Page 57 of A Moment for Us
“You have two bedrooms.”
“Yes, and the second one will be the baby’s.”
He sighs. “We have about seven months before that room is needed. It works, Delia. I’m here every day to work on the floors. Once I finish with those, there are other projects as well as the baby’s room that will need to be redone. I can give Oliver a place to stay and be here to help with the renovations and make sure you’re not alone. What if someone breaks in? What if you’re here—by yourself—and this crazy person gets past your state-of-the-art alarm system?” The sarcasm is thick on that last part.
“Grrr.” I am really getting annoyed. “I have neighbors!”
“Oh, yes, that’s reassuring. I’m at least thirty minutes away now. If I stay here, I’ll be thirty seconds.”
I cannot believe I’m even listening to this, but he has a point about the break-ins. I may joke that Jeremy is a horrible cop, but Mrs. Garner was completely freaked out, and I can’t dismiss that. If Josh is here, it might bring a little comfort to her too.
“I don’t know . . .”
He walks over, taking my shoulders in his big hands. “Think about it. It works out that you’d have me near if you needed me. We’d have some time together to get to become better friends before the baby comes, and you’ll have your own personal errand boy for when you get a craving in the middle of the night. But we’re about to be parents. So, if for nothing other than the baby, we should figure things out before he or she arrives.”
I shake my head, refusing to listen to his reasoning that sounds so damn appealing. “I don’t know. I have to think about it.”
“It’s not a no.”
“It’s not a yes either.”
* * *
“Where do you want me to put this?” Oliver asks as he carries in a box for Josh.
“The second bedroom,” Josh yells from the car.
Two days. That’s all it took before the man was moving into my house. I am so damn weak.
Oliver walks over to me and then kisses my cheek. “Bless you. You’re doing the Lord’s work.”
“Shut up.”
He laughs. “I’m serious. You’re giving me a place to live, free from Amelia and her way-too-fucking-early play time. Not to mention Jess is seriously about to burst and so, so cranky because she can’t sleep.”
“You’re a horrible uncle.”
“That’s just it, I’m not. I’m the best, and it’s because I don’t live with them.”
I roll my eyes as he passes me. Josh walks in next with a much bigger box. I huff and then walk into the kitchen to get myself something to drink, wishing it could be vodka.
Today, I’ve felt so nauseated. I’ve been lucky in that I haven’t had any morning sickness before now, but I’ve been on the verge of puking all day.
Might be stress of having a tall, hunk of a man sleeping in the room opposite of mine for a while.
The first thing we agreed on was that he will not be sleeping in my room. I am not remotely strong enough to turn down that temptation. The second was that we have to be respectful of the other person’s life. If he wants to date, I will pretend not to give a shit while secretly wishing her a lifetime of diarrhea. If I date, he will not say a word to intimidate or be rude.
“Delia?” Josh calls from the door of the kitchen.
I turn, letting out a low breath. “Yeah?”
“Oliver is done, he’s going to head to Melia Lake and then meet us at Grayson’s.”
“Why are we going to Grayson’s?” I ask, not aware of this plan.
He smiles. “Jessica’s water broke.”
Chapter 17
