He flipped us both off. “You want my advice or not?”
I cleared my throat and waved my hand at him. “Lay it on me.”
“Don’t let them come near you,” he said.
“Well, thanks. That helps a ton. Especially in cases like just now where I can’t help it.”
“I know. But take precautions. Check the place out before you go in—wherever that is. Or stay in.”
“That sounds a lot like letting them control my life.”
Rory shrugged. “You don’t have to live that way…if…”
“If what?”
He clamped his hand on my shoulder. “You tell her she’s the only one for you. Tell her you love her. Then let her know about the bunnies and the lengths they go to get a taste.”
The notion shot ice-cold terror through my blood. “And if I’m not ready?”
Rory patted my shoulder, releasing me. “Then you become a hermit.”
“Brilliant.”
Gage flashed me a sympathetic look. “Sounds easier to fess up.”
“Yeah, and send her running the opposite direction because I’m not what she wants.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know,” I said. “But I feel it.” I fished my keys out of my pocket. “Anyway,” I said, a pathetic transition to end the discussion. “Thanks for the pick0up game.” I laughed. “And the pep-talk.”
“Anytime,” Rory said, heading to his car.
“You know it,” Gage added, turning the opposite direction toward his.
As I sank behind the wheel of mine, I let out a heavy sigh. The last thing I wanted was for some picture to surface—past or future—that would paint me in a compromising position with a bunny.
Not if it would hurt Jeannine.
I would do anything to keep that from happening.
Even become a hermit.
Lucky for me, I had a seven months pregnant roommate who often grumbled when I suggested an outing.
The image of her pout set my blood on fire, shooting straight to my dick.
Fuck, the woman was fully pregnant with my child, and she was the sexist person I’d ever laid eyes on.
And I’m in love with her.
And she doesn’t have a clue.
Maybe it was time to tell her.
If I can’t?
Then maybe I could show her.
Chapter 9
Jeannine
“You two are the best,” I said as Paige pulled into Warren’s driveway.
“I’m just shocked the man let you out of the house,” Bailey teased from the backseat.
“Truth,” Paige said, parking in front of our house…his house.
Shit, when did I start thinking of it as ours?
“Y’all are one to talk! You two rarely leave your houses besides for work.” I teased.
“A ten-month-old and a fourteen-month-old are kind of a handful,” Paige said, laughing.
“Excuses.” I dramatically rolled my eyes. I’d gotten some good Ethan and Daphne time before Gage’s mom showed up to watch them during our shopping trip—Lettie was busy with kindergarten.
“Warren is taking the list and the pregnancy seriously,” Paige continued like I hadn’t made the joke.
I shifted in the passenger seat so I could see them both. “I know.”
Bailey’s eyes lit up, and Paige flashed me a told-you-so look.
“I know,” I said again, and this time I couldn’t help but smile.
“And we know you’ve been having fun on these dates he’s taken you on every week,” Bailey said, fishing again.
They’d been after me throughout our girl’s day, digging for intel on what happened between Warren and myself when the lights went out.
The truth was…nothing.
And it was getting harder.
It was like I could practically feel the incredibly strong, sex-god-of-a-Shark sleeping in the room across the hall. He was so close, yet so far, and I hated that I wanted him as close to me as humanly possible.
“We’ve been on six dates,” I said. “And, yes, I’m just as shocked as you two that I’ve enjoyed them.”
That much was true. I’d never been the overly-romantic-date girl. Never had the time to fall heart first into a relationship in order for there to be dates like the ones Warren had crossed off the list. But, with him literally anything was fun—even the brunch and antique mall had been a blast.
“See,” Paige said. “With the right person—”
“He makes me laugh.” I cut her off before she could launch into another Warren-might-be-the-one speech. She and Bailey totally agreed on it after they’d seen me. They said I was glowing—happier than I’d ever been. I told them it was baby-ball, not Warren, but even I wasn’t sure anymore. “And,” I continued. “Even if this is all just a fantasy? A few checkmarks on a list to prove he is dependable enough to be in the baby-ball’s life?” I sighed, leaning my head back against the headrest, not wanting to admit the warmth in my heart. “It’s the best time I’ve had in…” I let the sentence hang there as I shook my head. I couldn’t remember a time when I’d been happier.
“That’s great!” Bailey squeezed my shoulder, and Paige nodded enthusiastically.
“Is it?” I asked. “What if the last item gets crossed off the list and I agree to let him be in our lives and he bolts? Or he wants to go back to being the playboy Shark while checking in on baby-ball on the weekends? What if we’ll always be second to his career—”
“What if it’s not for the sake of the list at all?” Paige cut me off. “What if he’s actually trying? What if he wants this? With you?”
I swallowed hard. I’d never allowed myself to believe it could be real, no matter how much my heart whispered for it to be true.
“What if it doesn’t work out?” My voice was hushed. Even with my two best friends, I was terrified of admitting how much I’d fallen for the man.
“What if it does?” Bailey challenged. “Think about it. What if it did work out? Would it be worth it?”
“The risk of getting hurt? The risk of hurting the baby-ball because its mom went all damsel without thinking?”
“Falling in love doesn’t make you a damsel,” Paige chided. “Loving someone takes a strength I’d never known.”
“Truth,” Bailey said.
“I never said I was in love with him.” The statement was clear but the sting in my chest sharp.
Why did that feel like a lie?
“And that’s okay,” Bailey said. ?
??We just don’t want you to not explore something because you’re scared or because you think it makes you weak.”
Paige’s eyes went from serious to sincere and back again. “You’re never going to be your mother.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes glittering.
One of my biggest fears—beyond that of falling for Warren and him bolting the second he went back on Shark mode—was turning out like my mother.
Which was absent.
Abusive.
Same with my dad.
They’d divorced when I was three, and I never saw him again.
And mom? Well, she blamed me for so many years, punished me for something out of my control. So, once I could, I’d left and never looked back.
Thank God for Paige and her family taking me in.
I wouldn’t be where I was today without her, and a shit-ton of hard work.
“You two don’t know me,” I finally said, wiping under my eyes.
They laughed, both of them leaning in to give me a big hug. I shifted in the seat, opening the door.
“Just let yourself be open, Nine,” Paige called as I hefted myself out of her car.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, waddling around toward the back of it. “Open myself up to rainbows and puppies. Got it. Pop the trunk.”
They chuckled as I grabbed the four shopping bags that were mine out of her trunk. I bent slightly as I passed her opened passenger window. “I love you both,” I said.
“See?” Bailey grinned. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
I flipped her off and waddled to the front door. I struggled with my key for a minute as Paige drove away. Finally, I managed to get the door open and shut without dropping a single bag.
The smell of burnt chocolate instantly hit my nose, and I hurried into the kitchen. “Whoa,” I blurted as I dropped my bags on the island.
“Whoa,” Warren said, eyeing the bags. A once-white apron strained at the seams over his massive chest. The fabric now covered in streaks of glistening chocolate, puffs of white flour, and well…it looked like just about every baking ingredient he had in his kitchen.
The countertops were worse than his apron, the beautiful range more-so. A stand mixer was still rotating too fast, splashing the egg-yolk-covered countertops with more chocolate batter.