Roommating (Preston's Mill #1) (15 page)

“Oh…well…”

“It may get loud in there. We’ll probably argue.”

“That’s not the way to convince a woman that you love her,
Christopher. I thought you had better manners than that.”

He smiled at her and laughed a little. “I do. But let’s just
say Heather and I have had a misunderstanding, and I’m hoping to throw myself
at her feet and beg for mercy.”

“Now that’s more like it,” Estelle beamed. “But what does
this have to do with me?”

“I need to make sure that you’re not going to come down the
hall waving a golf club or a baseball bat at me. I wanted you to know what’s
going on so you don’t have to be scared, and I wanted to tell you thank you.”

One of her wrinkled hands fluttered over her heart. “Thank
me? For what?”

“For always being concerned for us. I just didn’t want to
worry you tonight.”

She blushed. “Christopher,” she said softly, “that’s one of
the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me.”

He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Now wish me
luck!”

“Young man, you’re not going to need it. Heather’s far too
crazy about you to let you get away!”

He grinned at her and winked. “Let’s hope that you’re
right!” He waved and continued down the hall until he stopped at his door.

With a steadying breath, he let himself back in.

For ten minutes after Chris stormed
out of the apartment, Heather could do nothing but sit in a stunned daze,
occasionally petting Lucy when the dog came up and tried to nuzzle her.

Chris had left. For good. Just like she’d known he would
eventually.

Maybe she’d overreacted earlier. Maybe she shouldn’t have
needed to get away from him for the night. But she hadn’t known that was the
end of the entire relationship.

Evidently, it was.

Chris always ran away. That was what he did.

She’d believed he was actually changing—just like she
was—but maybe neither of them could really change.

She was too overwhelmed to even cry, although her throat was
so tight she could barely breathe and her eyes had blurred over too much to see
the details of the apartment. The beautifully updated kitchen. The old wooden
floors. The big windows. Her favorite red chair. Flo.

The apartment would look strangely empty without that ugly
old recliner.

She sucked in a hard breath, almost a sob, and reached for
her phone, dialing the first person she thought of. It happened to be her dad.

“Hey, girl,” he said warmly but rather hoarsely.

“I’m sorry. Were you asleep?”

“Nah. Just dozing. The game is boring. What’s the matter?”

She had no idea how he’d known that something was wrong,
when all she’d said were five normal words. “Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to your old dad. What’s going on?”

The concern in his voice almost broke her. Her shoulders
shook as she choked on a few silent sobs, trying to repress them so her father
wouldn’t hear.

He must have read into the silence, though. “What made you
cry, honey?”

The tears started falling then. “I think…” She took a ragged
breath, trying to control her emotions enough to speak. “I think I blew things
with Chris.”

“Oh.” He let out an audible sigh. “Shit.”

“I blew it. I didn’t trust him like I should have. And now
he’s taken off, and he’s not going to come back.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“He sounded pretty sure.”

“Yeah, well, he might have thought so when he said it, but
he really has changed, Heather. I don’t think he’d walk out on you for good
after just a fight.”

“It was more than a fight.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Why did you think you couldn’t trust
him?”

Heather didn’t usually tell her father the ins and outs of
her romantic relationships, but she needed someone to talk to now, and her
father was the person she trusted most. She sniffed and wiped away her tears,
already feeling a little better from her dad’s matter-of-fact common sense. “He
was lying to me. I mean, I know there’s something going on between you and him,
but at least you didn’t lie to me about it. He did. And it just…just triggered
all of my old insecurities.”

“Insecurities are never as old as we want them to be.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m sorry we were keeping secrets from you, Heather. We
thought…I thought it was for the best. The last thing I want to do is hurt you.
But I guess I ended up hurting you more.”

“It wasn’t your fau—“

“Yeah, it was. I’m working on something. A new business
idea. I wanted to get Chris’s input on some stuff, but I was afraid it would
bring up bad memories for you, so I asked him not to tell you until I knew for
sure it was going to happen.”

“What business idea?” Her head was spinning now as she tried
to keep up with this new information.

“You know those birdhouses your mother and I used to build?”

The memory of it still stabbed. So many hours her parents
had spent out in the backyard, working on those birdhouses while Heather played
on the grass or climbed trees. “Yes,” she whispered. “Of course.”

