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“Did you two date for a hot minute?” I ask.
This finally gets her attention. “No, we didn’t. Always just friends.” She sticks her nose in the air.
“Why is he in the office? You matching him?” If she is, that’s news to me. And surprises me to boot. Cole isn’t the type of guy who needs a matchmaker.
“He was just in the other day meeting with Ruth. You know his grandmother is Dorthy, right?”
I gasp. “What? Since when?”
She rolls her eyes. “Uh, for at least the last thirty-two years.”
I sigh. “Obviously, but come on. Why didn’t we know he was related to Ruth’s BFF in college?”
Her shoulder lifts, then falls. “I don’t know. We were just casual friends. We didn’t talk much about family, I guess.”
Interesting.
“Well, are you gonna reconnect with him?” I nudge her with my elbow.
Her lips press together in a slight grimace. She shakes her head softly. “No, I don’t think that would be wise.”
I open my mouth to ask why when I hear our names screeched out loud. Turning away from Layla, I see Stella bounding toward us, her arms opened wide.
We embrace and greet each other. It’s been years since I’ve seen Stella and I’m so glad she’s back in my life.
Hopefully, she can plant some roots here and stay awhile.
I’ll find a moment to find out from Layla why she’s not interested in Cole.
And in the meantime I’ll get to the bottom of this random-ass dinner party Mr. Grump suddenly wants to host.
Or maybe, I’ll just go with it and enjoy a house full of family with the man I love.
We’ll see.
* * *
THEO
Rolling over, I find a long, warm body next to me. I reach out, wrapping my arm around Cassie’s soft hips, and pull her against me. A breath falls from her lips as she stirs.
Three months ago, I told her I loved her. Things progressed quickly after that. We spent more nights than not together. It was either my place or hers. On nights I worked late, I found my way into her bed. On nights I left the office early, she would find her way into mine.
On nights she wasn’t the last thing I saw when I closed my eyes, my mornings waking up in an empty bed were terrible.
I knew within a month that I needed her to live in the same house as me. I thought long and hard about how to broach the subject since I knew how much she loved her condo.
While her place was nice, it was everything I loved about her, it wasn’t big enough for the family I knew she wanted. The family I wanted and I wanted that family sooner rather than later.
One late night after pizza and a quick and dirty round on the countertop—yeah, it’s my girl’s favorite spot for a quick fuck—I asked her to move in with me. I was expecting a debate over her place versus mine, but she leaned in and kissed me. Pulling away, she wore a massive grin.
“I love this house. I wouldn't want any other house to start a family in.” She giggled when I dropped my head to her bare shoulder, while I was relieved she felt the same way.
She moved in a week later. Her condo sold within five days of being on the market.
She was stunned. I wasn’t. I knew it was prime real estate and my realtor is fantastic.
The holidays came and went, and this new life together has been so much more than I ever expected. What a sad, lonely fuck I would have been if I hadn’t taken Ruth up on her offer to win Cassie back.
