”Getting him was such a great idea,” I say. “I’m sorry you had to clean up mud and give him a bath.”
Jett shrugs, shaking his head when I pat the bed beside me. “I’m filthy. I need to shower. And then first thing tomorrow morning, I’m demanding that our house gets rebuilt faster than humanly possible.”
The next morning at work, I’m taking inventory of our office supplies so I can place a Costco order when Jett walks into the lobby. He walks right up to the front counter across from where I’m sitting. He drops his elbows on the counter and sinks his head into his hands.
“Six. Months.”
“Huh?” I touch his cheek and lift his head up to face me. “You look very stressed.”
”Six months,” he says again.
Fear courses through me. He must be talking about motocross—is he going to join Team Loco for six months? They said three days! Six months is a lot longer than three days!
”The insurance company says that’s just how long it takes these days.”
”Wait,” I hold out my hand. “What are we talking about?”
He flattens his hands on the counter, curling his fingers over the edge in a way that makes the muscles in his forearms pop out. “I just got off the phone with the insurance. They said it’ll be at least six months to get a new home build approved and completed, and that’s if the weather cooperates, and if there’s plenty of building supplies after the lumber shortage from a few months ago, and if nothing else delays construction. Six freaking months. But they said don’t be surprised if it takes nine months.”
Okay, so he’s not talking about motocross. It’s not what I thought he meant, but equally bad. Or maybe even worse.
”Six to nine months of living here, sharing a room with a kid and dog?” I press my palm to my head. “This is going to suck.”
”It doesn’t have to,” he says.
For a second I think he’s going to give some inspirational speech about how our situation is only as stressful as we allow it to be, and how we should embrace this opportunity to live with his parents and have to buy all of our stuff over again. That it’s some kind of great life lesson we’re all going through.
But Jett knows me better than that.
He reaches across the counter and grabs my hands in his, meeting my eye with his gorgeous gaze. Maybe it’s just the way the mid-morning sunlight hits his face at this angle, but damn he’s hot. He smirks, sending chills down my arms.
”What are you scheming?” I ask.
He squeezes my hands, then lets go. His smirk widens. He presses his palms together then spreads them apart. “Let’s get a rental house.”
”Yeah?” I say. It’s not like I hadn’t had the idea myself already.
”We’ll sign a six month lease, or month-to-month, whatever. Hell, even if they require a year lease, we’ll just pay it or be grateful that we have extra time in case the house rebuild takes longer than nine months.” He runs his hand through his hair, leaving it messy. “The way the insurance person talked, it could easily take longer than nine months. So let’s just go rent a place with plenty of rooms and a fenced in yard for Arko.”
I nod, getting more excited with each word he says. “Yes! Do you think your parents will be upset? Like, are we insulting their generosity by getting our own place?”
”Nah,” he says. “They want what’s best for us.”
My teeth bite into my bottom lip. “Babe, I’m excited. This is a great idea. I love your family but…”
”We need our own space,” he says, finishing my thoughts for me.
I nod. The clacking sound of Arko’s nails on the tile floor gets our attention. He’s been hanging out in the playroom all day with Harper and Morgan, one of our office staff. Harper walks with him, one hand protectively on his back.
She stretches tall and places a piece of paper on the counter in front of me. It’s a crayon drawing of Daddy, Mommy, Harper, and Arko. Several little yellow dots on the grass by Arko’s feet must be his favorite glow-in-the-dark balls. There’s a sun in the sky and green grass all along the bottom, with a blue house in the background.
“This is beautiful!” I say, holding the artwork up for Jett to see so we can both admire it. “You are an amazing artist, Harper.”
She beams. “I put Arko’s balls on there since he loves them so much!”
”I see that. And you made Grandma’s house blue.”
”No, that’s our house.”
