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Cole groaned. “I don’t want my little sister hanging around with me and my friends.”
“Afraid I’m going to tell Mom and Dad that you’re doing something you shouldn’t be?”
“No. It’s just… weird.”
Jay clapped Cole on the shoulder. “Such is life, little bro. Might as well get used to it. The more you fight this, the more likely you are to lose your friend.”
“Lose him toSkylar?” Cole rolled his eyes. “I just thought there was some sort of code between friends about dating their sisters.”
“A crush can trump all that,” Jay informed him, reluctant to peg anything as love just yet.
“Just because you’re not dating doesn’t mean that I can’t.”
“I could date if I wanted to,” Cole informed her with a glare. “I just don’t want to start something before I leave in the fall.”
“And that’s a good decision,” Jay told him. “But you’ve got to let other people live their lives, even if it does make you feel a little creeped out.”
Jay pulled them both in for a quick hug, then left them to finish their squabbling. He was kind of glad that Will had never expressed an interest in any of his sisters because if things hadn’t worked out with them, he would have hated to have had to choose between his best friend and his siblings.
“Hi,” Misha said with a smile as he approached where she stood, Ciara balanced in her arms.
“How was your day?” he asked as he held out his hand to the baby. She immediately grabbed one of his fingers and held on tight.
“It went well. We were able to look at a couple of housing possibilities this morning. Apparently, three-bedroom apartments aren’t plentiful around here, but the agent showed us a couple of townhouses where the property maintenance is included in the rent, so we wouldn’t have to deal with it during winter or summer.”
Jay had an idea of where those properties were, and those developments were in a nice part of town. “Do you have other options to see?”
“She said she might be able to find one or two more, but honestly, I really liked the one place, especially. Mom liked it too, so I have a feeling that will be the one we go with. I don’t really believe in continuing to look in case there’s something better out there when we’ve already found something we both like.”
“Yeah. You don’t want to miss out on it if it turns out there’s nothing better.”
“Yep. So once we have a chance to talk a bit more about it tonight, I’ll let the agent know so we can finalize everything.”
“Will you be able to move in right away?”
“The unit we both liked is available in two weeks, while the other one would be available sooner.”
“There’s no need to rush on Janessa and Charli’s account. I’m sure they’re fine with having you around for however long you need to be here.”
Misha nodded. “That’s what they said.”
Ciara tugged on Jay’s finger and when he looked back at her, she held her arms out to him. Jay glanced at Misha, who simply shrugged. After a brief hesitation, he took the little girl from Misha, prompting a wide, toothy grin from the baby.
“You seem quite comfortable with children,” Misha said.
Jay looked at her. “I’m notuncomfortable with them, but I’m not as good as Gareth or my sisters. I was eleven when Cole was born and thirteen when Skylar arrived, so I have been around babies. Of course, Layla showed up more recently, so I’ve had some experience with her, too.”
“She seems to adore you,” Misha observed.
“The feeling is definitely mutual.”
Ciara patted his cheek and squealed when he turned his attention back to her. He’d hoped to one day have kids of his own with Casey, but now, he was glad they’d never gotten to that point. A dysfunctional marriage would have turned into a dysfunctional family, and he wouldn’t want that for any child.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Misha spun in a slow circle, taking in the space that had, over the course of the past couple of hours, gone from empty to home. All their furniture from Atlanta was now in place in the townhouse they’d decided on. It was larger than their apartment in Atlanta, but their furniture was still more than adequate.
She knew her mom was going to be so excited to be in their own place. After they’d gotten the keys the previous day, they’d come by to look it over and discuss furniture placement because her mom had planned to stay with Ciara at the house during the move.
