AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re picking a bug off me,” her voice is softer than before. “I had one behind my ear once, and Keith had to help me get it off. You would have thought I vomited on him the way he acted. Like I repulsed him.”
There are so many things I want to say to that, starting with Keith is the biggest piece of shit I’ve ever met. “That’s a him problem,” is what I go with. “Besides, isn’t there something in marriage vows about for better or worse, with ticks and no ticks?”
Her snort makes me smile. “So I take it you’ve never been married? Because it’s in sickness and in health, not in tick-ness and in health.”
I laugh, appreciating the pun. Edging the tweezers under the tick, I try not to squeeze it prematurely. “Never married. Engaged when I was twenty-six, though.”
“Really?”
“Yes, called it off when I found out she was sleeping with a coworker.”
I catch a glimpse of Claire’s wince in the mirror. “Sorry to drag that up,” she says, her voice soft.
“It was a long time ago.” Plucking the tick with a quick, twisting motion, I remove it in one piece. “Just glad I found out when I did.”
She nods. “True. Better before you get hitched than ten years in. Keith cheated on me. With Naomi, you know, the pretty paralegal you work with?” There’s a tone in her voice I don’t like. She’s trying to sound nonchalant, but there’s an ache underneath that makes me want to kiss her, touch her, coax out those hungry little whimpers instead of her sounding so sad.
Our eyes meet in the mirror. Again, I want to say too many things.
You’re prettier.
She’s barely old enough to drink.
Keith’s a jackass having an early mid-life crisis.
“You know he fucked up, right?” is what comes out. We’re in a mirror staredown. She shrugs, and I gently nudge her back with my chest. “He did. You’re a catch. Seriously.”
As I’m saying it, the truth in my words registers. It crawls just beneath my skin, unsettling me. Claire is a catch, and when she’s no longer locked away in my home, someone will snatch her up. The idea of her dating makes me want to put my fist through the wall. The flare of anger catches me off guard. This isn’t like me.
“I guess you would say I’m a catch, huh?“ She chuckles, and I realize what I said. I should smile, but I’m still too irritated by the thought of her dating. “How’s the tick?”
“Dead.” I hold up the tweezers, finally laughing when she wrinkles her nose.
“Thank you. And I’m sorry for interrupting your work.” Shuddering, she turns like she’s thinking about leaving.
I don’t want her to. Thirty days suddenly feels far too short. “I wasn’t doing anything important,” I lie. “I was actually getting ready to watch some TV.”
She nods. “I’ll let you get to it.” Then she’s moving to the door again.
Shit.
“Do you like Real Estate Wreck?“ I blurt.
That makes her spin. “That’s what you’re going to watch? I’m obsessed with that show.”
“Really?” I try to sound surprised. Like I didn’t hear her talking to her best friend about it during one of the dozens of coffee dates I observed. Like I didn’t DVR three seasons, just in case she might want to watch it while she was here. I never planned on watching it with her, but right now, the idea is appealing. “Watch it with me.”
She arches an eyebrow. “Sure that doesn’t go against anything in the contract? It’s not too relationship-y?”
Fuck that contract.
Pressing a hand to her lower back, I steer her out of the bathroom. “Positive, and I’m a lawyer, so I would know.”
Claire laughs at that. A real laugh, one that might make up for the fact that I’m about to sit through a home improvement show.
An hour later, she’s asleep on my shoulder while Real Estate Wreck plays. I watch the whole episode, and after seeing a couple discover their new house has a bat infestation and was built over an unmarked cemetery, I’ve decided that maybe the show isn’t too bad. When it ends, I wake her. Claire’s voice is sleepy, her hair wild as she looks around. Owlishly, she blinks at me.
“Why am I here?”
