13. Ronan

Ronan

"You didn't have to pick me up."

"Hello to you, too." I grin at Willow as I approach where she's standing outside of her apartment building, her defensive posture of folded arms and a narrow gaze doing nothing to deter me. Being alone with her in her office, the temptation to kiss her was intense. But she said no, and I sure as hell wasn't gonna ignore that. Still, after punishing myself in the batting cages for an hour, I went back to my hotel and lay on the bed thinking about her.

Thinking about Hawaii.

About the feel of her body against mine, the sounds she made when she orgasmed, the easy smiles and laughter that would come just being around her. Even if she doesn't want to acknowledge anything between us, there is something between us. I may not have the time or energy for it, but I also can't ignore it.

She walks toward my rental SUV, and I jog ahead to open the door for her. "Thanks," she says grudgingly. I noticed this in Hawaii, her surprise when I'd do small things like open a door or hold out her chair. This is a woman who's not used to letting men — or probably anyone, if I had to guess — take care of her.

I shut the door and hurry around to my side, sliding in before I say, "I should be the one thanking you. I wasn't sure if you'd actually go through with it, coming with me, I mean. But I do appreciate your help. Your uncle wasn't wrong when he said I was worried about finding a good place for Peyton."

As I reverse out of the parking spot in front of her building, I see her body start to relax. "Yes, well, you promised me lunch."

I chuckle at that. "I did. Wherever you want to go." I pull out onto the street, the GPS already directing me to the first house.

Twenty minutes later, we pull into a long driveway, coming to a stop behind a black sedan. I can see an older gentleman waiting for us, but I look past him to the imposing house behind him. It's tall and dark, almost Gothic in a way, and giving off mausoleum vibes. "Yeah, this is gonna be a no. Can you imagine a kid running around here?"

Willow giggles, the first sign I've seen that maybe she's starting to relax around me. "It doesn't exactly have much curb appeal, does it? Maybe it's better inside. Come on, let's at least meet the realtor."

She climbs out before I can get around to open her door, and when I reach her side, I cup her elbow and lean down. "Next time, you wait until I can open your door. Got it, Cherry?" I whisper before straightening and extending my hand out to the realtor. "Hi, Ronan Sinclair, and this is Willow. Thanks for meeting us on such short notice."

"Not a problem. I'm Ken, lovely to meet you both. Our agency is thrilled to help another Trident family find their home. This first one is just to get us started since it's in your preferred neighbourhood and meets many of your criteria. Four bedrooms, large kitchen, and an enclosed backyard." He unlocks the front door and holds it open. "After you."

As soon as we step inside, Willow comes to a stop, shaking her head. I can tell she's holding back her laughter, and so am I. Black and white marble floors lead to an ornate curved stairway. Huge vases hold what seem to be very dusty fake flowers. There's fucking wallpaper on the walls, and a crystal chandelier hanging down. All of it is very dated in appearance, even I can tell that. This place is definitely not any better on the inside.

"Ken, I can tell you right now, this place won't work. Not with a four-year-old," I say.

"Of course, I had a feeling you might say that but wanted to get a better feel for your tastes. Your child will want something more homey and comfortable. Mrs. Sinclair, would you like to see any more, or shall we move on?"

"Oh, I'm not —" Willow starts to protest.

I, on the other hand, am sensing an opportunity for some entertainment, maybe a way to get her to remember how much fun we have together. "I think we're both ready to see something else."

Ignoring the sharp elbow that lands in my side, I drape my arm over her shoulders. "Come on, sweetheart, let's look at another house." It's hard to keep the amusement out of my tone as Willow walks stiffly beside me to the front door.

Ken locks up behind us as we move toward the vehicles, and Willow hisses at me. "What the hell are you doing? He thinks we're married!"

I just shrug, ignoring the agitation rolling off her in waves. "Just go with it, what's the harm?"

"The harm is that we're lying to a stranger. The harm is that we —"

Once again, she's cut off, and I have to hide my smirk as Ken joins us. "Alright, then. Let's move on to house number two. It's close to the stadium, with excellent schools and a lovely backyard."

"Sounds great, we'll see you there," I say jovially, steering Willow over to the SUV. I open her door, averting my eyes from the glare she's shooting me.

Once I'm in the car, she turns on me. "Seriously?"

I keep my eyes trained forward as I follow Ken down the long drive. "If it really bugs you, I'll correct him when we get to the next house." Chancing a glance over, I can see her lips twitching. "Is that what you want me to do?"

Willow doesn't answer, and the silence sits between us the whole way until we pull up to the second house. This one is much more my style, with a porch, a red front door, and a tidy, well-kept garden that doesn't seem like it would require too much upkeep.

This time, she does the right thing and waits for me to open her door. Watching her closely, I wait to see if she'll give me a sign of how she wants to manage things. To my shock, she handles it by threading her arm through mine and beaming at Ken. "Oh, look at this one, sugarplum, it's so perfect."

Sugarplum? She'll pay for that one later. "Let's see the inside before we get too excited, honeybun," I reply, squeezing her arm to my side.