“Well, I’ve been working on them again, and I thought I’d
see if I could start selling them. It would be a good retirement project for
me. I don’t think I’m ready to sit around doing nothing yet.”

She took three breaths in a row, fighting back her first
instinct—which was that the birdhouses were tainted by her mother’s memory. “If
that’s what you want to do, Dad, then of course I’ll support you. You didn’t
have to hide it from me.”

“I know the memories are hard for you, so I was just trying
to be careful. I’m not sure if it will work out or not, so I didn’t want to
hurt you unnecessarily. But I can see now that I was wrong. I’m sorry, honey.”

“It’s okay. It really is. I know I overreacted and didn’t treat
Chris the way I should have. But the truth is…” She wiped away a few more
tears. “The truth is, if he left because of this, then he would have left
eventually anyway.”

“That might be true—if he’s actually left. I’m not sure
that’s the case.”

“I wish I had your optimism.”

“Not optimism. Experience. I’ve lived long enough to know
love when I see it.”

She gulped. “He doesn’t—“

Her father laughed, interrupting her. “You don’t have to
believe me. But at least think about it and figure out what exactly you want.”

“I know what I want.” She wanted Chris. And, for the first
time, she actually believed she was strong enough to be in a real relationship,
to trust the way she should have all along.

“Then start thinking about how you can get it back.”

She had no idea what to say to that, so she just mumbled,
“Okay. Thanks, Dad.”

“Any time. Now, it really is my bedtime.”

“Goodnight. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

She hung up the phone and looked down at Lucy, who was
sitting at her feet, gazing up at her mournfully.

After a minute, Heather said, “You’re right, Lucy. You’re
right. We belong here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Lucy jumped up to her feet and panted.

“I shouldn’t have tried to leave that way. It was wrong. And
stupid. Chris is too good a guy to have lied to me like that without a good
reason.”

Lucy’s tongue was hanging out now and she turned an excited
circle.

“I don’t know if he’s going to come back,” Heather
continued, looking around the quiet apartment. There were signs of Chris all
around. Not just Flo, but his shoes on the floor, his travel mug next to the
sink, his laundry basket near his bedroom door, where he’d left it after doing
laundry.

He belonged here. Exactly as she and Lucy did.

And she suddenly felt a swell of hope as she realized he
might know it too. He’d been angry, but it might not have been his final
decision. For once, she was going to really trust him.

“I know what I’m going to do,” she told Lucy, who was doing
a little happy dance, her claws tapping on the hardwood floor.

Heather started for the kitchen. “I’m going to make him
cookies.”

***

The cookies were almost done,
filling the apartment with a warm, sweet fragrance, when Heather heard a sound
at the door.

She whirled around, her heart coming alive when she saw
Chris coming through the front door, looking tired and rumpled and determined.

He jerked to a stop when he saw her. “You’re still here.”

Her heart sank. “You thought I’d be gone?”

“I didn’t know. Weren’t you going to leave?”

“I was before. But not now. So you aren’t here to see me?”

He shook his head, as if trying to shake himself back to
focus. “I was hoping you weren’t gone, but I didn’t know for sure.”

“I’m still here.” She gave him a wobbly smile. “I thought
you
might be gone.”

He strode over to her, his expression changing in a way that
took her breath away. “I should never have walked out. I even tried to blame
your dad for it, when it was always my own fault. I was just doing what I
always do, but I don’t want to be that person anymore. I’m here, Heather.” He
took both of her hands in his. “And I’m staying.”

She swallowed hard, realizing that her hope in him had been
fully justified, more than justified. There was no denying that look in his
eyes. He wasn’t going anywhere. “For good?”

“For good. Please tell me that’s what you want too. I love
you, Heather. I know I might not have always acted like it, but I do. There’s
never been anyone but you for me, and that’s never going to change. It’s okay
if you’re not there yet. I can wait. I just want you to know that I know what I
want now, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get it. To get
you
.”

She swayed on her feet. She’d been hoping for maybe an
admission of feelings, but she’d never expected this. “Really?” she asked
stupidly.

He gave a little huff of amusement. “Really. I want to be
your roommate for a really long time.”

The dry irony in his voice actually helped her pull herself
together. She slanted him a teasing little look. “I want to be your roommate
too—as long as that comes with certain benefits we can negotiate later and as
long as you can put up with Lucy.”

