Ready For You (25 page)

“Well, it is lunchtime.”
 

Her eyes were hopeful, and she bit her lip as she waited for my answer. When Mia did this, it would drive me to my knees, but I felt nothing seeing Kara do the exact same gesture.
 

“Kara, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m seeing someone.”

“Oh.” Her eyes were downcast, and the look of defeat was clearly written all over her face. “Is it serious?” she asked.
 

I answered honestly, “She’s the one.”
 

Her eyes softened, and she smiled. “I’m happy for you, Garrett.” She sounded genuine and sincere.
 

“Thank you, Kara,”
 

“Do you still want to grab some lunch? Friends only, I promise,” she asked, throwing her hands up in defense.
 

I laughed but declined. “Actually, there’s someone I’d like to visit.”

Twenty minutes later, I had a bag of food, and I was once again knocking on a door. Lately, it seemed to be my thing.
 

Declan opened the door this time, and I heard Lily yell in glee.
 

He grinned. “That better be for me.” He pointed to the huge bag of greasy food.

“Sure, but you’ve got to share.”

He shrugged and invited me in.
 

“Leah’s not here, if that’s who you are looking for. She had to work.”

“Nope,” I answered, as I walked through the double doors, “ I came to see you actually.”
 

I followed him into their massive kitchen and pulled out the food as he set out the plates. While I placed the food on the plates, he set Lily down. She was now happily eating Cheerios in her high chair, blowing raspberry with her tongue.
 

 
“So, the food really was for me,” he said with a grin, “Nice.”
 

We made quick work of our food. Being men, we didn’t talk much as we ate. We just shoveled food and washed it down.
 

Once I was sure I’d eaten an entire cow and a field of potatoes, I broke the silence. “Can I ask you something?”

“Are we going to have a heart-to-heart, Garrett? Because Leah will be home in, like, an hour, and she can totally take care of that shit.”

I grinned. “What I need to ask, only you can answer.”

“Okay, shoot.”

I took a deep breath. “Were you ever able to forgive Connor’s mother?”

Leah and Declan’s oldest child was his from a previous relationship. Declan hadn’t known Connor existed until a couple of years ago when Leah met Connor in an ER after his mother had been killed in a car accident. They had managed to put two and two together several months later. Heather, his ex-girlfriend, had chosen to keep Connor a secret from Declan.
 

Declan leaned back in his seat and stretched his neck, obviously giving himself a moment to think it through. “Eventually, yes, but it took a while. What she did was wrong, but it didn’t make her a bad person.”

“Even though she betrayed you?”

He nodded. “I didn’t say it was an overnight revelation. It took a while. But we all have to make tough decisions, and when faced with extraordinary circumstances, even the greatest of us can choose wrong.”

I let his words sink in. I’d never allowed myself to step into Mia’s shoes. I’d never wanted to. From the time she’d left, it had been all about me—my feelings, my wounds, and my pain. I’d never stopped to think about her feelings, her wounds, or her pain. How much had she suffered over the years?

“What is this all about, Garrett?”

I told him everything. I told him about Mia and my love for her. I explained the pregnancy and our shock but elation.
 

“Becoming teenage parents hadn’t been our plan, but we were going to make it work—together.” I explained.
 
Declan silently listened as I finally came clean about my past. I told him about the note that had destroyed me and how conflicted I’d been since Mia’s return.
 

“And now?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but I can’t lose her again.”

“Then, you’ve got to let it go, man. Love is pure. Don’t let something like doubt or anger work its way in and taint it from the beginning. You’ll never recover.”

“I want to, more than anything. It’s always been her. I just can’t seem to find a way to get past it.”

Lily chose this moment to bang on the tray of her high chair, sending Cheerios everywhere. A few landed in my hair, and Declan laughed.
 

With a light smack to the head, he gave me my answer. “Stop looking behind you, moron.”

Chapter Twenty

~Mia~

Liv had spent the entire day making me laugh, reminding me what an amazing friend she was. I’d had other friends along the way since I left home, but none had been like Liv. She could read my mood with a single glance, hear my thoughts through my expressions, and know what my heart was saying even if I didn’t.
 

After the great breakfast debacle, I convinced her that a walk would be nice. If we happened to find some edible lunch along the way, it would be even better.
 

We picked up sandwiches at a small cafe and spent the rest of the afternoon meandering through different stores. I picked up a new skirt and a pretty pair of earrings. Liv tried on practically everything her eyes saw, but she walked away only with a scarf. When I asked her what she was going to do with a scarf in the middle of August, she just smiled.
 

I suddenly didn’t want to know.
 

After we walked back to my house, she said her good-byes, and then I ran upstairs and changed into my new skirt. For once, I wanted to look nice when Garrett showed up. Whenever he had come knocking on my door, I had answered it in cutoff shorts or yoga pants. I was feeling kind of slobby.
 

Barely fifteen minutes past five, Garrett came barreling through my front door—no knocking this time—lugging plastic bags from the home improvement store. Dressed in worn jeans and a dark T-shirt that tightly hugged his body, I wondered just how long he’d been away from work.

Before I got the chance to ask, he dropped the bags in the middle of the living room and swept me up into his arms. His mouth took mine in a fierce kiss as he dug his hands into my hair and pulled me closer.
 

When we finally broke apart, I was breathless.
 

My voice was ragged as I asked, “What was that for?”
 

“I missed you,” he answered with a grin.
 

“You just saw me this morning!”
 

“Mmm…I know, but I have lost time to make up for, and you look amazing.”
 

This time, when his lips touched mine, they were gentle. His mouth moved with mine, slowly tracing the soft fullness of my lips with his tongue. He pulled back, only to reach up and place a tender kiss on my forehead, and I melted. It was such a small thing but so significant in its symbolism.
 

