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“I signed the papers this morning,” I admitted, chewing on the corner of my lip. “The man who lived here moved into an assisted living facility, so it was available immediately.”
He nodded. “Close to New Hope. Only took me ten minutes to get here.”
“Yeah,” I answered, but I could tell by his tone that he was upset. “Are you upset with me?”
He shook his head. “No.”
He started to walk toward the kitchen, but I reached out and grabbed his arm. “I know you’re mad.”
He turned and faced me. “Why do you think I’m mad?”
“Because I didn’t tell you I was buying this house. You need to know it wasn’t purposeful. It was impulsive, actually, but it felt right in the moment.”
He ran his hand around the back of his neck. “You can buy any fucking house you want, Jane. I’m not mad because you bought a house. I’m mad because you still don’t trust what we are”—he gestured back and forth between us—“to even fucking tell me. You say you’re moving forward, but it still feels like you’re just waiting for me to run or give you the chance to run.”
I considered that and twisted my hands together. “You’re right. I am or I was,” I corrected myself. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think I wanted this to be my safety net.”
He looked disappointed, but I knew he valued my honesty. “I’m not him. Not gonna fuck your sister or anyone else. Not gonna throw you out when I’m tired of you. Been busting my ass to show you that, but this”—he gestured around the room—“proves I’m not making any progress.”
Bree’s words played on repeat in my mind. Her mom took a chance. She threw away everything she knew and was comfortable with to follow her heart. I’d never done that, never acted impulsively, until I walked out of my sister’s wedding and met this man. I took a chance that day, and in doing so, I met someone who gave me a safe place to fall every time I wanted to take another chance. He was always there, always ready to catch me, and he believed in me when I was having a really hard time believing in myself.
But more than anything else, he believed in us.
He’d been offering me everything I wanted, but I was still holding him at arm’s length, still protecting myself from what could happen, instead of putting my efforts into making our relationship exactly what I wanted it to be.
He’d been patiently waiting for me to decide what that was, and in buying this house, I had.
I just needed to show him that I believed in us as much as he did.
Taking a deep breath, I exhaled slowly. “Would you like to move in with me?”
He looked as surprised as I felt, but as soon as the words I never expected to say fell from my lips, I knew it was exactly what I wanted. I imagined it was what I’d hoped would happen when I found a house this close to New Hope and to his clubhouse. I just hadn’t had the courage to believe it could.
Until he was standing in front of me.
“This house isn’t my escape from my family, Tank.” I continued when he didn’t reply. “This is the beginning of my future, and I’d really like to share that with the man who helped me find my way here. The man who believed in me when I didn’t. The man who saw me when I felt invisible.” I twisted my fingers together. “The man I’m in love with.”
He moved quickly and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me against him and tucking his face in the crook of my neck. He didn’t say anything for a long moment, and I started to worry he was going to turn me down, but then he pulled back and grinned.
“Christ, I’ve been waiting a long time to hear that.” He ran his hand down the length of my hair. “You will never be invisible to me, princess.”
“I know that.” I chewed on the corner of my lip. “So will you?”
His grin grew. “Yeah, I’ll fucking move in with you.”
I exhaled the breath I didn’t know I was holding when he finally answered. Pushing to my tiptoes, I laid my lips against his and kissed him slowly.
It wasn’t long before he pulled back. “Need to quit or I’m not gonna see the rest of this house.”
I giggled, knowing exactly how he felt. The pull between us was strong, and I had to wonder if it always would be.
Gesturing toward the kitchen. “Do you like it so far?”
“Of course, I like it.” He scoffed. “You have great taste. It needs some updating, but the layout’s good.”
Warmth from his compliment settled in me. “Maybe we can update it together.”
“No, I’ll leave that to you. I’ll do the heavy lifting, but you gotta design it. If I did, we’d have a TV, a recliner, and a big-ass bed.”
