“Because you’re doing me a huge favor, Josie. And you like the house—”
“Hunter!”
“What’s so bad about what I’m saying? You like the house; I can afford to buy something else and move out once I receive the papers. You just said it would be perfect to raise a family.”
How would this even work out? What sane man would like an ex-husband hanging around, being his wife’s best friend? Perhaps if we told him the truth?
The thought of a nameless man being able to give her what she needed made me want to punch something.
She pointed a finger at me, then poked my chest.
“I just want to make you happy.”
She sighed, letting her hand drop. “Why do you say these things? I can’t fight you when you do that.”
“Does that mean you’ll accept?”
“No.”
“Josie—”
“Hunter. I am not just going to accept a house.” She held her chin high, crossing her arms over her chest. I nearly kissed her, right then and there. Then she flashed a wicked smile. “What’s your stance on foot rubs?”
“What?”
“You said you want to make me happy. Foot rubs make me happy. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn the skill. At the end of the day, when I’m tired, sitting on the couch and reading or watching TV.”
My heart started beating faster again at the image she was painting, at this version of our life together. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was actually looking forward to this, crazy as it was.
“Want me to put you in contact with Leonie so you can take care of decorating the house?”
Josie blinked, shaking her head. “My taste isn’t that great. Just have Leonie deal with everything, as usual.”
Leonie was my assistant and overall lifesaver. She held the keys to my life. She’d taken care of decorating every place I’d lived in over the last seven years.
I couldn’t keep the disappointment at bay. I’d wanted Josie to decorate it. I wanted her to feel at home... make a home for us? For a split second, it had seemed she’d wanted that, but maybe I’d just been imagining... projecting.
“Okay. I’ll have her coordinate everything.”
We were already looking around for cabs when I remembered I wanted to run something else by her.
“Josie, I don’t think we can keep the wedding small.”
“Why not?”
“Everyone’s getting wind of it.”
“And let me guess, they’re all checking their mail already to see if they’ve got an invitation.”
“Something like that.”
She bit her lip, running a hand through her hair. “So... how many guests are we talking?”
“Two hundred, give or take.”
“Wow. Okay. Okay. I guess everything’s going to be at a grander scale than I imagined. The wedding, the bachelorette party....”
“How’s that coming along?” I tried to sound casual, not like I was already a jealous, possessive bastard.