unless “fix up the house” counted.
Which it didn’t.
I was strolling through a home improvement store, hoping a starting point would come to me. Luckily, Joey was content being strapped to my chest, looking around at all the new sights.
“Maybe paint should come first. What do you think, Joey-Girl?” She kicked her feet, which I took as agreement, so I stopped in front of the swatches. “Now, what color? We can’t paint the whole house lavender like your room, even though I love it. I picked it for you before we even met, and it suits you. The thing is, not everyone loves it as much as we do, so we have to go neutral if we eventually sell the house. Mama wants a pretty neutral, though, not boring ol’ white.”
A throat cleared next to me, followed by a low chuckle. I’d been so entranced by all the colors I hadn’t noticed Joey and I were no longer alone. I turned, immediately recognizing the man standing in front of the blues.
“Sorry to interrupt.”
I grinned at Miles Aldrich, who had a shopping cart filled with lumber. “No worries. I was about to start freaking out, so it’s better you did.”
“I’m known for my good timing.” He reached out and tickled Joey’s foot. “Hello, little lady. Helping Mom?”
“Looks like she remembers you.” I patted my daughter as she kicked and cooed at Miles. “And no, unfortunately, she’s no help at all.”
He raised a brow. “Ah, I see. Hence the freak-out.”
“Yes, but I’m not going to freak out.” I exhaled a resolute breath. “I’m going to make a plan.”
“Oh yeah?” He leaned an elbow on his cart handle. “I’m into plans. I’ve made a career out of plans. Tell me what you’re planning exactly.”
I’d met this man one time, but I had a good feeling about him. Joey seemed to agree since she’d chilled with him during brunch last weekend and was literally drooling over him now.
“Remember my wreck of a house I mentioned at brunch?”
He nodded. “Rings a bell.”
“I need to unwreck it.”
“Do you want to elaborate?”
“Not really. It’s daunting.” I gestured toward the paint swatches. “Paint is all I can sort of wrap my head around as a starting point—” He hissed through his teeth, and my eyes rounded. “Bad idea?”
He scratched the back of his head. “Look, I’m no expert. I’ve been renovating my house for over a year with no end in sight.”
I blinked at him. A year? Oh god, I would die if this dragged on for a year. “Why?”
“Mostly because I’m a slacker with the attention span of a gnat.”
“Do gnats have short attention spans?”
His brow furrowed. “I can’t say for a fact, but I’m thinking they do since their lifespan is so brief. They have to see everything they can in their twenty-four hours of annoying every living being on the planet.”
I snorted a laugh. “Makes sense. Anyway, sorry to derail you. Tell me about your house.”
“Right. I bought an old townhouse last year that was absolutely disgusting. In the seventies, someone decided olive green was a good look for a 1920s kitchen.” His mouth puckered in distaste. “I convinced myself I could do it all despite having no renovation knowledge or the ability to commit.”
“I am not under any such delusions. I know I can’t do the work myself. Luckily, my friend has a cousin who knows his way around a table saw and is up for the job.”
Raymond and Davida had been too happy to offer their assistance when I told them I wanted to work on my house. They were almost on board with Elliot and me as a couple, and neither made any bones about their disapproval of me living with him. It just so happened Ray’s cousin was a handyman who specialized in renos and was willing to give me a friends-and-family discount. In that regard, I was set. I just had to figure out what I needed him to do and where to begin.
“You’re doing better than me already.” He drummed his fingers on the cart handle. “All right, Kit—I can call you Kit, right? Elliot has dibs on Catherine, doesn’t he?”
I laughed. “Yes, I guess he does. He’s the only one who calls me that.”
“I bet he likes that.” Miles picked up Joey’s hand and let her play with his pointer finger. “I’m going to create a plan for you.”
“What?”
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but Saoirse and I started a business consulting firm. We create business strategies for start-ups—which is a synonym for plans. Plans are my bread and butter.” He smoothed a hand down his chest. “I’m amazing at seeing the big picture and how everything will fall into place.”
“Not to toot your own horn.”
He mimed tooting a horn. “Nah, if I don’t compliment myself, who will? I know what my finer attributes are.”
I smirked. “Definitely not humility.”
“Humility? I don’t know her.” He straightened and gave Joey’s hand a shake. “Are you in or out, Kit? Tell me right now.”
This was an offer I couldn’t turn down, no matter how surprising it was. “I’m in.”
