AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Zoe, you have the power to break me.”
“I don’t know what to do with that.”
“Me either, sweetheart. So, what I suggest is that we take it a day at a time.”
“By getting married.”
“You can’t stay here until the repairs are completed. I have the spare room. Your car needs work done. You’ll save money by not going to a hotel that you can use toward it. You come out ahead.” I swear I can see her doing the calculations in her mind. “Trust the Doyle math.”
“How about I trust you instead?” Her eyes dart around her room, then seem to realize we’re on her bed, making her snicker.
“What?”
“The irony of you being the first man in my room, on my bed, and it being the first time we’ve been on one together, yet I’m almost five months pregnant with your kid.”
–––
On the way to my house, we took her car to her usual mechanic, the keys safely inside via an envelope and mail slot for after hour drops. As we neared our destination, I decided to warn her. “My neighbor hasn’t gotten the hint that I’m not interested nor have I ever been nor will I ever be.”
“Okay.”
“She saw me leaving and asked where I was going.”
“Nosey.”
“You can say that again.”
“Nosey.”
“I told her my fiancée is moving in with me.” Turning to see her expression, I hear her snicker again. “Are you mad?”
“No. I understand why you did it, especially if she’s that aggressive about it. And we are engaged.” When I’d told my parents about her, my mom, knowing how I think, had slipped me a ring that’s been passed through the generations. “Her being your neighbor makes it even more difficult unless she relocates.”
“I doubt she’d be willing to. She owns some kind of business here, not sure what or where.”
“Will it be an issue, on her end, when she sees this?” Zoe waves her hand in front of her belly, highlighting what’s inside and the jewelry adorning a certain finger.
“Nothing and no one will ever hurt either of you.”
I am not a violent man, and I would never lay a hand on a woman. There are different ways to get a point across. I’ve beenpolite up to this point, but if it comes down to my family versus anyone else?
There will never be a question of who I’ll choose.
Chapter Six
Zoe
January 26th...
Thankfully, this neighbor wasn’t outside waiting to accost us the instant we arrived, nor has she made an appearance since. Walker did point toward her window which faces our front door and I caught a quick glance of her before she flicked the curtain closed. Not enough to see her face, yet something about it seemed familiar.
On the bad news front, Mr. Rogers, the building’s owner, called this morning and informed me the repairs will take longer than estimated.
Perhaps as much as a month.
Which would have stressed me out had I not already decided to live with Walker.
To marry Walker. Which we did yesterday at the courthouse. Neither of us wanted to make a big deal of it. I feared his parents would be upset, but he assured me they understood and he promised we’d have a ceremony for the family later.
