Page 12 of Imagine Me and You

“Bah!” She smiled at him and her stomach tightened. She took a deep breath and headed toward the kitchen, scooping up the cookies along the way. “Hey, what do you want for dinner?”

“I made dinner,” he said.

“You...made dinner?”

“Yes, you can have some.”

“I thought you just got in.”

“I came in and put chili in the slow cooker and then went back out for a while. I usually live on my own, you know.”

“I know,” she said. “But I kind of picture you being a little more helpless than that. Your kitchen doesn’t look used.”

“Clean. It looks clean.”

“Ahahaha. Funny, funny. Where is this chili?”

“In the Crock-Pot, waiting for you.”

Again she couldn’t shake the feeling of the domestic. And a little bit of bliss. Domestic bliss. She’d been short on that in her life. She wasn’t sure what she thought about feeling it now, in this situation, with Jace.

She hadn’t ever felt this with guys she’d slept with. She’d never felt at ease having them in her space. Which, when you were in a long-term relationship with someone, obviously wasn’t very good. And that was maybe why they’d ended up dumping her.

Man #1, Mike, had lasted for two years. Two years of dates, the occasional dinner and night in and then an unceremonious boot in the morning so she could get back to her life.

Man #2, Caleb, had lasted a fleeting three months and hadn’t made it into her bed. Poor bastard. He’d always been called out at third base. No chance of sliding in home.

Man #3, David, had lasted a record four years. Until he’d wanted them to move in together. And the idea had felt so close to permanent it had given her the shakes.

Two years since that horrific breakup and she’d been sort of happily without.

So, in all honesty, she’d spent a long time avoiding domestic bliss. That she was liking it now, with Jace, was more than a little disturbing. Because Jace didn’t want it. And making any move toward it might alienate the one constant in her life.

The simple truth was, she loved Jace. Not that she was in love with him or anything, but she loved him. He was like a part of her. So deeply ingrained she didn’t know what she would do without him.

Which was maybe the root of some of her relationship trouble. Jace was the most important person in her world. That meant her boyfriends always came second. And they didn’t like that.

And a husband couldn’t come second to a friend. So that made things…impossible.

Just dating was almost impossible. David and Jace had not been each other’s biggest fans. And it wasn’t entirely Jace’s fault. Or David’s really. But David had been understandably iffy about his girlfriend going to another man’s house, alone, late at night to watch movies. And Jace had been understandably pissed that David had suspected they would fool around behind his back.

And she’d been understandably pissed about it too, but if she’d been in David’s place she would have been a little suspicious as well.

That had just been a big mess. And while her attachment to Jace hadn’t ended the relationship, it hadn’t helped either.

She shook off her decidedly downbeat musings and headed toward the Crock-Pot, filling a bowl with chili, cheese and corn chips. “Nom,” she said. “Thank you. It’s kind of nice to have someone cook for me.”

“Has anyone ever cooked for you?” he asked.

“Not really. Mrs. Brown used to bake for me. And she made us both cheese sandwiches for lunch.”

“Oh...I remember those,” he said. “Mayonnaise and cheese on white bread.”

“It was nice to have someone care enough to feed me.” She swallowed past a rising lump in her throat. “Anyway, it was nice then, and it’s nice now.”

“It’s nice to have you here.”

“I’m been making your life hell, but thanks for saying that.”

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