Miles jumped into action, asking to see my house right away. On the drive over, I called Elliot to tell him what was happening. He warned me Miles would most likely suggest I paint my house magenta and install an Olympic-sized hot tub on the roof, and I assured him I wasn’t dumb enough to take suggestions like that.
It didn’t shock me in the least when Elliot showed up half an hour after Miles and I had arrived. We were sitting on my gross couch after touring the room, Miles scribbling on a notebook he’d had in his truck while intermittently asking me questions.
What did surprise me was Luca and Weston following Elliot into the living room. Elliot had skipped the gym last week, too pissed at his closest friends to keep to their routine.
I guessed his friends had gotten tired of waiting for him to come around and waylaid him. From his grumpy frown, he didn’t appreciate it.
At least he softened when he bent down to kiss my forehead. “Where’s Josephine?”
I pointed to the ceiling. “She fell asleep on the drive over, so I put her in her crib in her room.”
Something passed over his expression, but his features quickly smoothed.
“Are you all right?” he asked, though he was the one ill at ease. I hated seeing him that way, so I jumped to my feet and wrapped my arms around his middle. His arms quickly curled around mine, and under his breath, he uttered, “Hug.”
“I’m fine. Miles is disgusted with my house, but he promises he can help me fix it.”
“I don’t know if I like this.”
I kissed his chest. “You don’t have to like it, but I need to get started, so I’m accepting his help.” I kissed his chin to soften the blow. “You were followed.”
“West and Luca decided the best way to get right with me was to show up at my house unannounced. When I left, they doubled down on their brilliant idea and came with me.”
He was so disgruntled by all of it I couldn’t stop myself from giggling. If Elliot truly hadn’t wanted to let his friends into his home, he wouldn’t have. Same for coming to my house with him. Elliot didn’t play. He would have shoved them right out of the door.
I leaned to the side, waving to the two men looming in my entry. “Come in, come in. You might as well see the circumstances from which Elliot plucked me.”
Luca was the first to come forward, his expression sheepish. “It’s got good bones, and the neighborhood is quiet.”
“I know. I didn’t buy it for the inside.”
Luca offered me his hand. Elliot was reluctant to let me go long enough for me to shake it, but he finally did, keeping one arm firmly around my shoulders.
Luca held my hand between both of his. “I know you heard what Weston and I said, and I’m horrified. I apologize for hurting you. That was not my intention, but it doesn’t matter because I know I did. So, I’m sorry, Cath—Kit.”
I nodded, swallowing hard. It was clear he meant it, but Elliot was stiff beside me. Maybe he wasn’t as forgiving, but I didn’t have any ill will toward Luca…or Weston, for that matter.
“You were looking out for Elliot.” I knocked my head against Elliot’s arm. “I can’t fault you for that.”
Weston cleared his throat as he made his way into the living room. “Go ahead and fault us for it. We were assholes, underestimating both you and Elliot.”
I would have shrugged, but Elliot was holding me too tight to lift my shoulder. “I’m not going to be mad at you to make you feel better, and you don’t have to work things out with me. I have too much on my plate to add the two of you. You’re Elliot’s to deal with.”
Miles chuckled from the couch. “Have I mentioned I love your girl, Elliot?”
Elliot whirled around to scowl at him. “No. And you’ll continue not to mention that.”
I elbowed him in the ribs. “Be nice. Miles is helping me in a big way.” Then I addressed Miles. “Don’t antagonize my boyfriend.”
Luca made a noise that sounded distinctly like an “awww.” “Elliot is a boyfriend. It’s cute.”
Weston shook his head. “Never thought I’d see the day.” Then he narrowed his eyes at his brother. “How did my wayward brother end up here with you?”
Miles closed his notebook and spread his arms over the back of my raggedy couch. “I’m here because I’m really good at solving other people’s problems and ignoring mine.”
As a person who’d been the black sheep of the family, I’d felt a camaraderie with Miles right away. It couldn’t have been easy to be Weston Aldrich’s younger brother. There was just no way to compare to a man who’d built a hugely successful company from scratch before he’d turned thirty.
I was still getting to know Miles, but I could tell he marched to the beat of his own drum, and I thought that was pretty fudging rad.
“We ran into each other in the paint section. He saw how lost I looked and took it upon himself to offer his services.”
“Gratis, obviously,” Miles added. “We’re going to get this house in top shape in no time.”
Elliot’s hold on me slipped down to my waist, his fingers digging almost too hard into my flesh. “I could have helped you.”
