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I let out a grumbled curse under my breath before calling back, “I’m not your boss!”
Their laughter was followed by the front door closing and the sound of Lyric’s keys hitting the ceramic bowl by the front door.
“Hey,” she called to me, her voice growing louder the closer she got to the kitchen. “It’s smells amazing in here. I don’t know what you made, but my mouth is watering.”
She rounded the corner, a smile on her face, and just the sight of it righted everything in my world. Christ, I loved this woman more than I’d ever loved anyone.
She bent at the waist, scooping Churro off the floor and baby-talking to her as she closed the distance between us and popped up on her toes to give me a slow, lingering kiss, her tongue peeking out just long enough to swipe my bottom lip before she lowered back down.
“Garlic shrimp pasta. I hope you’re hungry. I might have made too much.”
She hummed appreciatively. “Sounds perfect. I’m starving.” She gave me another kiss. “Hey, baby. How was your day?”
“Better now.” I latched onto her hips, making her giggle as I pulled her back against me and wrapped her in my arms. “How was book club?”
“Great. As always. But I could use a glass of wine. You want me to grab you a beer?”
I dropped my arms. “You sit. I’ll grab it for you. Dinner will be ready soon, anyway.”
She hopped up on one of the stools tucked into the counter. “You know what? Make it two fingers of scotch, would you?”
I looked back at her, concern lancing through my chest as I opened the liquor cabinet and pulled out her coveted Lagavulin. “Everything all right? You normally only drink this when you’re stressed.”
She heaved out a sigh and massaged her forehead. “Yeah, it’s fine. I’m just frustrated. I talked to my landlord. I can’t say I’m surprised that he broke the remainder of my lease. I saw that coming from a mile away, but it still sucked to hear. He’s pissed that construction is taking longer than expected to make all the repairs to the property, but it’s not like I can control the weather, you know? It’s been cold and rainy. That delays construction. It’s just a fact of life. It’s like he thinks I’m in cahoots with the contractor to screw him over or something.”
I poured her drink and set it on the counter in front of her. Then I moved behind her and started to rub her shoulders, working the tension out with my thumbs and fingers. She groaned happily and leaned back into my touch. “Clay Morrison is one of the most honest men in the game. If he says the delays can’t be helped, it’s the truth. He’s a good man. He wouldn’t lie about shit like that or slack off.”
“Yeah, I know.” She twisted her neck to look back at me with a teasing smile. “And he’s married to Lark, so the man has to be a saint for putting up with her.”
I chuckled and kneaded at a particularly tight knot at the base of her neck. “Is that all that’s weighing on you?”
“Yeah. Well, I mean that, but also, those stupid spam calls have started again. I even answered one of them today, and there’s nothing on the other line but some dipshit breathing into the phone. I think I’m going to have to change my number.”
“Or you could just block them. That’s another option.”
I felt her tense and had to keep from laughing, because I knew what was going through her head. “You didn’t think of that, did you?”
“Shut up,” she said on a pout.
“Well, that’s one problem solved. As for the other, you want me to talk to your landlord?”
The thought of her moving out left a sick, sour feeling in my stomach, like I’d just chugged rancid milk, but if it was what she wanted, I’d do it. I’d make the asshole see her side of things and talk him into honoring the rest of her lease. It would fucking suck, but I’d promised her I’d give her anything she wanted, and if this was in my power, I’d do it.
“No,” she said on a sigh. “It was a nice house, but it was tiny. And the cheap rent wasn’t worth having to deal with him. It’s for the best, I guess.”
I placed a kiss on the crown of her head. “You know, you could always just stay here,” I suggested. “There’s no reason to move out now that we’re together. Besides, if you left, I’m pretty sure it would break Churro’s heart.”
At hearing me say her name, Churro popped up on Lyric’s lap, giving Lyric her doggy smile before licking the back of her hand.
“See? She’s positively bereft at the thought of it.”
Lyric giggled, the sound giving me life. “Oh, yeah. I can see it now. We need to watch her carefully, make sure she doesn’t fall into a doggy depression.” She swiveled the stool around to face me, and I used my knee to spread her legs so I could step between them and brace my hands on her thighs. “Do you really want me to stay? If you take a step back and really consider the timeline, we haven’t been together all that long. We’re talking weeks here. To most people, it would seem insane for us to live together so soon.”
My fingers pressed deeper into her thighs. “I don’t give a shit what other people might think or say. You’re the only one I care about. Fuck the timeline, Dove. All I know is that I’m happiest when you’re with me. I love you. You’re it for me, and that’s the truth now, and it’ll still be the truth six months from now, or a year. The only thing we’d do by not making your living arrangement official is delay the inevitable. So what do you say, baby? Will you move in with me for good? Make this place your home forever, or at least until we decide to get something bigger?”
She leaned in, holding Churro back so she could kiss me without the dog getting in the way. “Fuck the timeline,” she whispered against my lips, her own stretching into a smile.
I pulled back, my chest feeling lighter. “Help me set the table so we can eat, yeah?”
