Page 126 of Direct Action

“I’ve never doubted it. Now what’s really on your mind?”

“Mom bought tennis rackets.”

That was such a shift in topic I wasn’t following.

“Tennis rackets?”

“She loves her new condo. Loves playing tennis. Has a ton of friends in the complex.”

“Okay.”

“I hate it.”

I knew she did. She hid it from her mother, but the sale of her childhood home had hit her hard. The night before the closing, I’d gone with her so she could walk around one last night. We’d been there over two hours. She told story after story, giving me her childhood memories while reliving them so she could do what her mother had suggested—lock them close to her heart so they’d always be with her.

“And I’m telling you right now, when she calls because she has a broken nose, you’re taking her to the ER.”

“I’ll take your mom to the ER for you.”

“I know you will. I know because there isn’t anything you won’t do for me. I know because you love me that fucking much.”

I let that settle deep in my chest the way I did every time she told me she knew how much I loved her—a love I knew she returned.

“If you know, then are we done with this two-house shit and you’ll finally move in, instead of using your apartment as a storage unit while you sleep in our bed next to me every night?”

“We slept at my house three weeks ago.”

She wasn’t wrong. But that wasn’t by choice. Or at least not my choice.

“Chloe, can we be done with this two-house shit, please?”

I saw her lips twitch. “Fine. My lease is up this month.”

“Are you shitting me?” I growled.

“What? It was cheaper for me just to pay rent on the last four months than pay the fine to break the lease, and I knew if I told you, you’d pay it. I didn’t want you to pay it, so instead of arguing, I just paid my rent while living with you in your house.”

I was opening my mouth to tell her what I thought of that bullshit when she pressed her fingers against my lips.

“I know you’ll do anything for me. I know you paying to break my lease wouldn’t be a handout, but it would be an unnecessary expense. And I know you wouldn’t have minded paying. But I’ll remind you, you paid my insurance copay to fix my Mustang and I didn’t hand you any lip. At least not the bad kind of lip.” Her lips curved up again, and I knew she was thinking about the blow job she’d given me to show her gratitude. Something I’d readily accepted. “So here we are. My lease is up. I’m moving in with you. I’m going to offer to pay rent. You’re going to lose your mind. I’m going to give in. Then you’re going to let me pay part of the utilities and all the streaming services. In exchange, I won’t bitch about you and Gavin buying groceries, though I’ll be chipping in with that when I go to the store. There, done. Worked out.”

“Can I say something now?” I asked from behind her fingers. She gave me a big, bright smile and dropped her hand. A smile I’d never seen her smile while we were anywhere near Leisure Village. “You forgot something?”

“What?”

“Tomorrow while you’re doing payroll, me and the guys are moving your shit. No arguing. No lip.”

She shrugged. “Fine by me. Moving sucks.”

“Good we worked that out. Now kiss me so we can visit with your dad before your mom gets here.”

She leaned deep over the center console but didn’t kiss me. “Do you know how much I love that you come and visit my dad with me?”

“Seeing as you tell me every time we come, and I remind you I like spending time with your dad, so I figure I get more out of it than you—yeah, I know.”

“And that’s why I love it. Because you like spending time with him. Because you get parts of him. But mostly I love knowing, even if he doesn’t remember, I get to give the man who loves and protects his daughter to him. I get to give him you, and I know if he was here, really here, he’d be grateful you love me the way you do. He wouldn’t worry about me anymore because he’d know you’d never let anything touch me.”

Good Christ.