Page 13 of Now or Never

Ethan’s smile faltered. “How is that going to work next door to filming? I don’t want to put Chelsea out.”

Adam nodded. It had the potential to be a disaster. There were few things on earth as noisy as building a home. “Let’s not borrow trouble. Maybe she won’t get the contract.”

Ethan exhaled. “I hope she does, though. The taxes on that place are ridiculous, and she’s got a kid to look after . . .”

“We’ll make it all work,” Adam said, hoping to reassure, but not fully certain himself. “I can always call in a favour from Uncle David. Let me worry about the house. You worry about convincing a girl you’ve known for two months to be your wife.”

Ethan smiled. “All right,” he said, skating off with a huge grin. Just as Adam was about to follow, Ethan stopped and turned back to him, looking more serious.

“What?”

“You know, if Natalie says yes, that would mean Chelsea would be my sister. And Ben would be my nephew.”

Adam nodded, worried about where he was going with this. “Right . . .”

“And she lives in town now, next door to me, so you guys will see a lot of each other.”

“Uh-huh . . .”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “Could you just be friends with her? Have you seen her since you asked her out?”

Adam winced. He knew it was coming, he just didn’t want to hear it. “No, but I have to go over there tomorrow to get some insurance papers signed for the build.”

“Perfect. Just ask her to be friends.”

Adam stared at Ethan with a blank look. “You want me to say, ‘Chelsea, will you be my friend?’”

“Well, not like that. That’ll make you sound like a weirdo. Just think of her the way you think of me. Or Amy.”

Adam shook his head. “That’s impossible. I’ve already pictured her naked, in my bed, on all fours with her ass—”

“Stop. Stop now.”

Adam shrugged. What could he say? His mind moved fast. “I think it’s better if I distance myself.”

“That’s impossible. What’s going to happen when I get married? You’ll both be at the wedding. Or if I have a kid? You won’t come to their birthday party?”

“Of course I’ll be at your kids’ birthday parties.”

“And so will she,” Ethan said. “You can do this, Adam. I believe in you.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll ask her to be my friend, and I’ll try not to look at her tits when I say it.”

Ethan smiled. “It’s all I ask.”

They skated off together, talking about the house, but Adam’s mind kept conjuring the image of Chelsea and reminding him he’d never,everhad a girl that was just a friend.

This was going to be interesting.

three

“Look up at the sky, Ben.”

Ben tipped his smiling round face up to the heavens, and Chelsea fastened the buckle of his helmet under his little chin, then adjusted the GoPro on top and clicked it on. “There you go, buddy.”

“Thanks, Mama!”

He bounded off the porch toward his bike that was waiting on the paved path that wrapped around the side of the house into the gardens. When he reached it, he hopped on, but as he tried to put his feet on the pedals, he tipped over. Luckily, he shot a foot out in time to stop himself from face-planting.

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