Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Blythe

G retchen came speed-skipping into the break room with Diana and Merritt close on her heels. I swirled the wooden stirrer around in my mug as I turned from the coffeemaker. Gretchen and Diana had grins a mile wide while Merritt looked more curious and unsure than anything.

I frowned at them before hitching my brows up as I took a sip of my coffee. “What’s happening right now? You guys are being weird.”

Gretchen did a little hop and clasped her hands in front of her. “There’s someone here to see you.”

My head tilted to the side in confusion. “To see me? Who?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask his name.”

Diana chimed in then. “She was struck dick-stupid and forgot to ask.”

I choked on the sip I’d just taken. “ What ?” I croaked.

Gretchen fanned her face and rolled her eyes back in her head. “Can you blame me? The dude is gorgeous .”

I could only think of one man who was worthy of that kind of salivating. An entire horde of butterflies came to life in my belly as my fingers gripped my mug tighter. It had been two days since Rhodes had given me a ride home from the bar, and I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. Because my life wasn’t complicated enough, I had to go and start fixating on my ex again.

“Um, okay... thanks.” I started out of the break room, the three of them plastering themselves against the wall so I could pass, then skittering after me.

I bypassed the entry for the nook where our desks were, and moved straight into the waiting room. Sure enough, Rhodes was standing there, his back to me, as he took in the pictures lining the wall. It was impossible not to notice the way his jeans molded to his firm, round behind, or the way the muscles on his back danced with each inhale beneath the material of his shirt. Rhodes had always had a big presence, but it was so much more now, almost overwhelming.

I cleared my throat to get his attention, not trusting that my voice wouldn’t come out as a squeak.

He turned around, a grin already firmly in place, and damn if it wasn’t a flutter-inducing one. “Hey, Angel.”

Diana squeaked and Gretchen let out dreamy sigh at the use of the pet name Rhodes had given me when we were kids. Growing up, it had been impossible not to notice my best friend’s older brother, and I would have been lying if I said I hadn’t formed a crush long before he ever noticed me. And having him call me Angel only made that crush stronger. Angel was what got me through when I thought I would never have a chance in hell, and Angel was what had solidified my love for him.

That was why hearing it the night he’d come over for dinner had hurt so damn much. I hadn’t been able to handle it. It was still hard. But I would have been lying if I said it wasn’t starting to feel good.

“Hey. What are you doing here?”

His gaze darted over my shoulder, and I turned to see that Heather, and even Dr. Shaundry, had joined the huddle behind the desk to listen in.

“Any chance you can take a break? It’ll be short. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”

“Um...” I looked back at the girls again and bugged my eyes out, silently communicating that they were all being ridiculous. “Yeah, sure. Follow me.”

The thick soles of his motorcycle boots thumped against the floor behind me as I led him back to the break room. “Can I get you a cup of coffee or anything?” I offered, pointing at the snazzy machine I’d come to love like it was my fourth child.

“No, thanks.” He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans. I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not, but the action stretched the faded denim at his front and accentuated his bulge, not that it needed accentuating. “Like I said,” he continued, bursting the bubble of lust that was suddenly filling my head, “I’ll make this fast. I’ve been thinking about your dilemma, and I think I might have a solution.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and raised my brows in curiosity. “I wasn’t aware I had a dilemma.”

His lips curved, the white of his straight teeth standing out against the dark scruff coating his jaw. Humor danced in his amber eyes like he enjoyed going back and forth with me. “Your living situation.”

Oh, that dilemma.

“Rhodes, I’ve been looking online for days without any luck. Unless you’ve magically discovered a place that’s available now and is big enough for my kids to have their own rooms so they don’t have to stay cramped up on top of each other, I don’t see how you have a solution.”

His grin spread even wider, and I knew that, beneath that stubble, there was a place on his left cheek that pressed deeper but not quite deep enough to be called a dimple. “Well, it so happens that I know just the place.”

“Are you serious?” My eyes rounded and my arms fell. I took a step toward him, my excitement building that my kids and I might finally have a place to stay that we fit in. A place that was permanent and not just another stopover. “Where?”

“Right outside of town. You have time durin’ your lunch break, I’m happy to show you.”

“Yeah. Yes! I have time.” I bounced on the balls of my feet. “Oh my God. This is amazing. Thank you so much.”

Before I could stop myself, I threw my arms around his neck to hug him, only realizing what I’d done when his arms came up instantly and wrapped around my waist. His woodsy, spicy cologne tickled my nose as I breathed in, and as nice as it felt to be held, I knew staying the way we were any longer would be dangerous.

His arms fell away as I lowered to flat feet and took a step back. “So... should I meet you there?”

“I’ll come back and pick you up. What time do you go to lunch?”

I really wasn’t sure if getting in a car with him again was a smart move. “Rhodes, you don’t have to?—”

He cut me off and repeated, “I’ll come back and pick you up.”

I propped my hands on my hips and let out a quiet chuckle. “God. How did I manage to forget how stubborn you could be?”

“I don’t know.” His tone was a low rumble that I felt in my chest. “Because I never forgot a single thing about you.”

My mouth fell open as soon as the trees that lined the short drive opened up and the house came into view.

“Rhodes,” I breathed. It was beautiful. And big. And there was no way in hell I was going to be able to afford a place like this unless I was willing to dip into the college savings I’d set up for the kids with Elliott’s life insurance. Which I wasn’t going to do.