"Fantastic first impression." Ken claps his hands together as we walk up to the front door. "Now, this one has the three bedrooms you wanted, a lovely open kitchen, and a couple of surprises out back that I think you'll love."

We step inside and Willow audibly gasps. I don't blame her, this place looks like someone plucked the perfect family home out of a magazine and magicked it to life right in front of us. It's warm, full of natural light, and I can instantly picture Petyon running down the hall.

"Ronan, this place is gorgeous," Willow murmurs to me as we move into the living room. Big picture windows look out over the front yard, which has hedges high enough to offer privacy but still plenty of light. I take in the open layout, my head already nodding in agreement. We move into the kitchen, and Willow detaches her arm from mine, only to drape her upper body across the large island in the center of the space.

"That's it, I'm never leaving. This is the kitchen of my dreams."

God, she's so fucking gorgeous.

"Shall we take a look at the bedrooms next, or would you like to see outside?"

I blink as Ken's voice interrupts the fantasy that was playing out in my mind, of stripping Willow naked and eating her out on the kitchen island she's so in love with.

"Bedrooms." Willow winks at me. "Come on, lovebug. Let's see where the magic is going to happen." This is the Willow I remember. Full of life and fun, flirtatious banter, and happiness.

I gotta give Ken credit, he's not batting an eye at our cheese. But when I join Willow, I hold her back a second so I can whisper in her ear. "Lovebug? Sugarplum?"

She turns her brilliant blue eyes up at me. "Your idea, I'm just playing along." Threading her fingers with mine, she pulls me to the staircase where Ken is waiting. "Lead on, Ken, let's see the bedrooms."

After touring the impressive bedrooms and bathrooms, my decision is just about made. This place is damn near perfect, even if it does mean either Mom will have to sleep upstairs with me and Peyton, or I have to find her an apartment nearby.

Maybe Willow will come with me to look for that as well…

"And I saved the best for last." Ken pauses at the bottom of the staircase. "Out back is not only a large enclosed yard, but also an in-ground pool and hot tub, and…a small but fully contained guest house for your mother."

That brings me to a stop. I'd forgotten that in the brief I sent over to his office, I mentioned that ideally, we'd have a separate space for Mom. Honestly? I didn't expect to find it, or if we did find a property with space for her, I'd have to sacrifice something else. But here we are, literally standing in my perfect house.

"Ken, I think you just sold yourself a house," Willow says quietly.

Running my hand over my jaw, I give her a grateful smile for answering while I'm momentarily struck speechless. But I find my voice and turn to Ken. "She's right, you did. Thank you, this was far easier than I expected it to be. How soon can I move in? I'm willing to pay extra for a quick closing."

Ken's eyes light up, no doubt seeing dollar bills, and I don't blame him. "Let's go to my office and work out all the details."

After signing a mountain of paperwork, I take Willow out for the lunch I promised her. She leads me to a little hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese place, where the bowls of noodle soup are bigger than my head.

"This is insane." I laugh when the server walks away. Looking over at her, I see Willow already using her chopsticks like a pro, picking up a piece of meat and laying it in her spoon that already holds some broth.

She slurps it down and then smiles. "It's worth every penny, and the stomach ache, if you actually do manage to eat the whole bowl. Ask me how I know. But they're good about giving you a container to take the leftovers home."

This feels so easy. Being with her all day without the pressure of being around anyone from the team. It's almost like it was in Hawaii, when it was just the two of us flirting and having fun. My hand reaches out across the table and covers hers. But when she snatches hers away, folding them on her lap, I realize my mistake.

I let myself be fooled by the teasing, the laughter, the innocent fun of pretending to be a couple looking for a house together. I let myself forget that Willow has made it abundantly clear there can be nothing between us now. Or that my own life doesn't allow for a relationship.

"Sorry," I mumble, putting my focus back on my food.

"No, I'm sorry," she says quietly. I'm already shaking my head to disagree with her but she puts her hand up in the air to stop me. "Today I let the lines be blurred, but that can't happen again. I think it's because we never got to have any closure after Hawaii. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand why you had to leave, and I guess it saved us the awkward morning after, but it also meant we never set any boundaries for seeing each other in the future. Which was kind of inevitable, I guess, even if I didn't expect it to be like this." She lets out a pained laugh, then sucks in a deep breath. "Like I said on the phone, I need you to promise me that Hawaii stays between us. That no one from the team will know what happened. Today? The flirting? I promise not to let things go that far again. It's not right, and it's not fair to either one of us."

I let her finish, ignoring how every piece of me wants to reject what she's saying, even though my head knows it's for the best.

"Okay," I say simply. "No one will know."

She gives me a sharp nod, then returns to her bowl of soup. The rest of lunch passes quickly and quietly, then I drive her home. And as I pull away from her apartment building, I vow to myself to do as she asked and put it all behind me.

Every perfect, sinful moment we had together. It's in the past, no matter how much a selfish part of me wishes it wasn't.