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"It kinda seems like you got the sucky end of the deal," she says, moving toward the door. "There is no adventure in being with me."
I block her from leaving the room. "I wouldn't mind having the sucky end of the deal at all, baby. In fact, that would totally make up for all the shit the team has messed up. I'd be willing to forget about all the other things I asked for if I could get a blow job every morning and every night. That's an adventure you can give me."
She punches me in the gut. "You're a pig," she says, pushing past me.
I clutch my stomach and watch her walk away, grinning to myself.
I deserved that.
And I kind of like that she put me in my place.
My girl's not a wuss. She's a little shy, maybe. A little sheltered. But she's got some bite in her.
You know what that means?
We're going to have some fucking awesome fight-sex someday.
I can't wait.
I give her a few minutes to calm down and then saunter back into the kitchen where she's now putting tiny cat stuff together into a box.
"Do you think you can get a house quickly? I thought it took weeks or months?" she asks suddenly.
"We'll be in our own place in a few days, even if we have to rent it for a few weeks first until we close. Don't worry."
She blinks at me as she absorbs what I'm saying. "So you're planning on actually buying a house for us to live in?"
"Yeah. Don't you want our own house?"
"Of course…but I don't have any money to contribute to a down payment. Or a mortgage, for that matter. I really don't make much with my sales. The clothing and soaps I make aren't in any stores or anything. I make just enough to pay my bills."
"Don't you have a website? To sell and advertise online?"
She shakes her head. "No, I can't afford that. I just use social media sites and word of mouth."
"I'll have our web guy build you a killer site."
She puts her hands up in front of her like she's stopping traffic. "Whoa. Talon, I can't let you do all this. And am I supposed to leave my apartment permanently? What if things don't work out? I may not be able to find a place I can afford again. I know this place isn't much, but it's all I can afford, and the landlord hasn't raised my rent in over three years."
A little vein in her temple is throbbing and her eyes are getting even bigger as her stress level ramps up. I really wasn't expecting to be the calm, rational one in this partnership, but it looks like, for the time being, that role is mine, whether I want it or not.
"Asia, take a deep breath. First, you need a good website if you want to sell your products. The guy who does our band site is great. Second, we can't go into every decision saying, 'What if it doesn't work?' Didn't you listen at all during any of the sessions with Dr. Hollister? We have to treat this like a real marriage."
"Of course I listened, but—"
I touch her lips with my finger. "No buts. I'm just as nervous as you are, trust me. I've been wanting to buy a house for a while, so now is the perfect time. I don't expect you to pay for half or any of it."
She looks up at the ceiling and blinks back what looks like the start of tears. "That's not fair for you. I don't feel good about that at all."
Crossing my arms and leaning back against her kitchen counter, I nail her down with my eyes. "Look, this isn't up for debate. If we had fallen in love and gotten married in the usual way, I'd be paying for everything. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I want to take care of my wife and kids. I love that you have your own business, but I do not in any way expect you to fork over a down payment or pay half the mortgage or the bills. That shit is not gonna fly with me."
"I don't want a free ride. This is why I wanted to be with someone normal and not famous."
"Why? So you could struggle financially together? That would have made you happier?"
She lets out a strained little laugh. "Yeah, I guess in some ways, it would."
"Well, instead, you got someone with a shit-ton of money who's willing to give you everything you want as long as you don't fuck me over."
She shakes her head and looks me right in the eye. "I would never do something like that. I don't use people."
"Come here."
"What?" Her bottom lip quivers nervously.
"Come here. You're too far away."
She crosses the room tentatively and stops a few inches in front of me. Frowning, I grab her waist and pull her closer so her hips are resting against me.
"That's better." I capture her gaze with mine and keep my hands on her waist. "I know this money stuff is going to be a hurdle for you, but you gotta let it go. I'm gonna try to trust you here and be honest, okay?" She nods slowly, her hands on my biceps, gently squeezing me. "Obviously, I have money. But it's more than just the band. A few years ago when my grandfather passed away, I inherited five million dollars. I really haven't spent any of it, except for the cars and guitars and stupid stuff. It's all in the bank, some of it invested. We can have a stable future, just like you wanted."