“I know you could have, but you’ve helped me with so much. I’m doing this on my own.”
His jaw rippled. “With Miles.”
Miles waved his notebook around. “I’m a planner, not an implementer. This is as far as I’m going. Once I’ve got the plans wrapped up, Baby Bird has to fly with her own wings.”
I waved. “Hi, I’m Baby Bird.”
Elliot’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t give her nicknames.”
Luca snickered. “I’ve never seen Elliot jealous. This is incredible.”
Weston smacked his bicep. “Shut up. We’re here to make amends, not laugh at him.”
“No one invited either of you,” Elliot reminded them, though I could tell he was at least marginally less pissed at them. He seemed to have transferred that to Miles, which was funny to me. If Elliot could have seen how much of me he occupied, he’d understand there was no room for anyone else. But I sort of liked his jealousy. It made me feel even more wanted, and the truth was, I’d never felt as wanted as I did when I was with Elliot. Not by anyone.
Miles hopped up, his notebook tucked under his arm. “I was the only one officially invited, but I have to jet.” He stopped by me, raising his hand for a high five. “I’ll email you everything tonight, okay?”
“Thank you, Miles.” I slapped my palm against his. “You’re awesome.”
He shot Elliot a victorious grin. “Hear that, champ? I’m awesome. Bet she’s never said that to you.”
All three men rounded on him, groaning, hissing, barking his name. Miles made a quick exit, laughing all the way out.
Once he was gone, there was an awkward moment before Weston spoke.
“I hope you know I don’t think poorly of you. Everything you heard came from a place of concern for Elliot. Elise helped me quickly realize it was unneeded and grossly misinformed.”
Luca added to Elliot’s apology. “Saoirse also drilled into me that I need to keep my mouth shut and recognize how happy my friend is. That’s what I’m doing, looking at you both and seeing two people who make each other happy. That’s all I care about.”
“I accept your apology. It’d be great if we could just move past this,” I answered.
“Absolutely.” Luca scrubbed his scruffy jaw. “Can you do what our girls did and convince Elliot to come around too?”
Tipping my head back, I looked up at Elliot, his gaze already locked on me. His mouth twitched into a slight smile when our eyes connected, and the center of me went soft and gooey. “Yeah. I think I can manage that.”
On the drive back to Elliot’s, I reached across the console to weave my fingers with his.
“What do you think? Can you forgive them?”
His fingers tightened around mine. “I won’t accept anyone hurting you.”
“You know they never would have said those things if they’d known I was listening.”
“They shouldn’t have said them in the first place.”
I sighed. “If you can’t forgive your oldest best friends for screwing up, how am I going to trust you’ll forgive me when I eventually screw up?”
He jerked his gaze to me then back to the road. “There’s nothing you could do short of cheating on me that I wouldn’t forgive.”
“I’d never cheat on you.”
“I know that, sweetheart.”
“But I will screw up in other ways. I’m human, and that’s what we do. I can’t always be perfect.”
He brought my hand to his mouth and pressed his lips to my knuckles. “You don’t have to be. I only need you. You screw up, we’ll work it out.”
“But how can I trust that when you’re icing out West and Luca?”
Grunting, his shoulders sagged. “I see what you’re doing.”
“I want you to forgive them, Elliot. I’m over it.”
“I’m glad you are.” He kissed my knuckles again. “I’ll get over it too, but I’m not as forgiving as you. It might take me longer to let it go.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “I want you to be happy.”
“And I want you to trust I’m not going to leave you because you do something I don’t like. I’m not going to send you away.” He tore his eyes from the road to glance at me. “Do you hear me?”
I nodded. I hadn’t known I’d needed to hear it until he’d said it. I had been sent away and tossed aside by too many people. Elliot had listened and recognized my tender spots, and he was giving reassurance specially tailored to me.
“I hear you.”
And I’m falling so hard for you.
“Good.” He shot me a sidelong glance. “Now, are you absolutely sure you want to be friends with Miles Aldrich? Because—”
Snorting a laugh, I brought his hand to my mouth and bit his knuckles. This man…
“I like you so much,” I whispered.
He exhaled audibly. “Like you too, sweetheart. More than words.”
My day hadn’t started out so swell, but riding home with Elliot, my cooing baby in the back seat, our hands joined, and a tumult of butterflies in my stomach wasn’t a bad way to end it. Not at all.
