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“No.” She laughs. “I think I can manage the thirty minutes until we’re home.” Then she does something completely unexpected. She pulls me across the table for a kiss. Nothing outrageous. Just “two people who like each other” kind of kiss.

But it seals my fate completely. There’s no turning back, I’ve fallen in love.

fifteen

RAND

My fiendish plan must be working, Brontë has made an appearance at my house every evening for the last couple of weeks.

Not that we have much privacy. The house is usually full of guys who have started coming just to hang out and drink my beer more than help. I don’t mind, they're nice enough. But I was used to being surrounded by solitude in my condo.

Today the new furniture arrives, so I told the guys not to come over. I’m not sure what all is showing up. Brontë must have dragged me to every furniture store on this side of the state.

I took the path of least resistance and just agreed to whatever she suggested. I just hope it fits in with the period of the house. And maybe my taste.

“When did they say they’d get here?” She’s asked the question every fifteen minutes since she got to the house two hours ago. You’d think by now she’d be on my last nerve, but nope. Nothing she does could ever irritate me.

“They said right after lunch.” I’ve answered the question the same way every time.

I’ve learned, since living here, that lunch is any time from eleven to two. It’s barely noon.

I’ve been standing at the kitchen island, working on my laptop since before she arrived. Trying to work remotely has been interesting since we’re in different time zones.

“And they’re bringing everything?” she calls again from the living room.

“That’s what they said.”

“And you have everything ready?”

“Sheets washed, duvet cover on, floors cleaned.” Just as instructed.

I don’t tell her I have a second delivery coming tomorrow of stuff I ordered that she knows nothing about. I can’t reveal all of my secrets yet. It’s the room I’m most excited about.

I bend back over my laptop and wait for the questions to cycle back through.

This time, I’m interrupted by a knock on the door. Whoever it is doesn’t wait for a response. The door flies open. I’ve also discovered that no one knows how to wait for an invitation around here. I guess it’s a good thing it’s not a town of vampires. They’d never get an invite inside.

“We brought food,” Austen announces, walking through the door. She’s worse than Reed at ignoring the rules of social decorum. My guess is it's the next person through the door who bothered to knock.

“And drinks,” Eliot adds. Of all of them, she seems to be the most private. Hence, the knock. “We figured you might need reinforcements.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad,” Brontë says.

Eliot rolls her eyes at me and motions with her head toward the kitchen. Taking the three bags of food from Austen, I follow her.

I close my laptop and set it on the counter off to the side. The Iowa project will have to wait until later. Thankfully, I have Peter and Geneva picking up my slack. Lately, I’ve been the weakest link in the business. A fact I’m sure I’ll hear about soon from my father.

“So what have you been up to?” Eliot asks.

“Trying to get some work done on a project we have in the Midwest. It’s hard to keep on top of everything with the remodeling and baby stuff.”

“I understand that. I’d offer to help, but I’m not Team Rand yet like Reed is. I’ll reserve my opinion for a little while later.”

“Makes sense,” I agree. Turning, I search through the cabinets for the paper plates I stashed earlier.

“She’s been excited to pick out furniture with you.” Eliot begins pulling sandwiches out of the first bag. I unload various salads and chips from the second bag. “And she can’t stop going on about the trip to Austin. I think it helped take her mind off everything. She loved living in New York. The new wardrobe gave her a little bit of that back.”

“I’m glad I could do something,” I say quietly. They don’t need to keep reminding me of how I fucked up her life. It’s obvious every time I see that baby bump. But what’s done is done.

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