outandunlocked the front door and let her in. “It’s nothing fancy,” he said. “I’m kind of simple.”

“And clean. I swear I can see my reflection on thefloors. Did you wax them before I got here?”

He felt some heat creep up his face. “Not today. I did it yesterday. But I do it a few times a year. It keeps the marks off of them and dirt from building up. It’s easier to sweep too. I spent a lot of hours sanding them down and refinishing them.”

She put her hand on his arm. “Hey. I’m just picking on you. But you are neat. Damn. I thought I was a clean person but nothing like this.”

“Alex is a slob. I had to share a room with him growing up. It was horrible.”

“That makes more sense,” she said. “So you were countering that.”

“I guess,” he said.

She took her jacket off and handed it over. “You want my shoes off, huh?”

She kicked them off and was grinning while she said it. He did the same. “Sure,” he said. He wouldn’t have asked her to do it, but always took his off. He tried to do it at her house too, but she always told him it was okay.

“It’s fine,” she said. “Lots of people want that. Especially in the winter months. No one wants dirt and mud tracked in. I’ve got carpet so that is worse.”

“Which is why I offer to take mine off,” he said.

“When it gets messy outside, you can.”

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