“In other words, the Smith family is tight,” Libby said. “You don’t mess with them.”
“I like that. Family’s important.” He put his hand on Sydney’s thigh.
Good for Blake, she thought. He’d met Libby’s challenge.
Libby stood. “I better go. Craig’s waiting in the car for me.”
“Why did he stay in the car?” Sydney asked.
Libby giggled. “He was afraid to come with me to see you because of what happened last Sunday night. Remember, you were in your underwear.”
“Geez, I didn’t expect visitors, plus you gave a quick little knock and opened the door before I could throw a robe on.” She leaned forward. “And I was decent.”
“Depends on what you call decent. Craig turned beet red.” Libby paused and pulled a small notebook out of her purse. “I almost forgot. I have a list for the bridal shower.”
Sydney reached for the notebook, then turned to glance at Blake. “Libby’s getting married in July and I’m her maid of honor.” She rubbed her lower lip and told Libby, “The deck at the house I want to buy would be perfect for a shower.”
Libby snapped her purse shut. “I thought your mom wanted to have it.”
“I’m sure she’d help me at my house.” She sighed. “I like the sound of that—my house.”
Blake frowned. “I’m hoping it’ll be our house.”
“It can be.” Sharing the house with Blake and Carter was looking better all the time, but guidelines were necessary so no tension would exist. “I’m thinking we should set some ground rules before we write a contract for the house. Just like in sports, you can have a fair game as along as everyone follows the rules.”
Blake grinned. “One rule should be that we don’t use the adjoining door when we're in our underwear.”
She laughed. “I can't see that happening.”
“You never know. You might need a cup of sugar or something and forget you're not dressed.”
“Well, for one thing. I keep a well-stocked kitchen. I always have sugar.”
“I don't.”
Chapter Four
After they told Libby bye, Blake put his arm around Sydney. “Were you serious about writing rules?”
She nodded. “We obviously like kissing each other. I think we need rules if we’re going to have a platonic relationship.”
“I guess we aren’t going to resume what we were doing before Libby interrupted us.”
“As enjoyable as it was, I don’t want you to think I’m easy. And the truth is we just met each other.”
Blake knew she was right. When he was around Sydney, he lost all control. First, he suggested they share a house when he just met her. Now he couldn’t keep his hands off of her and he knew why. She was the most desirable woman he’d met since Caroline died. No one had interested him in the last few years. His friends had tried to get him to date after the first year anniversary of Caroline’s death, but he’d told them no one could take her place. Having strong emotions for Sydney was an unexpected surprise. Using humor might be the best way to handle this situation. He tapped her knee. “I know what the first rule should be. Don’t parade around in your underwear.”
She laughed. “You sure have underwear on your mind, and hey, it works both ways. You can’t walk in front of me in yours. What do you wear? Boxers or briefs?” Her face turned a pretty pink. “Sorry, that question slipped out of my big mouth.”
Caroline had been shy when they started dating. She never would’ve asked a personal question. “I don’t mind answering. I wear boxers.”
“Okay. I’ll write that down about the underwear. I’ll get a pad and pen for our list.” While taking a few steps to the kitchen, she said, “This should be interesting.”
She returned quickly with a pink legal pad. He glanced at the bright color of her tablet. “Is that what you use to write your columns on?” he asked.
“I jot ideas on here sometimes, but usually I work on my laptop.” She sat beside him. “Don’t worry I won’t use our ground rules for a column.”
“That’s reassuring. If you wrote about our list in the paper, I might have to rethink this home-share plan.”
She rolled her eyes. “Liar. You’re the one who asked me to share it with you. You aren’t going to back out now.”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “You got me.”
She clicked the pen. “I’m glad you mentioned underwear because it made me think of a good rule. I think number two should be that we never enter each other’s bedroom. So when I visit you on your side of the duplex, I won't enter your bedroom.”
“Yeah, that’s a good one.”
“Unless one of us is sick, then it’s okay to enter with the purpose of giving medication or whatever.”
“Do you get sick often?” Suddenly he remembered Caroline’s long illness and how hard it’d been on Carter. Of course, Sydney wasn’t Carter’s mom or anything, but still it’d be hard to be reminded of how his mom had suffered.
“No. I’m pretty healthy.” She frowned. “We might have to enter each other’s room in case of emergencies. You know if I hear a burglar, I might have to wake you up.”
Sydney walking into his bedroom during the night in her lingerie was appealing. “Yes, definitely. If we should ever have a break-in, I’ll protect you.”
“When you think about it, the duplex is perfect for us. I have my own private house but it won't get lonely if we want to watch a TV program together or eat together sometimes.”
Would he even be able to sleep knowing Sydney was only seconds away? He’d never been an impulsive kind of guy so asking her to share the house had been unbelievable. “The house is great. And I’m glad the owners are leaving the hot tub. I can‘t wait to come home from work and soak in the hot tub.”
She raised her eyebrows. “That’s right. A hot tub with mostly bare bodies could make us feel passionate and lose control. The next rule should be that we never get in the hot tub together.”
He shrugged. “I think we can behave in the hot tub. How about we put no drinking while in the hot tub for a rule instead?”