He shot me a quick grin before facing forward and guiding the truck over the gravel drive and stopping near the steps leading to the porch that wrapped around the entire first floor. “What do you think?”

I released a choking laugh, shaking my head in bewilderment. “I think... it’s going to be way out of my price range. Rhodes, there’s no way I can afford this place.”

He shifted into park, hitting the ignition button and killing the engine. “I think you’ll be surprised. Come on. Let’s go check it out.”

The hope that had sprung to life earlier started to shrivel as I climbed the porch steps and waited for Rhodes to open the front door. I should have told him not to bother showing me around, because I knew from looking at the outside, I was going to fall in love with the place, and the disappointment would sting like hell when I had to walk away from it.

I didn’t know how he knew about this place, but I was shocked that a house like this hadn’t been snapped up right away.

He pushed the door open, and a second later the entryway filled with the sharp sound of rapid clicking before a big dog came skidding around the corner, it’s nails scrabbling on the wood floors.

“Whoa.” I took a step back, intimidated by the dog’s size despite the tongue lolling out the side of its mouth.

“Koda, calm,” Rhodes ordered in a firm tone. Almost instantly, the dog skidded to a stop, her rear end wiggling like crazy with the force of her wagging tail. “Don’t be scared. She’s sweet as can be. She just looks scary.”

I held out my hand for her to sniff, smiling when she butted it with her head, demanding to be petted. “What is she? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this breed before.”

“She’s a Belgian Tervuren.”

I stroked down her black muzzle before scratching behind her ears, the rest of her silky coat a shiny fawn color. “She’s beautiful. But who does she belong to?”

“We can get to that later. Come on.” He grabbed my hand and started pulling me deeper into the house. “You’re gonna love this kitchen.”

He wasn’t wrong. The huge kitchen called to my stress-cooker’s heart, that was for sure, but as much as the stainless steel appliances and six-burner Z-Line were calling to me, I was more concerned about the fact that the open concept living, dining, and kitchen, were all fully furnished... and not in a staging kind of way, but in a someone-is-currently-living-here kind of way.

“Rhodes, wait.” I pulled back on his hand, forcing him to stop and look back at me. “We can’t just wander around. Somebody clearly lives here.”

“It’s fine, I promise.”

He tugged my hand again, but I dug my heels in. “It’s not. This is trespassing.” I scanned the large, open space, ignoring the way my heart thumped at the thick forest that surrounded the property outside the massive wall of windows. But before I could fully appreciate the tranquil view, my attention caught on the picture frames that lined the raw wood mantel above the fireplace.

I recognized Rhodes’s family in the photographs. Gypsy and Marco’s wedding picture. Sunny’s kids in different stages of growth. All of the siblings huddled together. Then, at the end, there was a photograph of a group of men standing in what looked to be a desert, dressed in combat uniform. And just to the right of center, with his arms thrown around the shoulders of the men on either side of him, was Rhodes, smiling for the camera.

I turned slowly to face him, unable to miss the sheepish look on his face. “Okay, just hear me out.”

“This is your house?”

“Yes, but?—”

I threw my arms out at my sides. “Why would you bring me here when it’s your house? You knew I’d fall in love with this place,” I threw out accusatorily.

“I did. And that’s exactly why I brought you here.” He brought his hands up in surrender when my face pinched up in annoyance. “Blythe, I want you and your kids to live here.”

“With you?” My voice rose to a squeak on the last word.

“Yes.”

My head fell back on a laugh. “Rhodes, that’s insane. We can’t live here.”

“Why not?”

My smile fell and my expression turned deadpan. “You’re kidding, right?”

Rhodes held his arms out, indicating the huge, open space all around him. “Think about it. It’s the perfect solution. Koda’s great with kids and having them around will be good for her. She’s got a lot of energy and not a lot to do with it. They’d give her somewhere to focus it.”

“I don’t know?—”

“And I have all this space,” he added quickly before I could turn him down flat. “There’s literally no one but me to use it. You and the kids will have your own rooms. You’ll even have your own bathroom.” I couldn’t lie, that reason alone was almost enough to sway me. “And the best part is, it’s totally free.”

“Rhodes,” I whispered, my face going soft. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“I’ll stay out of your hair. You probably won’t even notice I’m around.”

“I come with a lot of baggage. Trust me, you don’t want to have to deal with that. You have no idea how much I appreciate you offering this, but I need to think about my family. Every home we’ve lived in since we got here has been temporary. I mean, most of our stuff is still in storage, for crying out loud. It’s not fair to keep moving them from place to place. I need to find somewhere permanent, somewhere that can actually be a home.”

“That can be here,” he insisted, taking a step closer to me. “Look, I understand your hesitation, but I don’t have an ulterior motive here. I just want to help. Your kids are great, and I want them to have room to spread out. And I would be lying if I said it didn’t get lonely here. You guys moving in would be helping me out just as much. I want you to be able to think of this as your home for as long as you want. Please, just... consider it. You guys deserve a fucking break. You deserve a break, Angel. Let this be that.”

He spent a few more minutes showing me the rooms he thought we’d all like, and I knew my kids would love the ones he’d chosen. The free-standing tub in the bathroom he’d designated for me almost took me to my knees.

He didn’t say another word about it as he drove me back to work, but as soon as he parked outside the building, he twisted in his seat to look at me. “Promise me you’ll think about it, okay? There’s no time limit on the offer.”

I nodded, giving him a smile and thanking him for everything before climbing out of his truck. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to think about anything else.