My lips twitched as I squinted up at him. “You know, when I was a little girl and I dreamed of a man declaring his love for me, it did not involve the words ‘Let’s call my ex-wife and give her details about our awesome sex life.’”
“I didn’t say I was declaring my love for you.”
“Oh, please.” I snickered, rolling my eyes. “I’ve owned your ass since the moment you kissed me.”
He pulled me closer, settling his hands at the small of my back. “Oh, you mean the night you tainted my food supply with a dangerous substance?”
“Uh-huh,” I said, grinning, pressing my lips to his. His whole body seemed to relax, to sag against mine as he pulled me closer. I murmured against his chest, “I think you need some time to be alone, to get over Lindy. I don’t want to be that rebound girl who helps you heal up for your next ‘real relationship.’”
“Honey, it doesn’t get any more real than the girl who pepper-sprays my insides and drips hot candle wax on me while I sleep. Frankly, I have to make up with you. I’m afraid of what would happen if you were angry at me much longer. I don’t need to get over Lindy. We were over a long time ago. I’ve been ready for a new life for a while now. I just needed everything else to catch up.”
“I don’t want you to rush.”
“We won’t,” he promised. “We’ll take it slow.” Then he added under his breath, “As soon as we move your stuff back in.”
“What?”
“I was thinking, it’s pretty silly for you to live here, in a crappy little apartment, when there’s plenty of room at the house. Besides, we should do it just to prove Lassiter wrong.”
“So we should live together to break a hundred-year-old curse? That’s a line I haven’t heard before.” I rolled my eyes at him. “So have you told Lindy I’ll be moving in?”
He ducked his head. “Not important.”
“She hit you with cookware, too, didn’t she?”
“Not important,” he insisted.
“Can I hit her with cookware?” I asked.
“If you keep doing that to people, someone’s going to file charges against you.” He sighed into my neck. “We’re not going to do anything to Lindy. She’s not an issue for me anymore, and she shouldn’t be one for you. We’re not going to devote any more energy to her. And swinging that wok of yours takes a lot of energy.”
I supposed that was fair. But I would keep my wok handy.
I laughed as he squeezed me tight. “Well, I have to warn you, there will need to be some rules.”
“Such as?”
“Personal space is overrated. I want to be able to see you at least a few hours a night, even if we have to move around our work schedules.”
“Sounds reasonable,” he said. “And I promise, I will only remove parts from the doors and cabinets when they need to be fixed, not just to amuse myself.”
“Very reasonable,” I told him. “I will only threaten you with pans and pepper extracts when you really deserve it.”
“And the vampire issue,” he said. “Any idea where you stand on that?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “And I don’t know if I’ll be able to give you an answer anytime soon. But for right now, I want to be with you. Bad furniture and all. Besides, I need a contractor, and you’re the only one I know who doesn’t make my skin crawl.”
He gave me a quick flash of a grin, then covered it with a mocking frown. He slid his arms around me. “I don’t know if you can afford me.”
I kissed him, pinching his butt just a little bit. “I think we can work out a barter system.”