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“Lance told me about it and how it works. He brought my bag up and we got to talking. He’s really nice and helpful.”
“He seems to be. I hope what Lala said doesn’t make you reconsider us. I hate the idea of anyone making you doubt me or us.”
She didn’t say anything at first and chewed on that lip. A knot formed in my stomach. She was looking at her hands. Finally, she made eye contact with me. I could see hesitancy in them. Fuck.
“I won’t lie. She did make me feel uncertain and insecure. We’re nothing alike. Even if you didn’t sleep with her, I bet she’s the usual type you guys do sleep with. I know she’s way more experienced in bed than me. There’s so much I don’t know about relationships and sex. What if I screw this up? What if you discover you don’t want me after all?”
“I don’t know anything about having a relationship either. Sure, she knows more about sex, but I don’t mind teaching you what you don’t know. It’ll be even better, because I’ll be the only one to ever do those things with you. She’s probably done it with hundreds. It’s nothing special. We can’t screw it up too much, as long as we talk to each other. I have absolutely no worries about not wanting you. What if you decide you don’t want me?”
She gave me a shocked look. “No! I might not know everything, but I know that I’ll never stop wanting you, Adam. Ever. Just promise, if there is something you want, that you’ll tell me.”
“The same goes for you, Boo. Okay, let’s forget Lala and her crap. How did your day go at the bakery? I know it had to be better without Jan there.”
“It was. Wish I could work with Erin all the time. Harper, Harlow, Neriah, Bryony, Nyssa and Ashlee came in to visit me and try the baked goods. They hung out a while and talked to me.”
“That’s nice of them. Anything else exciting happen? Is Jan going to be there tomorrow?”
She hesitated, which put me on alert. She was back to looking uncomfortable. What the hell was that about? “Tell me,” I ordered. I tried not to sound too gruff.
“Before they came in, someone else did. I don’t want you to get mad. Just stay calm. Yesterday, I had a visitor at the bakery and I didn’t tell you. I knew you’d be upset and I didn’t think there was a reason for it. Heath came in. He claimed he didn’t know I worked there. I took him at his word, then today he came back. Said he wanted to sample more of my stuff. He wanted to talk to me, but when the ladies showed up, he knew that wasn’t going to happen. He asked to talk to me after work. Also, he wondered if you’d be at my place. I told him we wouldn’t be there. He stayed for a while, watching me talk to them before he left. Nyssa told me I should watch him. She doesn’t think he found me by accident. I don’t know if I believe that either.”
Instantly, anger flooded my veins. Like hell he found her by accident. I knew as sure as I knew my name, he’d followed her there. I was wondering why I hadn’t noticed us being tailed. Knowing this made me even more determined to accompany her to work every morning. I growled my displeasure.
“He’ll stay the fuck away from you, if he knows what’s good for him. I won’t tolerate anyone stalking you, babe. I don’t think it was by accident either. Nyssa is right. If he shows up again, I want you to text or call me right away. Don’t ever let him get you alone. I know I’ve been staying with you at night, but you do get home a few hours before I do. He could wait for you and I don’t like it. All the more reason for you to stay here. I know you’ll be safe here.”
“How did I know you’d say that? Don’t think you can use that excuse to keep me here,” she said, but I saw the edges of her mouth lift. She was trying not to smile.
“I’ll use anything I can to talk you into it. In fact, I’d like us to go exploring tonight, before dark.”
“Exploring what?”
“The compound. There’s still a lot of open land and I’d like to hear what you think are the best places to build a house. I want to know if we have any spots we like in common.”
“And if we do? What then?”
“Then I’d say we found our house site and all we need to do is come back and start looking at house plans. Listen, before you say no, it doesn’t mean we’ll start building it now. It could take a while to find one we can agree on. Once we find it, we’ll have it ready to give to Steel & Hammer once the time comes. There’ll be no delaying it while we decide. It’s all about time management.” I grinned at her and gave her my best innocent look. She burst out laughing.
“Don’t quit your day job to take up acting. You’re not a bit innocent, Adam Becker. You can’t fool me. However, if you want, we can look at the property. I make no promises that if we find it soon, we’ll come back and start looking for plans, but I’ll go that far. Deal?”
She held out her hand. I shook it. I’d take what I could get and then push for more when the time came. Smiling happily, she gave me a quick kiss then sprang to her feet.
“If we’re going to do that, then let’s do it now then I’ll come back and make dinner. It gets dark early this time of year.”
She wasn’t lying. I hated this time of year. Taking her hand, I took her outside. The sun was still out, so it wasn’t cold, but I did snatch her jacket off the hooks by the door. Just in case she got cold. It was with excitement that I led her outside to check for the best spot. I prayed we’d find one tonight.
As we passed the other houses, I asked her specifics about what she liked about each one of them. I was trying to figure out what kind of house she might want. There were so many and we had most of them here. Craftsman, cottage, farmhouse, you name it. I was curious to see which site or sites she might like. Personally, I didn’t have an absolute preference. As long as it was within the walls of our compound, where she and our family would be safe, then I didn’t give a shit. What I cared about was making her happy.
She didn’t have too many things growing up that were ever to her liking. It was always what her dad wanted or that so-called husband. The last three years had started her along the way in doing things she wanted. I’d try my hardest to give her what she needed and wanted, unless it pertained to her health and safety. In those cases, I’d be the one calling the shots if we differed.
After walking around for over an hour, we called it a night. It was getting too dark to see. She’d pointed out three spots she liked. Back in the apartment while I helped her to prepare dinner, we talked about houses. During dinner, we talked more. By the time it was over and we were settled on the couch, I was ready for us to look at house design plans. I’d asked Steel which websites were good ones to look at for ideas. He’d given me one. Before sitting down, I grabbed my laptop. She gave me a puzzled look.
“Adam, what are you doing with your laptop?”
“I want us to look at this website and see what kind of house designs we like. I asked Steel and he recommended this one. They even have plans if we find one we like enough.”
“I thought we were going to wait.”
“We don’t have to order anything now. Or even decide on the plan, but I’d like us to be working on it, so when the time is right, we won’t need to waste time. I know you’re still leery. I understand, but I know in the depths of my soul, we’re going to be with each other for the rest of our lives. We will have a home together.”
