Sugar Pie by Victoria Pinder
8
Kerry
Warren went to work, and I scheduled jobs for the month. I also created a Facebook page and found YouTube tutorials that walked me through how to build a website. A website was like a business card, so he needed one so his—our—business could build a presence, but I needed to build up some skills first.
I wrote out my schedule, as there was too much to do in a day. The action plan for the week took shape, and the morning dissipated fast. As lunch approached, I left the scrap of paper with my doodles under the laptop to grab first thing in the morning.
Then I finished my carafe of coffee and stood as I heard the door unlock. My lips curved upwards as I saw his broad shoulders in the doorway. “You’re home early.”
He nodded and smiled as he closed the door behind him. “I finished all the jobs before lunch. I couldn’t wait to get back here.”
My heart thundered that he’d wanted to be with me. The sense was new, and I laughed it off as I pointed at our bare walls. “To our palace.”
He left his shoes and came toward me. “I’d build you a palace.”
The nicer the home, the bigger the prison, and it hit me that maybe I shouldn’t let myself get comfortable. “I’m sure you could. In this dream, I want a huge galley kitchen with tons of cabinets and ovens for specific purposes.”
He laughed. “Sounds good. I would want my wife and children to be home and secure.”
My entire body stilled. For one second, I imagined him coming home to a nicer house and me with two children at my feet, coloring and laughing in the kitchen. I blinked, and the image disappeared, but I folded my hands around myself. “You want a wife and children?”
He shrugged. “At least two. I can’t imagine what growing up alone is like.”
I cringed. It was as if he saw straight to my core and how empty my life was. “It sucks. No one spoke to me.”
He took my hand, and sparks flew. “Ouch. We had a large home growing up, but when we stayed in our Manhattan home, we were all piled into an apartment and practically tripping over each other all the time.”
His family was everything to him. I sighed. “Sounds heavenly.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t hear Jeff snoring.”
I took my hand back. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“The walls shake. If he ever does get married, I feel for his future wife.”
Getting along with Warren was so easy. I shrugged one shoulder. “She could buy earplugs.”
I closed the laptop behind me as he asked, “What about you? Once you’re free, do you see yourself married or with children?”
My heart thumped. If it wasn’t Warren asking, I would have scoffed and said no children, ever. The image rattled me, but I pointed him to the bedroom and en suite bathroom. “We’ll talk more after you get a shower.”
He winked. “You’re bossy, but I like that in you.”
He was gone for a few minutes. I washed the coffee pot and cup. Then I perused our options for lunch. He’d worked hard all morning, and I wished we had more healthy options.
I grabbed the cheese to grate it and make tacos. My heart whispered. I wanted him to enjoy the dishes because I liked him.
More than liked him. My shoulders slumped. Falling for him was a bad idea. And living and working together made the idea of being with a stable, sweet, and sexy man seem real.
He came out of the shower, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts but with drops of water on the ends of his reddish-blond locks. He smiled, and steam rushed through my veins.
I stared at the frying pan. “So I’ve been debating about getting my own place.”
He came closer, and my skin jumped in awareness. “We’re doing fine together.”
I knew I could fall in love with him, and the thought made my body cold. Love had never been an option for me. I rubbed the back of my neck and said, “I hate that you’re sleeping on the floor.”
He placed his hand on my side and reached for the cheese grater. “I’m on the couch.”
I hated that I was so emotional and unsure. As a child, my parents always complimented me when I was with the right people more than they did if I did anything. No one had ever wanted to hear about anything I’d done, including my grades. And as an adult, I’d spent my life being afraid of disappointing anyone. Warren wasn’t like any of them, and I was confused. I swallowed. “It’s not big enough for you, and I don’t sleep with earplugs. You rolled off last night.”
He placed his hand on mine. “Don’t worry about it. I want you here.”
I lowered my head. “I’m not used to such close quarters.”
He took the pan out of my other hand and held me. “Do you not like being here?”
More than I should have. I was a walking disaster. My heart beat faster, and I glanced up at him and knew I wouldn’t let my doubts stop the best thing I had in my life. “The apartment is small, but the company is the best.”
He narrowed his eyes. “So what does that mean?”
“I’ll stay.” I smiled. Next, I would prove to him that he’d made the right choice in taking me on. I would be the best business partner he could ever imagine.
His phone beeped, and I saw a picture of a dark-haired, dark-eyed man who could have been a movie star. “Just in time,” Warren said. “Let me speak to my brother Gerard for a moment.”
Lucky for me, Warren was a sweetheart and not untouchable. I found the onion and a pepper to chop as he spoke on the phone. After he hung up, he went back to grating the cheese without a word. I brushed my shoulder against his arm and asked, “How was he?”
“He’s thinking about quitting his job too.”
I paused. Warren’s family was important to him. “What does he do?”
“He… works at an oil company.”
The pause made me blink, but I didn’t ask. “That sounds demanding.”
He finished with the cheese, and I pointed at the frying pan. “It’s extremely profitable for him,” he said.
It sounded as if his brother owned the company, but I didn’t say that. If Warren cared, it only made him a sweeter guy. “So why does he want to quit?”
“His girlfriend was cheating on him and said she was only there for his money.”
The words were like bullets that pierced through me, and I pressed my hand over my heart. “It's horrible that someone might do that. I hate feeling dependent on others, including you, for all my basic needs.”
He laughed. “You don’t depend on me. We’re working together. You’re not sitting around just spending money you don’t earn.” He then glanced up and down at me and said, “Come to think of it, you need clothes, and I promised we’d handle that.”
I turned on the stove and considered his words. He was right, and I shouldn’t have been so sensitive. He wasn’t Romeo, and I was on the payroll. I ignored that I’d been washing my underwear every night for two weeks. I pressed my lips together. “I’ll get to that eventually.”
He turned the burner off and put the cheese in the fridge. “Come on. Let’s get in the truck. I’m a man of my word.”
I swallowed and put the frying pan in next to the cheese so we would only have to cook when we got back. Mrs. Morris had given me money that Warren wouldn’t let me spend on us. My face heated at the idea of Warren picking out my panties. I raised my chin. “Okay, but I’m buying some of my own stuff.”
“Fair enough.”
Warren was a gentleman in his soul, and for the first time in years, I felt like I was safe and could be myself. So I needed to lighten up and just take everything one day at a time.
