All for This (22 page)

“I would have had to leave you that message before my accident.”

“Yeah. It was Thursday.”

I lift my eyes to his. The day of the accident. Was I calling to tell him I was going to marry Max? “Why didn’t you call me back?”

He stares at me a long time then blows out a long breath. “I thought it would be best if we had the conversation in person. And then it turned out you were engaged to him and it became a moot point.”

He’s silent for a minute, and then his serious face transforms to a smile.

When I realize his eyes have settled on the cleavage peeking out the top of my robe, I pinch it closed. “Sorry. I’ll go get dressed.”

“I wasn’t complaining.”

“Yeah, well…” I shake my head. “I’m not going to tramp around in my robes if you’re going to be spending a lot of time at the house.”

“So you’ll move? You’ll take the house?”

I’ve spent most of my day thinking about it, and I nod. “I can’t deprive my children of that home when their father wants to provide it. It’s not reasonable. And when I stepped back and thought about it, it makes sense that you’d want to stay there when you visit. There’s plenty of room and there’s no reason you can’t claim one of the bedrooms as your own. I just wish you’d considered how you phrased it when Max was listening. I’m sure the idea of us
living together
was a slap in the face to him. We’re friends and we’re parents together, but we’re not a couple. I want that to be clear.”

“Crystal clear,” he murmurs gently, so much the lion to the sheep.

I sigh and continue. “And when I can, I want to pay you back for the house.”

“Hanna—”

“Please.” I’m quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain it to him. “You are the father of my children, and I will let you provide for them, but I never want to feel like you’re my sugar daddy, providing for his woman on the side.” I drop my gaze to the floor because I sure as heck can’t say the rest while looking at his bare chest. “And that’s why we can’t sleep together again. You can’t move here. I get that. You’ll visit as much as you can, and I’m sure you’ll be an amazing father near and far. But if we make a habit of sleeping together when you visit, I’ll just feel…convenient.”

He pushes off the couch and comes to stand in front of me. My eyes are glued to his bare chest, so he tilts my chin up. “Are you sure you want to make that rule?”

I nod and meet his dark, smoky gaze. “I’m sure.”

“If that’s what it takes to get you to move into the house, I promise I won’t sleep with you until you ask me to.”

I snort. “I think I remember you making—and breaking—the same promise about kissing me.”

A slow smile spreads across his face as he traces the line of my jaw with his thumb. “It’s true. I’m pretty terrible about keeping promises that involve staying away from you.” He lowers his mouth to my ear, and I shiver. “How about I just say that, when I touch you, I promise to make it inconvenient as hell.” His mouth hovers over mine for a moment, and I can’t think or breathe. Just when I’ve prepared myself for his lips, he steps back and grins. “I guess that means sleeping in your bed tonight is out of the question?”

I blink at him. “I— What?”

“Tonight? I’m not staying with Maggie and Asher. Newlyweds don’t need me around. Do you want me in your bed or on your couch?” He drops his gaze to my lips. “I’ll do
whatever
you want, angel.”

“I—” I swallow. Then again. Because I
want
a lot of things. And he knows it. “The couch.”

He rakes his gaze over me one last time before turning back to the living room. “Sweet dreams.”

I’
M BEATING
the shit out of the punching bag when Will finds me. He doesn’t say anything, just holds the bag and lets me go at it until my knuckles ache from hitting and my shoulders burn from swinging.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asks when I finally admit defeat and sink onto the bench.

“He bought her a house. She’s moving in with him.”

Will exhales slowly and sinks onto the bench beside me. “Well, fuck.”

And that about sums it up. It’s not so much that Nate bought her a house. God knows that, with his money, he could buy her any damn thing he wanted. It’s that she accepted. Her willingness to move in there proves more than she realizes.

“You bought her a bakery,” Will says hopefully.

I grunt. “Not for long.”

My lawyer emailed with details of Janelle Crane’s offer, and not long after, the actress called me herself about it. I already know that, if Hanna wants me to take it, I will. I need to.

