Page 80 of An Engagement for Erica

“I didn’t leave,” she said. “I can see it on your face.”

He lifted one eyebrow. “Considering your shoes are still here, I didn’t think you’d be the type to walk home barefoot. You could have gone into my bathroom. I’ve got a water closet.”

“Oh,” she said. “I hadn’t realized that.”

“Now you know,” he said.

His shorts were on but not fastened. She was dressed, but he held his hand out to her. She walked toward him as if he was casting some magic spell that forced her feet to have their own mind.

“Now I do,” she said. “Can I help you put things away?”

“I don’t need you to come here and work,” he said.

“I think I did the hardest work already,” she said, smiling. “The rest is almost like fun.”

“If you’re sure,” he said. “There isn’t much more than kitchen stuff. It’s not like I’ve got a ton of decor.”

He finished getting dressed and they left his room. “Are you going to buy some?”

“I will,” he said. “Not sure what. I’ll do it in stages I guess. I went through my father’s house. There was nothing there I wanted. And trust me when I tell you he has some expensive art pieces. They’re just tacky.”

“What are you going to do with them?” she asked.

“Everything is supposed to go to my mother per the divorce papers years ago. She’ll be here soon. I’ve got those things of value in storage. She’s going to go through them and do what she wants. I believe she will sell them. It will give her something to do. She might be able to have some of the artwork placed in galleries for sale or at an auction.”

“So very expensive pieces,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t care what she does with the money. I just don’t have the time or the energy to deal with it. She knows that.”

“I’m glad you’re getting that help,” she said.

“My mother is great,” he said. “I think she’s going to love you. You are going to meet her when she’s here, right?”

“If you want me to,” she said.

“I do. And if you want to help me, how about we go to the guesthouse and walk around and I’ll bring my laptop and we can order what you think it needs for her? I’m having a bed delivered there”—he stopped and looked at his watch—“in about twenty minutes.”

“Oh my God!” she screeched. “Why didn’t you tell me that? What if we were still in your room naked?”

“Then the bed would wait because only an idiot would give up sex for furniture delivery.”

Her face had to be fire engine red because her body felt as if it was covered in flames.

She had to get control of herself around him and wasn’t sure how that would ever be possible.

“Get your laptop and let’s go,” she said. “I need a distraction at this point.”

He laughed at her and walked out of the kitchen. She put Harmony’s shoes back on so she wasn’t walking barefoot on the path and together they went to the little cottage.

“It’s not much, but I want to make it nice and comfortable for her.”

“It’s great,” she said. “Bigger than a lot of apartments in New York City.”

There was a decent living room with a galley kitchen on the wall and an island to sit at with some more counter space. Two doors off the living room that Tucker walked toward.

“The bedroom will hold a queen bed comfortably with a dresser. I would have liked to get a king, but it’d be too tight of a fit. There is a small closet too.”

She moved over to open the door. “It’s a decent size. It’s not as if someone is going to live here full time unless you rent it out.”

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