“The hot tub is a biggie because if we are both in it, with or without alcohol, I can’t imagine us keeping our hands off each other. We were just hot for each other here.”
He squeezed her upper arm. “That’s because of your sexy arms.”
She stopped writing to look at Blake. “I never had a guy tell me my arms are sexy.”
“That’s hard to believe. Your gorgeous arms are toned and lean.”
“Stop trying to sidetrack me from our list by giving me compliments.” She paused. “I’ll compromise and put no touching and no drinking in the hot tub.”
Leaning in he gave her a soft kiss on her cheek. “What about kissing?”
“That’s going to be tough. I think allowing kissing on lips only should be okay. But not in the hot tub.” Her brown eyes widened. “But we should add that lips don’t touch other body parts.”
“What about the cheek?”
“Kissing a cheek is fine.”
“What about a kiss on the forehead?”
She laughed. “Would you stop? You’re a smart man and know I meant no kissing on my boobs and other sensitive places. If Libby hadn’t shown up, your lips were headed in that direction.”
Although he hadn’t been happy to be interrupted by Libby, it’d been for the best. “We have a good list of rules. If necessary we can always add stuff later.”
She rubbed her lower lip. “It seems like we’re forgetting something important. Well, like you said, we can always revise.”
“I guess we should see a lawyer sometime, and have a legal agreement drawn up…like a prenup if owning the duplex together doesn't work out for one of us.”
“That's a great idea. We should do that. I’ll write the rules down for you so we both have a copy. We can’t very well post them where Carter sees them.”
After she handed him his piece of paper, he read them aloud.
Ground Rules for Sharing a House with the Opposite Sex
1. Don’t use the adjoining door to visit when wearing only your underwear.
2. Don’t enter each other’s bedroom unless there’s an emergency.
3. No touching and no drinking while in the hot tub with each other.
4. Kissing only allowed on lips and face. And no kissing while in hot tub.
Silently he added a rule to the list. Don’t ever take advantage of Sydney. Crap, that was going to be a hard one for him. He already wanted her. Hell, he’d convinced her that they would have a platonic relationship if they shared the duplex. How could he keep his word?
* * *
“Will you and dad disown me if I buy the duplex with Blake?” On Monday Sydney called her mom and decided to be blunt about the whole house possibility. The whole thing weighed heavy on her mind because she was afraid of their reaction. They probably hadn’t thought it was a possibility, so hadn’t said anything when she’d talked to them on Sunday. But the more time she spent getting to know Blake, the more she realized that it was inevitable they’d end up in the same house. She couldn’t stop thinking about him.
“Zach said Blake seems like a great guy. He’s also done a background check on Blake and said that he’s squeaky clean. But…”
“But what, Mom?”
“What kind of guy wants to buy a house with a woman he’s just met? Even though he hasn’t done anything criminal, I wonder if he’s a bit of a bad boy.”
“Of course he isn’t. He’s a gentleman.” Didn’t her mom remember that Blake wanted a platonic relationship? “Remember, we aren't living together. I'll have my own house with a private entrance. And Carter and Blake will have their own private part of the duplex. We want to keep this as a business arrangement.”
“That’s reassuring,” her mom mumbled.
Was it all a farce? Did Blake plan on seducing her? Why go to all this trouble of buying a house together, though, if he only wanted her for sex? But he’d been pretty interested in writing rules for living together. Obviously, a sexual current definitely existed between them. Would their short list prove enough to stop their hot urges?
Her mom sighed. “It’s your decision and your inheritance money, but your dad and I would like to meet him first.”
“I want you to meet Blake and his son.” She’d have to warn Blake not to kid around and flirt in front of her parents. Well, she doubted he would be that dumb.
“What does Blake’s mother say about this plan of her son’s?”
“She died a year ago from a heart attack. His dad’s in the military.” She gave the history of Carter’s other grandparents before popping a potato chip in her mouth. The barbecue hot kind…her favorite flavor of chips.
“Too bad Carter doesn’t have any grandparents living close by. I hope Blake’s not planning on using you as a babysitter.”
“I’m sure he isn’t,” she said. “Carter stays at school until Blake can pick him up. And he mentioned that Carter attends the Y program during the summer.”
“It must be hard on him to be a single father.”
After sipping her Coke, she thought of something her mom would like to hear. “With a man in the house, I won’t have to worry about someone breaking in and hurting me.”
“I do like that you won’t be living alone. And keep the security system the owners have. Blake won’t always be at home.”
She heard the beep on the phone signaling someone was calling her. “Mom, I have to go. I have another call. I’ll call you soon about meeting Blake and Carter.”
“Hi, Syd.”
Great. Her brother was probably calling about the baseball schedule. She hadn’t typed it yet. “Hi. I don’t have the schedule done but I’ll get to it before the next practice.”
“I’m not calling about that. I just wanted to tell you that if you don’t set up housekeeping with Blake, you can come live with us. If I’d known you were interested in house sharing, you could’ve been part owner of our home.”
She laughed. “Oh, yeah. That would be like living with Mom and Dad. And I'm going to be in my own part of the duplex. I'm not living with Blake. We are just buying the house together.”
