Page 20 of Finding Home
“Can I think about it?” she finally asks, breaking the long silence.
“Yeah. You can take a few days. I’ll need to figure out a solution as soon as possible.”
She nods. “Of course.” She rolls her lips together and pushes back from the table. “I should get going.”
“Of course. I’ll call Lila so she can say bye.”
I rush up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and pop my headinto Lila’s room. “Peanut, Miss M is going to head home if you want to say goodbye.”
She immediately abandons her toys and rushes past me and down the stairs. I watch them say their goodbyes before thanking Chloe for coming over, and as I watch her get into her car, I think about how much I really want this to work out.
ELEVEN
CHLOE
The first thing I do when I step into my apartment is head to the freezer and pull out a pint of ice cream before settling on the couch, because what the hell was Everett’s offer? I can’t wrap my head around it. He’s gone from pretending we’d never met before we saw each other at Grounded Bliss to acting almost possessive and jealous when he’s seen me with other men to now asking me to move in to take care of his daughter. Plus the bombshell he dropped about Mrs. Simpson having cancer has me needing to dig into this ice cream.
As I’m eating, there’s a knock at my door before Brinley walks in. It’s not weird for her to just walk in; she’s my best friend, and I have an open-door policy.
“Hello, hello, hello,” she singsongs as she comes and joins me on the couch, grabbing my ice cream out of my hand, checking the label, and nodding as she steals a bite.
“Hey,” I protest, and she just grins at me.
“What’s up?” she asks. My pause piques her suspicion, and she arches a brow, pulling my ice cream out of reach as I go to grab it from her. “Spill and I’ll give it back.”
“I want my ice cream in my hands when I tell you.”
Her eyes widen. “That bad.”
I nod, and she hands it over.
“So you know the new fire chief?”
She nods.
“Well, I met him before he moved to town.” That interests her, and she crosses her legs and settles into the couch, facing me better. “He was at Incahoots at the end of July. I was at the bar by myself, having a drink and talking with Boyd when he came in. I went over and chatted with him. He was all grumpy and answering in grunts, and I finally got him to talk to me. It was nice. We sat and drank for a while before he offered to walk me home.”
Brinley’s jaw drops, and I nod.
“He had said he was passing through town, and when we got back here, I invited him in. One thing led to another, and we had hot sex.” I fan myself with my hand as I remember that night. “Like really hot.” Also confusing, but I don’t mention the last bit. How closed off he was, even while we had sex, but then the feeling of softness from him when he kissed my shoulder and then later whispered thank you before leaving me.
“So, you’re wanting a repeat?” Brin asks.
I bite my lip, because as much as I know it would be amazing, I know it would be a fucking disaster as well. I’m his daughter’s teacher, and now he wants me to move in and be her nanny while he’s at work and check in on his grandmother. His offer is enticing, too. The thought of living rent free in exchange for spending time with Lila and being able to save what I’ve been paying in rent to build the funds for a down payment on my own place one day sounds amazing. I don’t know how I’d be able to live with him, though. He works twenty-four hours on, seventy-two off, meaning he’d be home for three entire days and we’d be sharing the same space. Does that also mean shared meals? Would I have to be in my room the entire time? Would we end up sitting on the couch and watching TV together? The whole situation brings so many questions.
I settle on saying, “I’m his daughter’s teacher, a repeat of that night would be inappropriate.”
She steals my ice cream again, shovelling another spoonful in her mouth. “Only if you think you’ll lose objectivity when it comes to his daughter. I know you, you’ll be the picture of professionalism at school.”
“That’s not the only thing,” I say.
“Really?” she asks around the spoon.
“He heard about Beau moving back to town and me needing to move out. He offered his spare room in exchange for me watching Lila while he works and maybe checking in on his grandmother.”
She chokes slightly and takes a sip of my water on the table. “He asked you tomove in?” she asks.
“Only as in a nanny-like role. It’s not moving in like that.”