“Why do you always kiss me on my forehead?” I asked, feeling a little silly every time he did so.
 

“I like to remind myself how perfect we are together,” he answered with a shy smile.
 

“And kissing me on my forehead reminds you of this?”
 

“When we stand face-to-face and I pull you into my arms, you fit perfectly, like you are meant to be there, and I’ve found my missing puzzle piece. I remember the first time I held you and I bent down to kiss your forehead, I thought,
Perfect
.”
 

His green eyes found mine, and in them, I saw the boy I’d left coming back to me. The anger he’d become so accustomed to was starting to bleed away, and I only hoped I wouldn’t hurt him again.
 

Then, you should tell him now
, a voice in my head urged.
 

I quickly dismissed it, too swept up in my newfound bliss.
 

“Thank you for sending Liv over today. It was nice not to spend the day alone even if she did make me eat rabbit food.”

He chuckled, and I poked his ribs.
 

“Ouch! It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“No? There are still some baseball muffins in the kitchen if you’re hungry. Why don’t you go try one?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Wuss,” I muttered.

“No, I’m just smarter than you.”
 

I poked him in the ribs again, and he laughed.
 

“So, what’s with all the bags? I don’t see any food this time.”

His exuberant grin sent my pulse racing as he reached down and picked up the bags he’d dropped on the floor. He motioned me over to the couch, and we sat down. He started pulling out paint swatches and tile samples.
 

“You’re remodeling a house?” I asked.
 

“No, we are. I couldn’t focus at work today, so I took a half day and went shopping.”
 

I merely stared at him, completely tongue-tied.
 

He let out a nervous breath. “I wasn’t here to help you with the floors, and I hate that my anger got in the way of that. I’m sick of looking in the past when it comes to us. Wherever we’re going, we need to be headed there together, and I can’t do that if I’m constantly thinking about all the what-ifs and lost moments we could have had.”

My lips parted, and I tried to interrupt him, but he stopped me, placing his finger on my lips.

“Let me finish. I know there are obstacles and roadblocks in our future, but the point to all of this is that we are creating a future, right?”

I nodded, unable to speak. A future with Garrett was all I’d ever wished for, and my heart ached in want from hearing the words.
 

“So, let’s start doing it. We always wanted to fix up a house, and yours could definitely use it.”

“Hey! I love my house.” I pouted.
 

Chuckling, he touched my fingers, weaving our hands together. “I love your house, too, but it’s definitely a fixer-upper. With a bit of work, it could be great.” His eyes softened, and he smiled. “It just needs a bit of time and love, like us.”
 

Yes!
I wanted to scream it, but I held it together. He wasn’t asking me to marry him. He just wanted permission to throw some paint on the walls.
 

“Okay, so where do we start?”
 

“Wherever you want. We can paint the walls and retile the bathrooms. Hell, we can even give you a new backsplash in the kitchen, if you want.”

I looked around my house. I’d been living within these walls for two months, yet it didn’t feel like home yet. There were no pictures on the white walls, and I had very little furniture. Nothing made it feel mine.
 

“I want to paint…every single wall.”
 

He pulled out a huge metal ring that had every color imaginable hanging from it. Dangling it in front of me, he said, “Pick a room and a color!”

We ordered a pizza and spent the rest of the evening hunched over the rainbow of colors, pointing out all the various shades we loved and hated.

“Orange for the bedroom?” I asked with a bit of amusement.

“Yes, it’s perfect.”
 

“And why is it more perfect than this tranquil blue I picked out?”
 

“Because that room always has a lingering hint of orange leftover from your lotion, and I’ve always thought orange looks good on you.”

“I’m not going to be wearing the bedroom,” I reminded him.

“No, but I plan on you being naked in there most of the time, so it will be the closest thing to clothes your skin sees in there.”

My breath caught at his smoldering words, and I suddenly didn’t care if the room was hot pink with purple polka dots.
 

“Orange it is,” I said quickly.
 

His face broke out into a smug grin. “I think we’re done for tonight.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yes, definitely.”

“Race you to the bedroom?” he challenged.
 

“Deal!” I yelled, taking off in a run toward the steps.
 

By the time we got to the top of the stairs, neither of us cared who would win.
 

~Garrett~

For the last three weeks, Mia and I had done nothing but paint. Mia had wanted every room a different color, and at first, I’d had serious doubts about her plan. But as we’d finished each room, the paint seemed to bring more and more vibrancy to the old house, resurrecting new life into the drab walls and bringing a renewed, fresh energy with every hue.
 

The house hadn’t been the only thing benefiting from the color enhancements. With every flick of the paintbrush, I’d found myself falling deeply and permanently in love with Mia. I’d never stopped loving her, even when I wanted to hate her. As the anger had melted, I had been able to turn away from the past, and I had fallen harder.
 

During our epic paint project, we’d painted the master bedroom a burnt orange. As soon as the paint had dried, I’d shown Mia just how serious I was about keeping her naked. I’d stripped her bare and kept her occupied in bed for almost an entire weekend.
 

Next, we had tackled the other two bedrooms. We’d painted them various shades of tan since Mia hadn’t decided what she wanted to do with them. The house was massive. It was the perfect size for a family, but it almost swallowed Mia whole. She had more space than she knew what to do with.
 

We’d moved downstairs after that, painting the kitchen a rich golden yellow that brought sunshine to the old cabinets and appliances. I couldn’t wait to take a sledgehammer to some of these walls and make her a kitchen she’d be proud of. I’d mentioned that we needed to do some major repairs in there, but she had just shaken her head and said something about one step at a time.
 

She’d be singing a different tune if she was the one actually cooking in there.