Lucy had been snuffling around Chris’s feet since he’d
entered. He leaned over to give the dog a little pet. “I’m happy to put up with
Lucy, as long as you can put up with Flo.”

She laughed out loud, almost hugging herself with
excitement. It was like a miracle—like the worst night had suddenly transformed
into the best. “That sounds like a fair deal. I talked to my dad. I know about
his business, and why you lied to me. I still wish you hadn’t, but I
understand. I’m sorry I blew up the way I did.”

“No. I get it. I shouldn’t have lied, no matter what your
dad asked me to do. If I’m in this relationship, then I need to be in it all
the way. No lies or secrets. And I called your dad too and told him that, if
it’s going to hurt you, then I don’t want to be a partner in the business at
all.”

She gasped. “No!”

“No, what?”

“No, you can’t pull out! I need you! The business needs you.
I want to be your partner and your roommate and…and everything.”

His face relaxed in a smile, and she knew in that instant
that he’d just gotten everything he wanted.

And apparently, what he wanted most of all was her.

Chris sniffed the air. “What’s that smell?”

Heather gasped. “My cookies!” She ran over to pull out the
sheet from the oven, relieved when she saw that they were a little more done
than she preferred but not at all burned.

“Why were you making cookies?” Chris asked, coming to look
over her shoulder with interest.

“I was making them for you.”

Chris stiffened. “You were?”

“Yeah,” she admitted, lowering her gaze. “I was hoping you
were coming back, so I wanted…I wanted to do something nice for you.”

Chris made a rough sound in his throat and he pulled her
into his arms.

The cookies were completely forgotten for the next
half-hour.

***

A week later, Heather woke up when
it was still dark in the room. Glancing over, she saw it wasn’t even five
o’clock.

She started to roll over and go back to sleep for another
hour, but as she turned over she bumped into something big and warm and hard.

Chris. He must have crept over onto her side of the bed as
they slept.

Typical. The man just filled up every space he stepped into.

She gave the covers a hard tug and then tried to push him
over to his side, but he didn’t budge. He was sound asleep, and his body just
wouldn’t move.

She gave him another push, and this time he huffed and woke
up.

“Whuz goin’on,” he mumbled.

“You’re on my side of the bed.”

“What’s wrong with that?” He sounded a lot more awake now.

“I don’t have any room!”

“Why do you need room?”

“Everyone needs room to sleep. You think I can sleep on
three inches of the bed?”

“I think there’s nothing wrong with sleeping right next to
me.” His voice had changed now. It sounded like he was smiling, and he reached
out to pull her against him.

She’d been serious about getting another hour of sleep, but
now that she was hearing his voice, so thick and fond and sleepy, she decided
it wasn’t the worst idea in the world to get a little closer to him. “I thought
guys were the ones who liked to have their space.”

“We do. Unless sex is involved. Then we don’t need any space
at all.” He rolled her on top of him and slid his hands down to cup her bottom.

“And you think sex is somehow involved right now.”

She could feel that it was, in fact, involved. He was
starting to get hard beneath her.

“I think you know the answer to that,” he drawled.

She couldn’t help but smile as she found his face in the
dark and kissed him.

They kept kissing as Chris stroked over her body, teasing
and fondling all of the intimate parts of her until she was just as turned on
as he was. Then they fumbled with each other’s clothes until they were both
naked.

Both of them were smiling as he slid himself inside her and
she wrapped her legs around him.

“I think,” she murmured, adjusting herself around his hard
length, “if more roommates had mornings like this, people would be falling all
over themselves to find a roommate.”

He chuckled, his whole body shuddering deliciously from the
amusement. “Well, no one else can have my roommate. She’s already claimed.”

She sucked in a sharp breath as he started to move. “So is
mine. So is mine.”

They moved together in a practiced rhythm, the bed shaking
and both of them starting to pant loudly as their motion became more and more
urgent. Chris kissed her occasionally, and he managed to hold out until her
body tightened down in an orgasm. As she was crying out her pleasure, he let
go, so both of them were coming down together, breathless and satisfied.

They were still smiling as they relaxed, and Chris rolled
over onto his back and nestled her against him.

“And we still have a while to doze until it’s time to get
up,” Heather murmured happily.

“It’s a very good morning.” Chris stroked her hair, his body
hot and relaxed.