Page 80 of Housebroke

“Floundered, I guess. It always seemed as if she had it all together, while I was busy blowing up my life.”

“First, you didn’t blow up your life. Your ex did. And, second, most people don’t have it all together. They just give the illusion that they do.”

She laughed. “And you know this how?”

“Let’s just say I’ve seen plenty of evidence of it. I mean, yeah, some people manage to eke out their little corner of happiness, but a lot of people hide behind this happy facade, when in reality they’re fucking miserable.”

“Whoa. Where did this come from? I thought you were living your dream?”

“Oh, I am. But I haven’t always been this way. I had to go through some misery. And I’m not exactly where I want to end up yet.”

“Is that right? And where do you want to end up?”

“I don’t know. I just know I’m not there yet.”

“So... you’ll know when you get there, or is it one of those things you figure out as you go along? Because I’d for sure like to know where the hell I’m going to find my peace of mind and happy zen.”

He took the exit, glancing in his rearview mirror, no doubt to make sure her mom was still behind them. “I don’t honestly know if there’s a perfect happily ever after, Hazel. I just think when you find that peace, that utter happiness? You’ll know it. And you’ll do anything and everything to keep it.”

She stared out the windshield as the last brightness of the day began to fade under gathering clouds and an orange-hued sunset. “I don’t know if I believe that, Linc. I think you can’t just wait for happiness to fall into your lap, or for your future to come to you. You have to work for it.”

“I don’t disagree with that.” He pulled into the restaurant parking lot. “But I also believe in destiny, in things happening for a reason.”

He unbuckled his seat belt and came around to her side of the car, taking her hand to pull her out. “Like you and me and that crazy way we met. Destiny put us together for some reason.” He wound his arm around her waist, tugging her against him. “And I’m damned happy whenever I’m with you, so I try to never second-guess the universe.”

And then, right in front of her approaching mother and sister, he slipped his hand around her neck and planted a long, hot kiss on her, melting her right to the spot.

She didn’t know much about destinies and meant to be’s, butshe did know about long, toe-curling kisses that made her forget all about her mother and sister standing two feet away.

And one just didn’t discount those kinds of kisses. Because they meant something.

What that something was, she didn’t know, but what she did know was that Lincoln Kennedy was someone special.

And, right now, he was all hers.

Nat cleared her throat—then coughed, loudly. Linc pulled away and gave her a promising smile.

Yeah, she planned to hold him to that promise. Later.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

With cabinets and flooring in, the kitchen was starting to take shape. Now was the time Linc got really excited about the direction of a house reno. Appliances had been ordered and should be in this week, which meant he could get to work on lighting, and that should almost wrap up the kitchen. There wasn’t a whole lot left to do in this room.

He had finished the downstairs bathroom, so it was time to work on the two upstairs. He had planned to start them sooner, but the downstairs projects had taken up more time than he’d planned, so those had to wait. But now he was ready to dive in to the bathrooms. Since they needed to be able to shower, he’d do one at a time. Kind of a pain in the ass and would cut into the timeline, but still doable.

He hadn’t planned to redo the bathroom floors, but the more he looked at them, the more he thought new tile would complete the look. So today he was removing the old and outdated tile floor in both bathrooms, since the concrete floor would work fine for showering purposes. He’d convinced Hazel to move into his bathroom so he could work on hers first. Hopefully, it wouldconvince her to also move into his bed, since she spent most of her time in it anyway. There was something intimate about her toothbrush sitting near his, her shampoo next to his in the shower. It felt right, like that’s where her things were supposed to be.

He didn’t know what to make of it, and decided thinking too hard about it was a bad idea, because that sent his brain off into all sorts of wild “what if” scenarios, so instead, he went back to tile removal. It was sweaty, hard work, but he had his dog—wow, Penny was his dog now—to help him. And by “help” he meant she was lying outside the bathroom woefully staring at him.

He paused to swipe at the sweat dripping down his face. Penny ran off, coming back a minute later with a tennis ball.

“You think it’s playtime, huh, girl?”

She dropped the ball on his foot, making her intent clear.

He picked up the ball and looked down at Penny. “Okay, fine. I need a drink anyway. Let’s go outside.” Based on the breeze blowing the palm fronds outside the window, it was probably cooler out there than it was in here right now. He headed down the stairs and outside, through the pool door and toward the lawn. He tossed the ball to the far side of the grassy area, then made his way to the guesthouse for a drink.

Huh. He thought maybe Hazel would be in there cooking, but she wasn’t. Maybe she went to the store and didn’t tell him she was leaving—not that she needed to keep him informed of her whereabouts or anything. Then again, it was unusual for her to leave the house while he was working without giving him a heads-up so that he could keep an eye on the pups. He made his way back out to the yard and did a canine head count.

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