Page 98 of Housebroke

He lifted his head, letting the paint roller slide down as he thought about that.

His conscience was probably right about that part. But that part would be really hard, which was probably why he was delaying doing anything at all.

Coward.

“Oh my God, would you go fuck yourself already?”

“Are you angry at the paint?”

He flipped around and smiled at Hazel. “No. It looks great. Doesn’t it look great?”

“I love the color. It’s not a blinding white but it’s not a dark gray, either. It’s good. Neutral. Any buyer would be happy with it.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

She came up to stand beside him, staring at the wall. “So who were you cussing at?”

“Just running some ideas around in my head, and I have this internal voice that sometimes—well, often—disagrees with my brilliant ideas.”

“Oh my God, you do? I have an internal voice, too. It’s very annoying.”

He laughed. “Good to know I’m not entirely losing my mind.”

She leaned into him. “No, it’s not just you. So what were your ideas?”

This was not the time or place for that conversation. “How about we talk about it over dinner?”

“Okay. I’m making fish tacos and rice.”

“That sounds so good.”

“Good. I’m going to take the dogs out for a bit. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.”

She rose up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips, smiled, then left the room.

Yeah, his conscience was right.

They needed to have the big talk tonight.

•••

Hazel had finished cooking the fish and had all the other ingredients for the tacos ready to go. She warmed the soft tacos, put them in the container so they’d stay warm, then arranged everything on the tray and carried it to the table.

It was incredibly nice to be able to cook inside in the kitchenagain, a spectacular kitchen, she might add, now that it was completed.

She was really going to miss this house when they had to move.

A pang of something she knew was fear and longing gnawed inside of her at the thought of all of this coming to an end soon, but she pushed it aside, refusing to think about it right now. And all those fears had to do with Linc instead of herself.

She had a plan for her future. Not a firm plan, but she had options. And money saved, which was more than she’d had before. So for the first time she felt—if not overly comfortable, at least... safe. And safe felt pretty good.

What didn’t feel so good was the thought of losing Linc. And that’s what she didn’t want to think about.

Tell him you love him.

Yeah, that was easier said than done. It was one thing to have a fun romp while he was here renovating. Another thing entirely to talk about what happens next, and if he had room for her in his life after this house was finished.

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