Ellie laughed. ‘Well, I thought I’d have help from a certain someone, but she had to go and get knocked up by my overprotective big brother, who, I might add, barely let her out of the house to help me unpack.’
Joss glanced up at her. ‘Yes. I got knocked up deliberately so I wouldn’t have to help with the heavy lifting or bouquet choosing.’
‘Speaking of heavy lifting,’ Jo said with a frown, ‘where is Cole?’
I looked toward the front of the house. ‘I think he went outside. Want me to haul his a.s.s back in?’
‘Aye,’ she said with a sigh. ‘Bribe him with food if you have to.’
‘You didn’t have to make him help.’ Ellie smiled as if in sympathy with the teenager.
‘Why?’ Hannah suddenly appeared in the hallway, arms wrapped around a box. ‘You made me help. If I can’t escape, Cole can’t escape.’
‘I’ll go get him,’ I muttered, making my way out of the huge living room into the wide, s.p.a.cious hallway. The double doors were both open against the wall, giving us better access to the property, and as I neared them I heard Cole’s voice, followed by a softer female voice. I slowed my steps, quietly making my way to the entrance.
My eyes widened at the sight of Cole standing at the bottom of the front stoop next to a small redhead. It wasn’t that the sight of him talking to a girl was surprising; it was his body language. He hovered over her, almost protectively, and the way he was smiling down into her face …
The girl laughed at whatever Cole was murmuring to her and I bit my lip at the bright look that entered his eyes. They continued talking in hushed voices in an intimate way, and I decided I definitely was not intruding. On silent feet I made my way back into the sitting room.
Jo looked up from her packing box. ‘Where is he?’
I grinned. ‘He’s flirting his a.s.s off with a pretty redhead. There’s no way I’m interrupting that.’
Her eyebrows. .h.i.t her hairline. ‘Seriously?’
‘Seriously. And by the looks of things, I’d expect a girl to be coming around the apartment from now on, if I were you.’
Hannah smirked. ‘Great. Now I have ammunition.’
Ellie nudged her. ‘Be nice.’
‘Why? He’s always taking the p.i.s.s out of me. Now I finally have something to torture him with.’
We shook our heads at her and continued to unpack.
Twenty minutes later, Cole strode in, a dark scowl marring his handsome face. Worry creased Jo’s brow. ‘Hey, baby boy, you okay?’
He grunted at her and moved toward a box.
I shared a look with his sister before plucking up the courage to ask, ‘What happened to the girl? The redhead.’
Cole jerked as though I’d shot him. Without looking at me he muttered, ‘She had to leave.’
‘Well, did you get her number at least?’
He lifted his head and his green eyes blazed into mine angrily. ‘What do you think?’ And at that he stormed out of the room, ignoring Jo’s shouts to him to apologize for his rudeness.
‘Leave it.’ I shook my head. ‘Just let him be.’
Before Jo could reply, my cell rang and seeing Nate’s face on my screen lightened my mood. ‘I have to take this.’ I ducked out of the living room and wandered toward the empty kitchen as I answered, ‘Hey, baby.’
‘Hey, yourself.’ His low, warm voice soothed me. ‘You about done at Ellie’s?’
‘Unfortunately not. I’ll be a few more hours.’
‘Okay. Cam and I will just hang out for a bit, then.’
‘You know, it might be good if you swing by the house and pick up Cole.’
Nate snorted. ‘Bored, is he?’
‘Upset. I think something happened. With a girl. So obviously he doesn’t want to talk about it with us.’
‘We’ll be right there.’
My stomach melted. ‘You are so getting laid tonight.’
He laughed softly. ‘Don’t I get laid every night?’
‘Yes, but tonight I’ll do anything you want.’
‘Anything?’ he growled.
‘Absolutely anything.’
‘Remind me to be a nice guy more often if this is the benefit.’
I smiled a little goofily and leaned back against the wall, my body all pliant just thinking about him. ‘Okay. But don’t be too nice of a guy. I do like it when you’re bad.’
‘Do people actually talk like that?’ Hannah’s voice ripped me back to reality, and I jumped off the wall to see her giving me a wide, teasing smile.
My cheeks flushed and I heard Nate laughing on the other end of the line. ‘It’s not funny,’ I snapped at him.
‘Oh, it’s definitely funny, babe,’ he said on a chuckle. ‘See you soon.’
We hung up and I glared at Hannah. ‘You could have let me know you were there.’
Her eyes twinkled mercilessly. ‘I could have, but then I wouldn’t have overheard your delightful conversation.’
I narrowed my eyes on her as I moved to brush past her. ‘One day, Hannah Nichols, you’re going to meet a guy who makes you so gooey you’ll end up doing and saying things you never imagined, and then who’ll be laughing?’
Hannah’s pretty smile widened. ‘Hopefully we’ll all be laughing.’
‘You have a good answer for everything, don’t you?’
‘I like to think so.’
Chuckling, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her with me. ‘Come on, we’ve got a house to get in order.’
Eighteen months later
I glanced at the bathroom door, thinking of the thing I’d left in there.
Okay.
I had to tell Nate.
After a moment I sighed heavily. I glanced at him, then at the movie he was watching, then back to him.
Here goes.
‘Whatcha watching?’
I was such a coward!
Nate gave me a look. ‘The same movie I’ve been sitting here watching with you for the past half hour. You okay?’
Tell him.
I shrugged. ‘I completely zoned out. Sorry.’
Seeming to accept my weirdness, Nate turned back to the movie and we sat and watched it in companionable silence. Well, he watched. I stewed.
Just a little over a year ago, Nate gave up his apartment in Marchmont to move into my tiny little apartment on Jamaica Lane. That day after he’d shown me the tattoo he’d had Cole design for him, we’d worked through everything together. My dad, Jo, Cam, and Nate’s parents were particularly happy for us. I’d go as far to say that Nathan and Sylvie were grateful to me. But they weren’t the ones who should be grateful.