Halftime Husband (Sassy in the City 5)

I had no idea where he was but that didn’t stop me from opening all the doors. I lived here now. Two were closets, both filled with his clothes. Lots of suits. The remaining door led to his room, which had a king-size bed. A king in Manhattan. It was absurd. I had no trouble visualizing being in that bed with him.

The door to the hallway opened and he stepped inside his bedroom. He stopped when he saw me in the bathroom doorway. “Hi.”

“I got lost,” I told him. “I was checking out the bathroom.”

“Does it meet your approval?”

I was almost embarrassed that he had spent the night—well, most of the night—at my apartment when he lived here. But screw that. It was what it was. “It will do.”

“I need to pack.” He came over to me.

I didn’t move.

“Excuse me,” he said, his eyes darkening.

“Sorry.” I turned a mere inch for him to go by.

“We’re in so much trouble, aren’t we?” he asked as he shifted past me. Most of him touched most of me.

I shivered. “So much trouble.”

He made a move like he was going to reach for me. The bathroom door was open though to my room, so I shifted out of the way. “I’m going to help Poppy, then we should go over the critical information I need to know. Allergies, health insurance, how to reach you. All of that.”

He groaned and nodded, then abruptly turned and disappeared into the closet.

Elijah was drinking a bourbon in the living room. “You can leave if you want,” I said. “This room switch is going to set us back at least an hour.”

“I will in a minute. I have a drink to finish.” He gestured to the right. “Did you see that terrace? It’s sick.”

“There’s a terrace?”

He left the couch and gestured. I followed him and I saw almost immediately what he was talking about. It wasn’t big but it was a private space. In the city. It was amazing. It was about ten by ten, with potted plants and a table and chairs.

“Wow. I feel like I’m on top of the world.”

Elijah sat down at the table with his drink. “I’ll just be chillin’ right here, don’t mind me. I’ll catch up with ya later. How are you going to be real again after living like this?”

“I’m not like that, you know me. I can be real.” It was practically my middle name. Dakota Be Real Tanner.

“I wish I didn’t have to be real.”

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; “Doesn’t everyone? Enjoy your drinky-poo. I need to help Poppy or I’ll be sleeping surrounded by boxes tonight.”

He gave me a wave. “Bye.”

I went and found Poppy and helped her cart more of her stuff across the hallway. It was going to be a really long day. She didn’t have an outrageous amount of stuff, but she wasn’t a minimalist either. It would have helped if she had broached the subject of room changing with her dad the day before.

“Where do you want your bed?” I asked her, as the movers brought in the bedframe. “This wall?” She had at least three options to choose from. I hoped this wouldn’t be a drawn-out process.

“That’s fine.”

Well, that was refreshing. There was no screwing around on that, thank God. “Perfect.” I gave the movers a smile. “Right here, thanks.”

Willow came into the doorway. “You know why she wants a bigger room, right?”

My heart almost stopped. Was the kid onto us? Was she matchmaking? “Why?”