Page 1 of No Limits

Chapter 1

It’sbeenayearsince Lochlyn proposed. In that time, he’s found a job at an amazing law firm in the area that specializes in music. He basically refused to return home to work at his father’s law firm, much to his dad’s chagrin. There was some discussion of losing income, which Lochlyn has never really cared about anyway.

But he was able to get his dad to come around by telling him there was no way he’d be leaving me, that Reynolds men didn’t leave their significant others behind. It was something he’d been taught when he was younger. And that he was still working in law, just a different type than what was expected.

Lochlyn didn’t need the money anyway; he had a job now which would more than pay the bills.

He’s gotten it into his head that we need a house. Not the apartment we’ve been living in, but a full house, with two stories and multiple bedrooms and bathrooms.

While I think it’s a little too much at our age, I’m not going to deny him.

That’s how I find myself standing in the dining room of a gorgeous colonial on a sticky Saturday in late August. This is the sixth weekend we’ve spent looking at at least a half-dozen houses per day. Yet while I’m here with the realtor, standing in silence since she’s covered everything about the downstairs, Lochlyn’s pacing the living room, phone to his ear as he has been doing for the past twenty minutes.

“Yes, sir, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. Yes, I’ll do my best.” He clicks the phone off, shoving it into his pocket and sliding his arm around my waist, pulling me against him with a kiss on the head. “Sorry.”

He’s been exceptionally busy. One thing that wasn’t mentioned is how busy entertainment lawyers can be. It’s not just representing the clients, there are always new ones coming, especially at a good firm like Jacoby & Miles. Lochlyn’s been working his tail off to climb the ranks, giving it his all, like he does with everything else. I worry about him getting burned out trying to give everything his full devotion.

“What do you think, baby girl? Is it what you’d envision?”

“Isn’t it a little big? It’s just the two of us.”

“It’s only three bedrooms, room to grow a little. We could get a dog. You know we need a room in case Chelsea or Wes want or need to stay. And what if your mom wants to come visit? We could get a dog…”

I turn to him and raise an eyebrow. A dog? I love pets, we both do, though it’s been ages since either of us have had one. But I don’t want a big house like this just to clean dog hair from every surface thirty times a day.

He mentioned it twice intentionally. Maybe he wants one more than he’s let on and this is how he’s letting me know.

“It just gives us space, Shay. We’ve been in an apartment for years. I want more for us. And I don’t want us to have to move a million times. This lets us get started here and move when or if we need more room, but it’s a beautiful and spacious enough house if we decide it’s our forever home.”

His logic is often hard to argue with. And it makes sense. At some point, we’ll have kids, and there’s space here for them. We don’t have to worry about moving before having a baby, which would likely be stressful.

“I’d like to see upstairs.” My voice is low and quiet, as I’m still unsure.

“You two take all the time you need to explore. I’ll be down here. If you need anything or have any questions, holler.” This is something Alisha has done at every house, letting us explore alone. I imagine it’s to allow us to discuss our thoughts without her overhearing.

He stays quiet as I explore the upstairs, opening closet doors and peering into showers.

“So? Do you like it? Being willing to see the bedrooms is usually an indicator you don’t hate it.” There’s a look of hopefulness on his face.

“It’s beautiful, Lochlyn. Really. And I think you’re right. It does give us room to grow, if we need it. No dog yet, though.”

He chuckles as he loops his arms around my waist and pulls me into his chest. “Okay, no dog yet. You know I want one, though. It’s been too long. I miss Cooper. He was such a good dog.”

Growing up, Lochlyn and Chelsea had a brown lab named Cooper. He was friendly with my golden retriever, Penny. It was fun when we’d all run around together and the dogs would chase. But the case with both pups is that they were our parents’ dogs before they had kids, and neither lived beyond our tenth birthdays. It’s been over ten years since we each lost our four-legged friends.

“Someday. Not yet. I think we’re both a little too busy to give a dog the attention it needs.”

“You’re right. But the house. Yeah? Would you be willing to make an offer?”

“If we can swing it, yes.”

“We can definitely swing it. I promise. Even if we settled at asking, which we definitely won’t offer up front.”

“Okay. I want to see the rest of the rooms. And this carpet, it’s a little outdated…” I mean, I’d say, considering it’s green.

“Anything. There’s room to do a full house if we need to, but the kitchen is brand new.”

“And beautiful.”

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