He took in a deep breath, his eyes watching me with uncertainty.
Fuck it. I wanted this.
I grinned. “Yes.”
“Yes you’ll move in?”
“Yes!” I shouted.
He whooped and grabbed me, picking me up and spinning me around. “I love you so much, baby.” He laughed, unable to contain the joy that was bubbling over.
Tears started leaking out. “Oh God again? Jude has so much to answer for.”
“I agree. If you’re like this now, imagine what you’d be like pregnant?”
He winked at me and I slapped his arm as he set me back on my feet.
“Hey, wait. What about your share in the loft with Travis?”
“I sold it to Casey while I was still overseas.”
“Oh. Well that worked out well, but uh, where are you going to stay with the renovations going on, at the duplex?”
He looked confused. “Well no, here, in our house, with you.”
He thought I was going to live here? Now? I looked around, and the hideous, filthy interior only confirmed my suspicions that Jared had completely lost his mind.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Oh I get it.”
“Get what?”
“You’re being a princess.”
I gasped in horror. “I am totally not. This house is not fit for our dog, let alone us. There’s probably a family of rats living in the kitchen, coming out every night to cook on their little rat camp stove and scatter a few rat poos about the floor before going to sleep in their little rat beds.” I shuddered at the image.
“Evie,” he said in his “I’m talking to a five year old” voice. “The point is that we live in it and do it up at the same time. I want to do most of the work myself so it makes sense.”
“Okay. Well how about you move in, and when you’re finished all the work, then Peter and I will join you.”
He folded his arms. “God, you are so stubborn. Okay. How about we both stay at the duplex over the next two weeks, and I’ll get the main bedroom and the kitchen done, and then we’ll move in together.”
I nodded. “That could work.” I held up a finger. “On one condition though.”
“What?”
“My bed goes in the main bedroom.”
“Baby, I have missed that bed almost as much as you. Your bed not coming with you is a deal breaker.”
I laughed, putting my hands on his h*ps to yank him close. He bent his head and kissed me, and I slid my hands around him with a moan, slipping them inside the back of his jeans. It was like igniting a fire, and soon his lips were trailing hungrily down my neck, the hard length of him grinding against me as his own hands slipped under my shirt, tracing the warm the skin to my br**sts.
“Jared,” I panted.
“Mmmm?”
My eyes scanned the whole area of the house but nowhere seemed to fit the bill of what I needed.
His lips moved back up my neck. “I want you so goddamn much.”
“Where?” I questioned. “The front porch is cleaner than in here. We can give the new neighbours a show.”
His chuckle vibrated against my neck where his head was buried.
“Don’t laugh. I’m serious. Wait. The car. Mine. It’s bigger.”
Suddenly serious, he picked me up. “Let’s go.”
Plastered all over his front, legs wrapped around his hips, I giggled as he carried me out the front door.
My phone buzzed.
Shit.
“Don’t answer it,” Jared said, somehow managing to talk, walk, and suck on my neck all at the same time. Who said men couldn’t multi-task when it mattered?
“It’ll be Mac with a message.”
He set me down with a sigh, and I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Yep, Mac.”
M: Get your hands out of Jared’s pants and return home pronto. Music video ring any bells?
As soon as I read it, another buzzed through from Henry this time.
H: Chook, Mac’s about to blow. Get home ASAP. PS You owe me.
This time I let out a loud sigh. “I have to go. We have a music video to shoot today, and Mac is currently biting the heads of chickens and bathing Henry in their blood.”
He laughed. “God, I missed you so much. Okay. Let’s pick up where we left off tonight.”
I nodded. “Bring your things to the duplex some time today, and I’ll message you when I know when we’ll be done.”
“Okay.”
My face fell and he raised his eyebrows.
“What?”
“Mitch said it was dinner at your parents place tonight.”
Hands on his hips, he tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling of the porch for a moment as though praying for patience. “Okay, then.” His gaze returned to me. “We’ll eat and run.”
“I can deal with that.”
Jingling my keys, I smacked his lips in a loud kiss, turned around, and started down the pathway.
“Baby?” he called out.
I turned around and stared walking backwards as I watched him.
“Yeah?”
“I…never mind.”
I stopped. “What?”
“I just wanted to say that I can’t remember ever being this happy.”
I grinned. “Me either.”
When I returned to the duplex, Mac and Henry were in the kitchen chatting to the new assistant Quinn. I was introduced and we talked briefly while I poured a cold drink.
“So tell us,” Mac demanded.
“Tell you what?”
“Chook,” Henry said warningly from his seated position on the kitchen bench. “She’s gonna blow!”
Henry chuckled as Mac tried to push him off.
“Jared bought a house and we’re moving in together.”
