Page 109 of Best Man
He frowned. “But not right now?”
“You mean in your hotel?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Nah, not really for me.”
“Why not? What’s wrong with it?”
“Eh.” She hesitated. “Nothing’swrongwith it—it’s just a little too fancy for me.”
He looked at her like she was nuts. What girl had ever turned something down because it was too fancy? Certainly none that he’d ever known. “Too fancy?!”
“Well, yeah,” she said. “I’m used to ayurt,Sasha. You remember my place.”
Not only did he remember her tiny yurt—he remembered how she didn’t want to move into the giant house Jax and Piper had built. He’d admired her for that. That’s when he knew she was so different.
“Jeez. You and Katya are going to be best friends,” he teased, even though he secretly liked that she was sensible with money. He knew he needed the balance.
“Maybe we will,” she said indignantly. “She’s a cool chick.”
“So you’ll move in after we find a house?” he asked.
“Yup.”
He reached over to his nightstand for his iPad. “Then let’s start looking.”
She curled up next to him and watched as he loaded the real estate site on his tablet. He set the maximum price at three million dollars.
“Three million?!” she asked, shocked.
“Really? Is that too much?” he asked, because hewantedto look for houses in the five and up range.
“Those are mansions, Sasha! That’s too much. We should definitely get a house we can grow into, but not onethatbig. A starter home, you know? We can always get something bigger if we need it.”
“So … how much are we talking?”
“Let’s try this.” She dragged the slider down to one million.
“One million!” he blurted out, aghast and imagining cramped houses in neighborhoods with no privacy.
“That is still alotof money to spend on a house,” she said.
“It’s not that much in Dallas,” he countered.
Which was true—you could easily spend a fortune on a house in Dallas. But as they scrolled through the listings, Niko realized that the houses in this price range weren’t as bad as he imagined. Actually, they were perfectly fine. Would he spend more money on a bigger, flashier house if it were just him looking? Yes—in fact, he’d feel like heneededto spend more money to know he was buying something good that reflected his status. But he wasn’t just living for himself anymore; he had Paulina to consider and a baby on the way. He wanted her to be happy and feel comfortable in their house. Actually, as they scoured real estate listings, he found what he enjoyed most was seeing the houses that caught Paulina’s eye. It was so cute to see her get caught up in the excitement, imagining the various ways she’d improve, or decorate, or entertain.Thatwas what he most wanted in a house, he realized—a place where they would both be happy and their love could grow. He didn’t want a mansion, he wanted ahome.
He realized it wouldn’t be hard at all to find a house they both liked. All this exciting talk of buying houses and moving in cemented the idea in Niko’s head that he and Paulina were already a young and growing family with a little one on the way.
Eventually, they’d have to tell everyone else in their lives about the baby. Which wouldn’t be such a big deal for Niko—he only had his sister, and she would be completely thrilled by the news. And while his teammates would tease him mercilessly because he beat everyone else to the punch, that was their way of showing love. They’d all be supportive and happy for him.
But what aboutPaulina?
“Have you told your parents?” he asked, a lump lodged in his throat.
“No. Not yet.”
“What will they think?”
“I think Mom will be happy. Dad, on the other hand …” She looked at Sasha and bit her lip. “He, um, probably won’tloveit at first. Since, y’know, we haven’t been dating for very long. And you got me pregnant right away.”
Niko clutched his head. “Great. Your dad already hates me. Now he willneverlike me.”
