Page 61 of The Hometown Dilemma
“At least neither of us has to be up early tomorrow.”
Wade’s demeanor changed. “Um, yeah, I guess so.”
My brows knitted together. “What? Don’t tell me you’ve got to work? You promised me we could spend tomorrow together.”
“And we will.” His smile returned and he tapped me on the end of my nose. “Every single second.”
The entire evening turned out to be a resounding success. Almost unbelievably, the Panthers won again, food flew out of the kitchen, and the bar was almost drunk dry. Music blared out late into the night before Wade and his staff finally chased everyone out. He told Brad, Terri, and the others to leave, saying the clean-up could wait until morning and it was just the two of us.
It still felt strange being the only people in the bar, despite all the evenings we’d worked together and been the ones to close up.
“Don’t suppose there’s a storm brewing tonight, is there?” I cocked a brow.
“We could make one of our own?” Wade pulled me towards him, his fingers exploring the skin around the waistband of my jeans, hidden by the floaty hem of my top.
At the brush of his touch, my nipples pebbled, and I pushed myself against him, needy for more. But the moment was spoiled by the fact I let out a huge yawn.
“Really?” Wade laughed. “I shouldn’t be surprised. You’ve barely had any sleep the past few weeks. Let’s go back to your place tonight.”
“Why can’t we go to yours again? We haven’t been there for weeks.”
“Oh, the place is a mess.” He waved a vague hand. “I need to find the time to clean it up. You deserve better than the cesspit it currently is.”
“Fine.” I yawned again. “Let’s go before I fall asleep standing up.”
That night, I got a whole undisturbed seven hours sleep wrapped up in Wade, until his alarm split the air at eight am. He switched it off, then leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Come on, we have to get up.
My eyes flew open. “I thought we were sleeping in.”
“We have somewhere we need to be.” Placing a kiss on my forehead, he threw back the covers and ambled towards the bathroom.
I watched his tight, muscular ass as he crossed the room, then shook my head. He’d promised me a chilled-out day, so where the hell were we going so early? I grumbled my way through breakfast, mainlining coffee like it was going out of fashion. Wade took my mood in stride, refusing to rise to my gripes, especially when we got in his car to go out. I’d wanted to spend the day in bed, or at least in the house. I didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything.
When we pulled up outside of a small, four-story apartment block on the outskirts of Ridge Heights, I had no clue as to why we were there. And when Austen stood in the doorway, I became even more confused.
“What’s going on? Have you two been colluding to find me a new client?”
The two friends exchanged a smirk.
“Not exactly.” Austen handed over a set of keys to Wade. “Here you go. All yours, buddy.” And he left us to it.
Still baffled, I turned to Wade. “What did he mean ‘all yours’?”
“Why don’t we go inside?” Wade held out his hand and I took it, following him into the apartment building.
We went to the third floor and Wade guided us towards one of the doors. He slid the key into the lock and pushed open the door. I stepped inside the apartment that appeared in desperate need of renovation. It needed a total remodel, not just the cosmetic stuff.
“Who am I going to be working for here?” I turned to Wade, wrinkling my nose at the thought of the task.
A smile played around his mouth. “You’re not going to be working for anyone. This place is ours. Or at least it will be once you’ve weaved your magic on it.”
My mouth fell open. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d be able to live in a two-bedroom apartment close to Ridge Heights.
“Wait, I don’t understand?”
Wade pulled me towards the living room window, which had a glorious view of the wooded area to the back of the property.
“The reason we haven’t been able to go to my place is that I’m renting it out to a couple who’ve recently come to Abbott Ridge. They moved in about six weeks ago and I stayed with Mom and Dad whenever I wasn’t with you.”