She sucks in a quick, surprised breath. "That's a lot of zeroes," she whispers in awe.
"Yeah, it fucking is. I can afford to get us a nice place to live and pay for everything, including a website for you. I have zero issue sharing with you, as long as you're good to me. We'll take things slow and figure the us part out. But I don't want you worrying about trying to find a place to live someday. If things don't work, I'll make sure you have a nice place to live. I will not ever let you live in a place like this again, no matter what. You have my word on that. I just can't deal with this 'what-if' shit every time we make a move. We can't be putting up speed bumps at every turn. That's not my style. If I want to do something, I do it."
Her fingers dig into my biceps, her arms trembling. "I don't know what to say." Her voice shakes with emotion, and I don't like how hearing it makes my stomach feel funny. "Thank you doesn't seem like enough."
"Well…I'm still open to sexual payments." I squeeze her waist tighter.
Grinning, she leans back a little to look up into my face. "Are you always going to ruin every decent move you make with a sarcastic one?"
"Probably."
Her laughter fills the room. "The backwardness of this entire situation is going to take getting used to," she says. "This whole cart before the horse idea is much harder than I thought it would be."
"Hopefully things will get easier when we get more comfortable around each other."
"I hope so."
Me too.
Chapter 12
Asia
My brain is spinning as I sit quietly in the passenger seat of the bouncy monster truck with Pixie's little carrier on my lap. Talon's been listening to music as he drives and seems lost in his own thoughts, as he's being unusually quiet.
So much is happening in such a short amount of time. Leaving my apartment to go stay in his family guesthouse, going house shopping in the near future, and the fact that I just unknowingly married a millionaire rock star is all leaving me a little shocked and shaken.
Talon's got me in a twist too. He's all over the place with the way he acts toward me. One minute he's acting like he doesn't like me, then the next he's coming on to me. And then telling me he's going to make sure I never live in a ghetto again, which is the sweetest, most generous thing anyone has ever said to me in my entire life.
"
We're almost there," he says, breaking the silence.
We've driven way up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, which is a gorgeous area I've only been to a few times even though I've lived in New Hampshire since I was born.
"Are we near the waterfalls?" I ask, having never been, but I've always wanted to go.
"Yeah, that's not too far from here," he says, turning the truck down a wooded street. "You like the falls?"
"I've always wanted to go but never had the chance." Kind of hard to go anywhere without a car.
"Then we'll go sometime. In the fall would be best, when the leaves turn."
"I would love that. I can never get enough of the color of the leaves."
"We'll take my camera and get some good pictures to frame and hang in the house."
I smile at him, loving that idea. "Oh, that would be cool."
"I thought so, given your decorating skills, which are much better than mine. I think I'll leave the decorating up to you."
"No, we'll do it together."
He nods as he pulls into a driveway and puts the truck in park. "Okay, together, but I'll leave the creative direction to you. And we're here."
Wow. The property is gorgeous, with perfect landscaping featuring a huge weeping willow tree on the front lawn surrounded by gorgeous flowers and shrubbery. The guesthouse is pretty big judging from the outside, and the main house it's set apart from is a huge, sprawling L-shaped brick ranch.
"Hang on and I'll come get you," he says, jumping out of the truck and coming around to open my door. I hand him Pixie in her carrier and then he holds my hand as I jump out. Getting out is much easier than getting in.
"We should really switch up the cars so you don't have to keep manually getting me in and out," I say, taking the cat carrier from him. Although, I kind of like him lifting me into the truck and being able to watch his arm muscles flex.
"Let's put your stuff inside and get the creature situated, then we'll walk over to Gram's and say hello."
"Do not call her 'creature.' You should address her as Princess Pixie or she will get very mad," I tease, peering at her in the small carrier. She doesn't look too happy about all this activity disturbing her usual daily naps.