T
HE SHOWER
rains down on me, hot and delicious on my sensitive skin. Having Nate in the apartment with me last night was enough to make me lose my mind. I lay in bed waiting for him to come into my room, climb into bed with me, and whisper something sexy in my ear.

But he didn’t. He stayed on the couch all night long, giving me the space I asked for, even as I wished he wouldn’t.

Then we had a long day of packing and unpacking, moving and organizing my belongings in the new house. Liz, Sam, Maggie, and Asher helped, and Cally and Drew took care of the bakery. Janelle helped a little, but she had to leave to meet with Max about her offer.

“You’ve got a really cool thing going here,” she said. “I want to be part of it and never want you to feel beholden to some man.”

“I don’t feel
beholden
to anyone,” I said, but in the end, I agreed that she’d be a less complicated choice as a silent partner and promised I’d talk to Max.

Though Nate and I were too busy to talk much during the move, I’d catch him watching me, and then he’d wink and rake his eyes over me in that way of his. My cheeks would burn and every cell in my body would click into overdrive.

My new shower is amazing. I relish the hot spray coming from three directions. I wash my hair and body, shave my legs—a task that’s getting more difficult by the day—and then turn off the water. After drying my body, I apply lotion, giving special attention to my growing stomach. I spent most of my life hating my stomach and wishing it were flat, but now my round belly makes me smile. I’m more than okay with it. I feel beautiful with it. Is that because of how much I already love these babies or because of the way Nate looks at me?

After we got everything moved, Nate went across the street to Maggie and Asher’s house. He and Asher are still working on songs for their collaboration, but he made me promise I’d call if I needed anything.

I dry off and dress in maternity jeans and a sweater before walking across the street. It’s dusk, and my breath freezes as it hits the air. I knock and no one answers, so I let myself in. The house is quiet, and I assume everyone’s downstairs. I head in that direction and find a tall, blond man standing in front of the stairs. It takes a minute before I remember how I know him. Fabio…er…Drake. Vivian’s bodyguard.

Before I can ask where they are, I hear Vivian’s voice floating up the stairs. “Please reconsider. I’ll do anything to make this work.”

Murmurs. Nate’s voice. But I can’t make out his words.

Drake crosses his arms over his broad chest and gives me a look that tells me what he thinks of my presence. “I thought you were marrying the other boy.” His voice has the low, gravelly rasp of a pack-a-day smoker, and I think it’s the first time I’ve heard him talk.

I frown. “When did I say that?”

He shrugs. “Last time I visited, you were wearing his ring.”

“You ever think she got pregnant on purpose?” Vivian asks in the basement.

I gasp, and Drake says, “That’s a private conversation.”

“Right,” I whisper. Then I turn to the door and hurry across the street to my new house.

Less than half an hour later, Nate finds me in the kitchen. I’m sipping a cup of herbal tea and trying to figure out what to do about what I overheard.

He grabs a beer from the freshly stocked fridge, pops the top off with a bottle opener, and joins me at the table. He looks stressed and frazzled.

“Rough night?” I ask softly.

“You could say that.” He takes a long pull of his beer. “Collin told his mom that you’re pregnant. She isn’t handling the news very well.”

“Oh.” I didn’t really expect him to tell me about his conversation with Vivian, but I like that he is. “What did you say?”

“That it wouldn’t change my relationship with Collin. That I owe as much to these babies as I do to him.” He picks at the label on his beer. “She didn’t care, though. It’s my fault she’s reacting like this. I shouldn’t have let her find out like that. I just wasn’t sure how to tell her.”

We sit in silence for a minute. I’m unsure of what to say. Nate’s picking at his beer label, aggravation rolling off him in waves.

I clear my throat and nod to his beer. “You know they say that people who pick at their labels are sexually frustrated.”

My attempt to clear the tension falls flat when he lifts his eyes to mine. There is so much longing and heat and desire in them that it nearly bowls me over.

“
They
have no fucking idea.” His chair scrapes across the floor as he stands. “Goodnight, Hanna.”