Page 102 of Devoted Enough

“It feels like the right step in the right direction.”

I watched as she beat the eggs andthen went into the pantry. She set a bunch of things down and looked at me. “Are you being serious?”

“Yes!” I said with a laugh. “Your lease is up next month. Do you really want to renew it? You’re here all the time anyway. Let’s make it official.”

She stared at me momentarily before a huge smile broke out on her face. God, how I loved those dimples of hers.

“Okay, I’ll move in with you.”

I got up and made my way to her. Lifting her, I spun her around and kissed her. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Once I put her down, she patted my chest. “Now go away so I can add my secret ingredient.”

“When can we go and get your stuff?”

“Nate! It’s Christmas Eve!”

“So what? We don’t have anything going on today.”

Her mouth fell open. “You want to do it today?”

“Yes. What all do you want to bring with you?”

She bit down on her lower lip. “Well, I don’t have much furniture, and it’s not really worth anything. Besides, your house is full of furniture. I could probably give it all away. I really just have a few kitchen items and my clothes. The dog stuff, of course, but other than that, it’s all I have.”

Frowning, she added, “That’s kind of sad.”

“No, it’s not. You’ve put all your time and money into your career; nothing is wrong with that.”

With a grin, she asked, “Do you have boxes?”

I let out a whoop of laughter, picked her up, and spun her around again before setting her back on the floor and kissing her soundly. “If you’ve got this, I’ll head to the garage and look for some boxes. If I don’t have any, we can pick them up.”

“On Christmas Eve?”

As I approached the garage, I called out, “Home Depot is open!”

Chapter Nineteen

HAVEN

I was moving in with Nate.

I still couldn’t believe it. I had been planning on going month to month on my lease, figuring that eventually, I would move in with him, but I hadn’t thought it would be this soon. Nate was right, though; it felt right. I hardly ever stayed at my apartment anymore. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t even been there since before the community party for the dog park.

“Excited?” Nate asked as he held my hand while we pulled into the apartment complex’s parking lot.

“I am excited. There has been so much change the last few months, and it’s all good, but life feels like it’s just flying by, and I need to take a break and enjoy it some.”

“I can see that. Do you ever take a vacation?”

“A vacation? No, I’ve never taken any time off. My dog owners rely on me to walk their pups.”

Nate chuckled. “You don’t think they would understand if you decided to take a week off and do something for yourself?”

I shrugged. “I’m sure they would; I just could never financially afford to take time off. And now, with the dog park and the loan, I can’t see myself taking any time off because I need all the money now.”

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