The Temporary Roomie (It Happened in Nashville 2)

“No, it’s different. Because I’m the one having a child, and at the end of the day, you’re a man who can walk away from all of it if you don’t want to deal with it. Believe me, I know, because someone already has walked away from me. Twice.” She hits me with another pillow like I’m the one who left her. “And what if I let you in, what if I take a chance and we do this, and then you get tired of me and the baby and leave too?”

Feathers hover in the air all around along with her words. I yank the pillow from her hand and toss it onto the bed. “But what if I don’t?”

I step forward now, determined.

She blinks and eyes the space disappearing between us like it’s lava climbing up to swallow her whole. “I’m not sure that’s an option. No, don’t come any closer!” She holds out her hand toward my chest, and I press into it easily until her back finds the bathroom door and she has nowhere else to go. She’s trapped, and finally, I’m going to make sure she hears me.

“Listen to me, Jessica Barnes. I’m crazy about you. I still don’t know what happened with your ex, but I know you can’t hide yourself away forever.” I move my hands up to cup both of her jaws. “You don’t just want a plain dinner partner, Jessie. You want fire and passion. You want pillow fights and prank wars. You want to be challenged, and fought with, and deeply wanted.” I pause, making sure there’s no room for miscommunication when I say, “And believe me, Jessie, I want you deeply.”

She shuts her eyes tight. Her breath trembles when she releases it and opens her eyes again. Tenderness tears through my heart. “I want you too. Please be good to me.”

I bend down and softly kiss her mouth. “I will.”

Jessie and I got on the road after spending thirty minutes cleaning up feathers. They were everywhere, and one look at Henry and Richard as they eyed our mess told me they suspect we are into some kinky stuff. Actually, I would have been very happy to lay Jessie down on that bed of feathers and consummate our new relationship, but it wasn’t the right time. Not only were Henry and Richard hovering outside our room, but…well, to be honest, I don’t know when the right time will be.

There’s really no sense in worrying about it, though. It’ll happen when it happens, and I’m in no rush. Nothing about our relationship is normal or follows a usual plan, so we’re going to have to wing it as best we can. I’m feeling more comfortable with that prospect than I used to.

Once we got in the car and were down the road a few miles, Jessie uncapped a Sharpie and gave me a questioning look. I smiled and nodded, and then she wrote Jessie + Drew on the glove box with a heart around it. She then reached over and laced her fingers with mine. Her smile was tentative, and I knew everything she’d just done was a massive display of her vulnerability. I raised her hand to my mouth and kissed it. After that, she opened up to me about everything. I mean everything. She started with her ex, Jonathan, and told me about how they had been dating for three months when she found out she was pregnant. She had been excited, thinking he would be too. He wasn’t. Instead, he was pretty cruel to her, accusing her of lying about being on birth control only to trap him in the relationship. Apparently, he is in a ba

nd that’s trying to make it big, and he thought she purposely got pregnant to keep him home and off the road. Jessie cried when she told me this story, and it tore my heart in half.

The jerk packed his bags and left, telling Jessie if she wanted to have her baby that was on her, but she’d do it alone and he wanted nothing to do with either of them. A real winner, that guy. She also told me about her dad and how he left shortly after she was born. She hasn’t heard from him since and wouldn’t even know where to begin to look for him. Other than her grandaddy, Jessie has never had a loving, loyal male in her life. Part of me wants to go find Jonathan and beat him into dust, but the other part of me is thankful he moved out of the way so I could be here with Jessie, so I could take over caring for her like she deserves.

“Lucy,” I say to my sister when she answers her phone. “I don’t have long. Jessie just ran into the gas station to grab a snack, but I need a favor from you.”

“No, I will not change all the locks on your house while you’re gone so you can keep Jessie out.”

I anxiously tap the steering wheel while tracking Jessie moving around inside. “First of all, you’re like eighteen steps behind, but I don’t have time to catch you up right now.”

Lucy laughs. “Let me guess, you realized how incredible my best friend is, and now you’re going to date her.”

“Well…basically, yeah.”

“What I should do is take this opportunity to go berserk on you like you did me and Cooper and warn you to stay away from her forever. But because I’m a remarkable human being, I’ll tell you I’m happy for you, and I think you and Jessie are perfect for each other.”

“Your saint of the year trophy is already in the mail. Now, please grab a pen and paper. I’m going to tell you my credit card number.”

Cooper barks out a laugh because apparently he and Lucy are like an old married couple now and he’s always lurking on the line without you knowing. “You don’t want to do that. She’ll buy enough stuff to furnish your whole freaking house in the time it takes you to cook dinner.”

“YOU TOLD ME TO,” Lucy yells, making me cringe.

“Luce, focus.”

“Yeah, okay, sorry. Got a pen.” I rattle off the number quickly and she repeats it back to me. “So why do I need this?”

“Because I’m pretty sure I’m in love with Jessie.”

The line goes silent for a second and then Lucy replies, “What does this have to do with your credit card?”

Drew opens my passenger side door and looks down at me and the four packages of Oreos in my lap.

“You know, on second thought, you should probably be heading home. I bet your patients are really missing you today—like they are going to walk into their appointments and expect to find their favorite Dr. Marshall and then spot whichever crusty old doctor is covering for you—”

“Susan.”

“—and then they are going to be so peeved at you for taking a little vacation instead of caring about the healthy birth of their child and—”

Drew leans inside to unbuckle my seatbelt. “Come on.” He grabs my hand and pulls me out, nearly making my Oreos spill to the ground before I manage to gather them up in my arms like a bundle of little Oreo babies. A caveman, this one.