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“This place is great,” she said. “I see why you bought it.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Of course,” she agreed.
“I don’t know why, but I really wanted you and the kids to like it,” he admitted. Hearing him say that melted another little piece of her heart. He surprised her at every turn and when Slater was as sweet as he was being right now, he could ask her for just about anything and she’d willingly give to him, but she’d keep that bit of information to herself.
“That’s sweet,” she said.
“There’s that word again,” he grumbled. “I’m not sure when you’re going to realize that I’m anything but sweet, honey. I’m sure you’ll pick up on it at some point though.”
“I’m not sure why you're so opposed to me calling you that, Slater,” she said. “But the more I’m around you, the more you show your true colors. You are a very sweet man.” He groaned and crossed the room as if trying to avoid her, but Rainey stayed hot on his heels.
“So, what’s the first project going to be?” she asked. Honestly, she was looking forward to working on his cabin. Some hard-core labor would get her mind off “Other Jack” and her troubles. She giggled at what she had just called him in her mind and Slater looked her over as if she had lost it.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“I just called Steve Angel, ‘Other Jack,’ in my mind. I thought that was funny,” she admitted.
“Hilarious.” He pulled open a few of the kitchen cabinets and looked into them. “First, I say we work on the living areas that we’ll all be using. The kitchen here, the great room, and the dining room. The bathroom down here needs a little bit of remodeling, so I can work on that while you and the kids do some light cleaning.”
“Light cleaning my ass,” she mumbled to herself.
“Yeah, it’s going to take a hell of a lot of elbow grease. Listen, if you aren’t up for this, we can find another place to lay low for a bit. Maybe I should have thought this through more before dragging you and the kids up here.”
“Not at all,” she insisted. “Getting this place up and running is a nice distraction for me and the kids. I’m glad that you asked us to be here with you, Slater.” Rainey wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as if trying to reassure him. He looked so unsure of himself especially when he was sharing a part of his vulnerable soft underbelly.
“You’ll tell me if this all gets to be too much, right?” he asked.
“Of course,” she promised.
“Eww,” Jack grumbled, walking back into the kitchen. “They’re kissing again.”
She giggled and released Slater. “Did you four find your bedrooms?” she asked.
“Mine has a bathroom in it,” Penny announced.
Slater chuckled, “I hate to tell you this kid, but that’s the master bedroom where your mom and I will be sleeping. Our room is the only one with a master bath,” he explained to Rainey.
“Yeah sorry, Pen,” she said. “Slater’s right though—you’ll have to find another room.” She groaned and ran back upstairs, her sisters and brother following close behind to make sure that she didn’t reassign one of them while claiming her space.
“Poor kid,” Slater said.
“Unless you’re going to give her our room, you’ll need to get over the fact that they’ll be disappointed once in a while. She’ll get over it though,” Rainey assured.
He nodded, “Thanks for reminding me,” he said. “I guess it’s easier to deal with all of this stuff when it’s your own kid. I’m dealing with a learning curve here though. I want them to like me.”
“They do,” she promised. “And in time, they’ll learn to love you.” She knew it was the truth because she had come to feel that way about him too.
* * *
They had worked on the cabin for almost two months now and Rainey had to admit—it looked damn good. The kids had not only helped to redecorate their rooms but even helped pull up carpet and refinish the hardwoods. In return for their help, Slater let them each pick out some accessories and new bedding and curtains. The girls, of course, had their rooms decked out in shades of pink while Jack, was rocking navy blue.
Slater had even convinced her to pick out some bedding and things for their room and every flowered pattern quilt she showed him was nixed. He told her that if he wanted to sleep under a blanket of flowers, he’d sleep outside. Their only saving grace was that each room came furnished. It wasn’t exactly to her taste, but that didn’t really matter. She had her furniture at home, the question was, when would she see it again?
She and Slater picked out some new dishes and kitchenware since the cupboards had only three glasses, a plate, and four forks. That was hardly enough to feed all of them at one time, so he pulled up a home store app on his laptop and told her to have at it. She insisted that he sit down and agree on everything that she had picked out. They either had very similar tastes or Slater just agreed to everything she showed him to get their shopping over with. It was all worth it though because his place was finally starting to feel like a home—her home, and that was dangerous.
Rainey needed to remember that she didn’t live there with him. Hell, he had purchased the cabin without even telling her and that spoke volumes to her. They weren’t to the place in their relationship that she could make demands on him or talk about their future. Her future was so up in the air, with a possible mad man coming after her, she didn’t dare ask him what their next step was, even if she was dying to know.
