Page 31 of Somehow You Knew

He brought several bags of clothes and things from his place in Florida and unloaded them in my spare room when we got here. Lucky for him, I have the space. Though, I’m still worried he won’t be entirely comfortable here.

“I never unpacked anything there, so no.”

“Oh.”

“I do have to go over there tomorrow, though, so I can start cleaning out her things in preparation to sell the place.”

I sit up straighter. “You’re selling her house, right?”

“Yeah, that’s what she wanted.”

“She never told me that.”

“Me either. Timothy did after you left the day we found out about…” He doesn’t have to finish the sentence because we both know how life-changing that day was for both of us.

I settle back in my seat. “Wow. I assumed she’d leave it to you.”

“Well, I made it pretty clear that I wasn’t interested in living here long term, so I probably would have sold it anyway.”

I nod, understanding yet again just how temporary this move was for him. And that’s what we agreed on, so I’m not sure why it’smaking my chest ache. “So, what are you planning on doing for work while you’re here?”

The corner of Gage’s mouth tips up. “Not sure I’m going to be able to foot my half of the bills, wifey?”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“You didn’t seem to mind after I kissed you earlier.”

Yeah, my body sure as hell didn’t mind that kiss—every single second of it.

“That’s because I was too focused on trying not to throw up afterward.”

Gage barks out a laugh. “That’s not what your nipples were saying.”

I glance down at my chest as if they’re betraying me now.

“Nice piercing by the way,” he adds casually. “Only could handle the one side, huh?”

I cross my arms over my chest, not realizing my piercing was that obvious through this shirt. “That’s inappropriate, even coming from you”

“Oh, but my kiss was vomit-worthy?” He arches a brow. “Don’t dish out the shit-talking if you can’t take it, Spitfire.”

“Oh, I can take it.”

Gage’s eyes darken as if we’re both thinking of something else I could take.

Oh, God. It’s only been five hours since we’ve been married and I’m already feeling my defenses weakening against this man.

Gage clears his throat. “Back to your question—I saw there’s a tattoo shop down on the boardwalk. Figured I’d stop in this week and see if they could use some help. I’m not one to just sit on my ass, Hazel.”

“I get that. I rarely take time off…and when I do, I feel guilty about it.”

“I guess that’s one thing we have in common.” He gestures toward the coffee table. “Looks like you make time to read, though.”

My eyes find the stack of books he’s referring to. “Sometimes. If I don’t feel like I can concentrate on reading, I’ll listen to an audiobook and color instead.”

His brows rise toward his hairline. “You color?”

Carefully, I reach for the adult coloring book sitting on top of the stack and hand it to him. “I’m not coloring Disney Princess pictures. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

---