“Trying might be fun.”
“Hadley.”
Distraction with sex isn’t going to work today.“Sorry.”
“You keep saying that, but you’ve yet to tell me why you’re here, fully dressed.”
He has a point, I’m not usually dressed for very long when I’m in this condo.“Okay… my grandma died.”
“Mae?”
I tilt my head.How does he know my grandma?
“You had me meet you at her bookstore…”
“The Story Jar.”I nod, my voice cracking.“Yeah.She passed away.”
“I’m sorry.Can I do anything?”
“No… well… actually… yeah.That’s why I’m here.”
No more stalling.No more banter and sexual innuendos.Here it is.
“Funny that a baby was left on your doorstep, because something happened to me that sounds just as insane,” I say.
“Really?Like what?”
“My grandma left me the bookstore?—”
“That’s awesome.So are you staying in Chicago?”
“Yes.”Well, hopefully, but that all rests in Easton’s hands at this point.“That’s the thing… she put stipulations on it.”
“Like what?”He chuckles.“You have to get married?”
“Uh… yeah.”
His mouth slowly falls open.
“Apparently, she thinks that’s part of me putting down roots.I have to live here and be married for a year before the bookstore is legally put in my name.”
He laughs again but sobers when he sees that I’m not.No, this isn’t an April Fools’ Day joke.
“That’s like something from the eighteen hundreds.”
“I’m aware, and the clock doesn’t start until I say I do…”
He practically crawls off the chair toward the fridge, where he grabs a beer and twists the cap off before downing half of it.
“You have a baby to look after.”
“One beer isn’t going to put his life at risk.”He sets it on the counter and walks over to me.
“So you won’t do it?”
He cringes.“Hadley… you know I can’t.”
“Why?”Tears prick my eyes, but I will them away.
