Maisey wasn’t just beautiful. She was a gift to us mere mortals.
A gift I could only sully.
I shoved the cat crate into Tejas’s hands and strode over to her.
“Hey, darlin’. I wasn’t expecting you.”
A flicker crossed her face, something that felt like worry, maybe even a hint of fear, but it all disappeared behind a soft smile. It was the same one Maisey had given me from the moment I’d met her as a little girl. Full of affection and friendship. Although it made my body respond in ways I had to shut down, I still savored being on the receiving end of it.
“I just wanted to give you an update on…what we talked about yesterday,” she said, eyes darting around to the rest of my crew lounging on the couches in front of the oversized television.
“Sure,” I said casually, waving toward the hallway.
I let her go in front of me, ignoring the whispers I heard coming from behind me.
My focus was drawn to her hips and the way her short dress swayed around her bare thighs. Muscled thighs that would lock on to a man’s waist and hold tight while—
I jerked my thoughts back to safer ground as I shut my office door behind us. Maisey turned toward me, twirling her keys on a long finger, and I realized she was nervous. Was it because she was going to accept my offer or because she was turning it down? My gut knotted.
“Are you sure you really want to do this?” she asked.
“Yes,” I didn’t even hesitate.
She inhaled, putting a hand to her chest as if trying to calm the racing of her heart. “Okay, I’ll do it. Dad and I will move in with you—temporarily—and we can say we’re engaged, but I won’t go as far as to actually marry you. I draw the line there.” She watched me carefully, shoulders tensing as if expecting me to push back.
I couldn’t think about what would happen if Nattingly and the city council said we needed to actually be married before they gave me the job. We’d have to cross that bridge if and when we got to it. For now, this was enough. The pressure I’d been carrying around since talking to her yesterday—really, since hearing the chief on the phone—loosened even more.
“Thank you, Maise,” I said softly.
She looked away, twirling the keys some more. “I just wanted to be sure before I talked to Randy about getting out of the lease on my studio. Then, I can tell the bank I’ll be paying Dad’s mortgage from here on out. I can use my savings to try to catch up on the amount that’s due now. The hospital isn’t going to release Dad until Thursday or Friday, but I want to have everything in order before then.” She was rambling—another sign she was still a bundle of nerves.
I closed the distance, pulled her hand into mine, and she looked up at me with beautiful eyes that still held uncertainty in their depths.
“Stop,” I told her.
“Stop what?” she asked, breath as choppy as it had been yesterday when I’d twirled her hair in my fingers.
“This is me, my Maisey-girl. Just me. Just two friends sharing a house and helping each other out. So what if the town puts a label on it? You and me”—I waved my hand between us—“know the real deal.”
She swallowed hard and looked down before pulling her hand from mine.
“That’s one.”
I frowned at her in confusion.
“Hands to yourself, Fireball. That’s what you promised. You owe me a romance book.”
A laugh burst from deep inside. “Fine, but for the record, I want itknown youfinallyaccepted a bet.”
It was her turn to frown. “Did not. You told me it was a promise.”
“We can call it that,” I said, leaning in closer, and she tried to back away but got caught by my desk. My lips coasted close to the shell of her ear as I said, “But we both know the truth.”
I had the perverse pleasure of seeing her eyes flare before I stepped back so I wouldn’t break my promise a second time.
She cleared her throat, shifted around me, and headed for the door.
“I’ll let you know when we’ll be moving in. We’ll try not to get in your way too much.”