Silence reigned as they both froze.
“Sorry, did you say you and my brother were moving in together?”
“Uh, yeah, I did.”
Henry scooted off the bench and folded me in his arms. “Ah, hell, Chook,” he whispered in my ear, “we’re gonna miss you around here, but I’m so happy for you.”
I filled them in on a few brief details as Mac took her turn hugging me. “I love you, you know I do,” she told me when she pulled back, “but you know what this means.”
“I do?”
She started to chuckle slowly until it escalated into a full on wheezing, tear streaming, hyperventilating moment. “Sandwich,” she choked out.
“What?” I shouted.
“Your days of chips and chocolate are numbered. From now on, it’s mung beans and grilled chicken all the way.”
Henry also started to wheeze with laughter while I stood there ready to leak more tears, fuming at their lack of sympathy.
I flexed my jaw. “Thanks for the support.”
Henry waved a hand at me as they both gasped for air, so I grabbed my bag, muttering that I would be in the car waiting when they were ready to leave.
* * *
We didn’t wrap up for the day until later that evening. It would be the first day of many to get the footage needed. I messaged Jared earlier telling him we’d be late, and he replied saying he’d meet me over there and would take Peter with him.
Everyone having gone ahead, I arrived alone, finding the street almost full. Jared’s Porsche was in the drive, the van the boys drove parked in the street, and Mac, driving her mum’s old Mazda because she complained she never had the time to buy a new car, had the rear end sticking out in the street, showcasing her impatience of having to attempt a parallel park.
Earlier, I’d changed into a light green maxi-dress, grinning when I’d found Jared’s things littering my room. I opened drawers to find his clothes wedged next to mine and shirts hanging in the wardrobe. A small desk filled the corner next to my chair which housed a laptop and nifty little electronic devices that gave no clue as to what they were. His wallet, coins, and random receipts littered the bedside table, and I’d had to sit down and take in a few deep breaths, thinking of how much had changed since I’d woken up that morning.
“Hey, Jenna,” I smiled when she opened the door to my knock.
She returned my smile. “Genevieve. You didn’t need to knock, sweetheart.”
She took the cake box from my hands and folded me in a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“What for?” I asked as I pulled away.
“For giving my boy another chance.”
While it was touching, and the sheen of tears added authenticity to her words, I could still detect the gleam in her eyes and knew the race for grandchildren had reached new heights.
She pushed me towards the stairs. “Go get your swimmers on, dear. Just about everyone’s in the pool.”
I could see them all from where I was standing in the kitchen. Steve, Coby, and Jake were by the barbecue chatting in the man grilling meet huddle, beers in their hands while Steve turned steaks. Mitch sat poolside with Tim, Dean, and two girls I’d never met before. Jared was in the pool with Travis, Mac, Henry, Frog, and Cooper. Mac was shrieking and splashing water at the boys, and Peter was barking excitedly, running up and down the sides of the pool, evading Jared as he tried to coax him into the water.
Jenna handed me a large soft beach towel, and I made my way upstairs, bikini in hand. Instead of heading into Mac’s old room, I took a detour and went into Jared’s. I quickly pulled off my dress and put on a simple black string bikini before poking around in the stuff that still littered the room.
There were framed photos scattered along the dresser of Jared and Mac, Jared and his whole family, and even one of Jared and Casey. There were old football trophies wedged amongst books along the shelves, and I poked at the titles to see what he’d read. When I pulled out an old dog-eared Matthew Reilly book and flicked through the pages, a photo fell off the shelf. I stopped, picked it up, and frowned at an old photo of Mac and myself. It was taken at our uni bar only a few weeks after we’d met, and we were already best friends. We had our arms wrapped around each other as we grinned at Henry behind the camera.
Huh, I’d forgotten all about that photo. I wondered what Jared was doing with it.
I opened the wardrobe door and stood staring at myself in the full length mirror on the back. The scars stood out on my torso like homing beacons. Jared had yet to see them, and frankly, I really didn’t want him to.
Unfortunately, this now meant sex would involve me having to wear a shirt. I started to reach for one when I felt someone come up behind me.
“There you are. Mum said you were up here.”
Damn. Too late. I watched him through the mirror, eyes smouldering as they raked over my bikini clad form, finishing on the angry, pink scars.
I shifted around him and started to reach for my dress.
“Don’t.” He snagged my wrist.
“Don’t what?”
Jared pushed me backwards toward the bed until my knees bumped the edges and I sat down. He knelt between my knees and pressed a gentle kiss to the scar on my chest and then the scar on my stomach. “Don’t hate these. They saved my sister's life. They’re marks of courage and bravery, and they are so, so beautiful.”
His eyes were sincere and for that I was thankful.