Page 29 of Twice in a Lifetime

“No, thanks.” He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans. I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not, but the action stretched the faded denim at his front and accentuated his bulge, not that it needed accentuating. “Like I said,” he continued, bursting the bubble of lust that was suddenly filling my head, “I’ll make this fast. I’ve been thinking about your dilemma, and I think I might have a solution.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and raised my brows in curiosity. “I wasn’t aware I had a dilemma.”

His lips curved, the white of his straight teeth standing out against the dark scruff coating his jaw. Humor danced in his amber eyes like he enjoyed going back and forth with me. “Your living situation.”

Oh,thatdilemma.

“Rhodes, I’ve been looking online for days without any luck. Unless you’ve magically discovered a place that’s available now and is big enough for my kids to have their own rooms so theydon’t have to stay cramped up on top of each other, I don’t see how you have a solution.”

His grin spread even wider, and I knew that, beneath that stubble, there was a place on his left cheek that pressed deeper but not quite deep enough to be called a dimple. “Well, it so happens that I know just the place.”

“Are you serious?” My eyes rounded and my arms fell. I took a step toward him, my excitement building that my kids and I might finally have a place to stay that we fit in. A place that was permanent and not just another stopover. “Where?”

“Right outside of town. You have time durin’ your lunch break, I’m happy to show you.”

“Yeah. Yes! I have time.” I bounced on the balls of my feet. “Oh my God. This is amazing. Thank you so much.”

Before I could stop myself, I threw my arms around his neck to hug him, only realizing what I’d done when his arms came up instantly and wrapped around my waist. His woodsy, spicy cologne tickled my nose as I breathed in, and as nice as it felt to be held, I knew staying the way we were any longer would be dangerous.

His arms fell away as I lowered to flat feet and took a step back. “So... should I meet you there?”

“I’ll come back and pick you up. What time do you go to lunch?”

I really wasn’t sure if getting in a car with him again was a smart move. “Rhodes, you don’t have to?—”

He cut me off and repeated, “I’ll come back and pick you up.”

I propped my hands on my hips and let out a quiet chuckle. “God. How did I manage to forget how stubborn you could be?”

“I don’t know.” His tone was a low rumble that I felt in my chest. “Because I never forgot a single thing about you.”

My mouth fellopen as soon as the trees that lined the short drive opened up and the house came into view.

“Rhodes,” I breathed. It was beautiful. And big. And there was no way in hell I was going to be able to afford a place like this unless I was willing to dip into the college savings I’d set up for the kids with Elliott’s life insurance. Which I wasn’t going to do.

He shot me a quick grin before facing forward and guiding the truck over the gravel drive and stopping near the steps leading to the porch that wrapped around the entire first floor. “What do you think?”

I released a choking laugh, shaking my head in bewilderment. “I think... it’s going to bewayout of my price range. Rhodes, there’s no way I can afford this place.”

He shifted into park, hitting the ignition button and killing the engine. “I think you’ll be surprised. Come on. Let’s go check it out.”

The hope that had sprung to life earlier started to shrivel as I climbed the porch steps and waited for Rhodes to open the front door. I should have told him not to bother showing me around, because I knew from looking at the outside, I was going to fall in love with the place, and the disappointment would sting like hell when I had to walk away from it.

I didn’t know how he knew about this place, but I was shocked that a house like this hadn’t been snapped up right away.

He pushed the door open, and a second later the entryway filled with the sharp sound of rapid clicking before a big dogcame skidding around the corner, it’s nails scrabbling on the wood floors.

“Whoa.” I took a step back, intimidated by the dog’s size despite the tongue lolling out the side of its mouth.

“Koda, calm,” Rhodes ordered in a firm tone. Almost instantly, the dog skidded to a stop, her rear end wiggling like crazy with the force of her wagging tail. “Don’t be scared. She’s sweet as can be. She just looks scary.”

I held out my hand for her to sniff, smiling when she butted it with her head, demanding to be petted. “What is she? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this breed before.”

“She’s a Belgian Tervuren.”

I stroked down her black muzzle before scratching behind her ears, the rest of her silky coat a shiny fawn color. “She’s beautiful. But who does she belong to?”

“We can get to that later. Come on.” He grabbed my hand and started pulling me deeper into the house. “You’re gonna love this kitchen.”

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