“So you think Blake will be more fun than us. I knew you wouldn’t do this just to save money.”
“We haven’t made an offer yet. And, of course, I’m doing it to save money. With both of us paying the cost and the lowered price, we don’t even have to get a loan. I’ll have money to buy furniture.”
“Blake has the hots for you and—”
“I know. We’re grown-ups and can handle our urges.”
“How? By taking cold showers together.”
“Very funny, Zach.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing because Blake’s a virile thirty-one-year-old.” Zach cleared his throat. “I like Blake, but it doesn’t seem right for you two to buy a house when you’ve known each other for a short time. And don't argue that you two are living in opposite sides of the house. There's an adjoining door, for crying out loud.”
“Before we move in the house, we have thirty days, plus we don’t have a contract yet.”
“Lindsay did mention that Blake goes to the PTO meetings at the boys’ school, so it’s good he’s an involved father.” He chuckled. “Or he’s hitting on the divorced mothers at the parent meetings. If he’s seeing someone, then you might not have to worry about him attacking you some night.”
“Hey, I can take care of myself. I took your self-defense class.” She could brag to Zach and remind him how she had been his best student. “Maybe I’ll attack Blake.”
Zach sighed. “I don’t think Blake would mind. I just don’t want you to get hurt again.”
She glanced around at her apartment. From her spot on the couch, she was only steps away from the tiny kitchen. “I definitely would like a bigger place. You’re the one who told me it’s a buyer’s market in this economy. You know if I buy this duplex with Blake, I’ll have more money to spend on my favorite brother and his family.”
“I don’t need anything. I just want you to be happy.” He exhaled a deep breath. “Sounds like you’ve decided to go ahead with it. You better warn Blake how you hate thunderstorms and hide under your bed.”
“I’m a big girl now. I don’t particularly care for thunderstorms, but it’s the lightning that really bothers me.” Zach had been away when the girl on her soccer team had gotten struck by lightning and died, but still he should remember how upset she’d been for months. And he was right about her fear of thunderstorms, but she had learned to cope. Well, a little anyhow.
“I guess that’ll give you an excuse to run into Blake’s arms.”
She didn’t need an excuse but wasn’t going to tell her brother that fact. “I’d like Blake to meet Mom and Dad.”
“How about at the game this Wednesday night? Blake will be there to see Carter play, so they can just meet him too.”
“That’s a great suggestion.”
“I just thought of something. Where does Blake live now? It seems like he’d already have a house.”
“He sold it after his wife died from cancer. She’d been ill for some time and he decided to move to a townhouse.” She opened her laptop. “I better get busy on my column.”
“Write about what a great brother you have, and how you’re looking for a guy just like me.”
“Sure, good night. See you Wednesday.”
Why did Zach have to mention thunderstorms? She closed her cell phone before pushing the button to boot her computer. And what was this about Blake hitting on mothers at PTO meetings? Lindsay must have brought it up to Zach after meeting Blake the other night. She’d gotten the impression he’d been wrapped up in Carter’s life since Caroline’s death. If Blake had a woman in his life, why did he want her around? He said Carter needed a woman’s presence nearby. Also he gave the impression he wanted a woman to help them to adjust to their new life.
What did Blake r
eally need?
Chapter Five
Two weeks after looking at the house, Karen called Sydney and said, “I’m calling you and Blake because I have four showings this weekend on the duplex you two liked. I don’t know if there will be any offers, but wanted to keep you both updated. With the good price, I’m expecting some action on it soon.”
“Have you called Blake yet?” She didn’t care if Karen had, but needed to learn if Blake mentioned them buying the house together. After last night’s practice, they decided to call Karen on Saturday morning and set up a time to write up a contract.
“No. I’m going to call him next.”
That was a surprise, she thought. She’d expected Karen to call Blake first. “We both definitely want the duplex so have decided to buy it together. We actually planned on calling you tomorrow morning about writing up an offer.”
“I’ve had other unmarried couples buy a house together, but usually they’ve been in a relationship for some time and are engaged.”
Sydney laughed. “That’s definitely not us. I’m sure we are the only ones to accidentally meet for the first time at a house showing and decide to buy it together. Don’t worry. We’re both serious and have talked a lot about whether to do this or not. We also plan to see a lawyer if our offer is accepted. We want something like a prenup in case it doesn't work out for us to own the duplex together. We hope there won't be any problems, but it's better to have a legal document in case one of us wants out later.”
Karen was free on Saturday morning. Sydney went ahead and scheduled the appointment for ten o’clock.
I should call Blake. Before calling Blake, she leaned back against the sofa. Moving was a big deal at anytime but what she planned on doing was unusual. People might question her motives and Blake’s, but it felt right. Hopefully, she wasn’t being delusional about her expectations that buying the duplex with Blake could work.
She’d call her parents and Zach later with the news. She speed dialed Blake’s number. After he answered she asked,” I hope you haven’t changed your mind about writing up a contract with me.” She then told Blake about Karen’s call and the appointment she made.
Yours or Mine Page 4