“Exactly how much does he know about our situation?”
“He doesn’t know everything, but he knows that I’m seeing both of you. Besides, he looked at the paintings I did, and it’s not exactly hard to see.”
“Very true.” He pulled her into his arms.
“What are you doing home early anyway?”
“My last client canceled on me, and instead of waiting around for Brett, I decided to come and see you. Wondered if you needed help with anything.”
“I do, actually.” She took his hand, and he was hoping they were going to where he thought they were going, but they weren’t.
The last bedroom at the end of the hall was open, and the window was unlocked.
“Will you help me decorate this room? I know it’s small, but I don’t like that I’ve left it. I don’t need it or anything, but it seems wrong for one place of the house to be deserted.”
Pulling her against him, he kissed her neck. “I’ll help.”
“Good.” She handed him a wallpaper scraper.
“You don’t want me to paint over the walls?”
“No, I want the paper down. I don’t like it. I’ve got an idea I want for the room.”
“Okay, then.” He took the scraper from her hand and started getting the old wallpaper off.
Meredith grabbed his hand, turning him toward her. Before he could say or do anything else, she kissed him. Cupping his face, she meshed her lips against his. Holding the back of her head, he kept her in place as he took the kiss.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“For being you and for helping me, and I don’t know, for just being everything.”
He smiled, stroking her cheek with the backs of his knuckles. “It’s always a pleasure to help you.”
****
Meredith walked around the DIY department store, looking at different colors of paints. She had opted for a pale, yellow color, but that didn’t seem good enough at the moment. She didn’t want baby boy blue or baby girl pink. White just screamed bland, so she was opting for the yellow.
“What about some furniture?” he asked.
“No, not yet.”
She was having really weird thoughts and feelings right now.
“What is it?” Brett asked.
Ace was working today, so Brett had taken his place in helping her get the room right. For the past couple of nights, she’d been dreaming about that room. Not in any way a nightmare, more like what she knew it had to be. The way it had to look.
She wasn’t about to tell Ace and Brett that she intended to fill it for a nursery. It was crazy, completely so. Stupid even, but she felt it had to be ready for a child, for a baby, for something.
While she was thinking this way, she was kind of freaking out.
Who prepared for a baby she wasn’t even close to having?
She couldn’t get it out of her head, and rather than freak out her two current boyfriends, she’d ordered the furniture online and it should be delivered on one of the days that they were both working.
“It’s nothing. I don’t want to buy something that is going to sit around for some time.”
“Ace told me about his visit with Will. Your manager seems happier with what you’re creating.”
“I’m happier with what I’m drawing. It does make all the difference, even if at times it makes me nervous.”
“Why?”
“You and Ace may not be around forever, and I guess that worries me right now. You’re helping me, and I don’t want you to stop doing that.”
“We’re not going anywhere.” He cupped her hips and kissed her neck. “Why would we want to leave you?”
She sighed, melting against him and closing her eyes. Ace and Brett both had this power over her. It helped her to forget and to relax, and to feel calm.
Opening her eyes, she looked across the center and saw a couple of women from their street watching them. They had probably seen her kissing Ace just last week.
“Oh, no, I have this horrible feeling I’m going to be the talk of the town,” she said.
“Let them. If Ace catches wind of it, he’ll give them something to talk about.”
She chuckled, and she saw a rug with dog prints on it. “I want this.” She picked it up off the shelf.
“Do you have a dog?”
“Nope, but it is needed.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re strange?” Brett asked.
“All the time.”
She chuckled.
They paid for their goodies and headed out to Brett’s truck. He unloaded all the paint and her purchases into the back seat as she climbed into the passenger side. Turning over the ignition, she put the AC on, and a blast of cold air hit her in the face.
It was too hot outside but the perfect weather for decorating the house, especially this small bedroom, which was in the cool side of the house.
Brett climbed inside after returning the trolley to the bay, and they pulled out, heading back to her place.