Page 37 of Flyboy
"We were friends with benefits."
"No. We weren't. And if you believe that, then you're lying to yourself as well as me." He wanted to push her, wanted her to admit that even though they'd never really talked about what they were, they'd been in a relationship that was far more than fuckbuddies.
"All right. Say I agree we were more than friends with benefits; it wasn't serious. I don't do serious relationships. I never have. It's not something I want."
"It has nothing to do with whether or not you actually want one. You don't trust anyone enough to have one. You've convinced yourself that you don't want anything serious to keep everyone at arm's length. Except I got close." He took a step and pressed into her, trapping her between him and the washer. "You couldn't stop it any more than I could. What we had—have—is far more than fuckbuddies and you know it."
"Jack. I don't—"
He pressed two fingers to her mouth. "Don't say it. I don't want to hear the argument you've got ready to roll off your tongue. You asked what I thought we should do and I'm telling you. I want to make this marriage real."
Her eyes searched his. He could see her fear, her want. After long seconds she spoke against his fingers. "I don't know if that's a good idea."
"I think it is, but in the interests of making this marriage work, on making what we have—" he twirled his free hand to indicate the house around them, "—this home, a family, I'm willing to take it slow. You don't want anyone to know we're married, I'll accept that. For now. But I'm not hiding the fact I'm living here from anyone. I'll be changing my address at work, on my license, bank accounts, all that, on Monday."
"But—"
Jack pressed down harder on her mouth, flattening her lips against her teeth. "Not up for debate. I'll also be organizing for my furniture to be delivered. I only brought my clothes and personal items today, but next week I'll get everything else moved in. You can decide where you want it."
"I…um…"
He arched an eyebrow and removed his fingers from her mouth, waiting for her to get her thoughts together.
Finally, she asked, "What furniture do you have?"
Grinning, he said, "I've got a table for the breakfast nook in the kitchen. And my sofa and TV would work great in the media room."
"Okay."
"I guess we could set up my bedroom suite in one of the spare bedrooms, but you can take a look and see if you want to switch it out with yours, and my desk can go in the study although it'll look barren in there until we fit it out with some bookcases, maybe a comfortable chair or two for reading."
He knew where everything he had would go because he'd bought most of it for this house. What Lys didn't know was he'd purchased this place over a year ago and he'd slowly been renovating and decorating it while living in the apartment he'd had since he arrived in Sunnyville.
When he'd decided to sell her the house, he'd been on the verge of moving in. Of course, he was still moving in, just not in the way he thought he would. He'd have to figure out how to get her to accept the furniture he had on order too. Each piece had been specifically picked for this house.
"Oh, and I've got some things in storage that I brought with me when I moved to Sunnyville. Most of it didn't fit in my apartment but it would here." He watched her closely. Would she accept his explanation? Everything was brand new and if she looked, she'd know it. Then again, he could come up with a reason for the stuff being in good condition. Maybe he'd recently bought it before moving? Had kept it because he always intended to buy a house? He'd think about that later. For now…
"What do you guys want for dinner?"
"Dinner?"
"Yeah." He stepped back out of her personal space and tipped his head toward the ceiling. "Should I go up and ask Penny what she feels like or leave her for a while longer?"
Lys sighed. "I'm not sure. I'm clueless when it comes to dealing with teenagers. Maybe we should just order Italian, it's her favorite, and let the aroma draw her out of her room?"
"Good call. I'll get extra so there are leftovers for the next few days. Make things easier on everyone until we've unpacked more."
"I have a shift at the hospital tomorrow. A double actually. I'll be gone from four in the afternoon until around dinner time Monday."
"Over twenty-four hours?"
"No, it's two twelve-hour shifts back-to-back, different departments, then I've got my usual shift at Mercy-Life on Tuesday."
"Alyssa."
She stopped him from saying more with a shake of her head. "I need the extra money to cover the legal fees for the house. Plus, I have to make up for taking this week off without pay. Besides, I normally do a few shifts a month at the hospital; it's not like this is unusual."
"I can help with expenses. I'm living here, I should be putting my share in toward the bills."
