“Probably more than I should,” I admitted.
“Shit way to live. When you get to the point when you genuinely give zero fucks about people who don’t matter and what they think of you, you suddenly realize how much free time you have.”
“What about people you love and respect? Do their opinions of you matter?”
“Well, if I love and respect them then they love and respect me—and take me as I am. Otherwise, they’re not in my life.”
“Interesting,” I murmured. I attacked my food with verve.
We ate in silence for a few minutes and then he said, “Ah, I have good news I forgot to share with you. The contractor can start fixing the bakery around the middle of next week.”
“Thank goodness,” I said. “Thanks for handling that for me.”
“No problem.”
Without Slash, everything would’ve been delayed even longer. It was suddenly so easy to ask for his help. It didn’t mean I was a failure or that I couldn’t do it on my own. It was that I didn’thaveto. I could lean on him. I wasn’t alone.
“I’ll get in touch with the city as well. Find out why the fuck they tore up the street and then didn’t fix it. I’ll handle the health department, too. Trust me, a couple of mentions of calls to the local media and the not so veiled threat of a team of attorneys ready to tear them apart and all that shit will go away. And if it doesn’t, then I just do what I do and get a little more personal… In the end, it goes away for you, babe. Promise.”
“You’re a miracle worker.”
“I prefer magician, but yeah.” He shrugged and then grinned.
“Just like you handled the Smith Corporation,” I said.
“Just like I handled them.”
The night before Imogene’s wedding, Slash had received a text from someone named Ghost. Early the next morning, when we were getting ready, Slash had turned on the TV to the local news station. Several warehouses and buildings in the same part of town the Smith Corporation had been buying properties in had mysteriously flooded overnight.
Without a word, Slash had looked at me and raised a brow. I’d asked him what it meant, and he told me messages could be sent both ways and left it at that.
We finished our meals, and the server came by with the check. Slash threw down cash before I even offered.
“When will you let me treat you?” I asked as I grabbed my purse.
“I have a way you can treat me,” he said, placing his hand on the small of my back and guiding me out of the restaurant.
“I’ve already done that,” I teased.
“Your mind is in the gutter. I like it.” He grinned and hit the clicker on the car. “No. Something else.”
“What?”
He opened the passenger door and waited for me to get in. “House hunt.”
“Youwant to go house hunting?” I got into the car, and he shut the door.
When he was settled into the driver’s seat, he said, “No. I don’t really want to go house hunting. If it were just me, I’d hire someone and sayTake care of it.Then again, if it were just me, I wouldn’t need a house.”
“This is a milestone for a lot of people, you know?” I said. “Buying a house is a big deal.”
“We’re not buying a house. We’re buying a home. There’s a difference.” His gaze dipped to my belly. “We’re buying a home so we can put down roots, raise our family. If it were just me, I wouldn’t need a home. You get me?”
“I get you,” I said softly.
“So?”
“Yeah.” I smiled. “Let’s do it.”