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“I’m okay.”
Silently, he began picking up and examining each stuffed animal and toy scattered around, before moving on to the remaining items in the chest. His expression was bittersweet as he gently handled all of the baby clothes, from tiny onesies, up to the most recent outfit for a seven-year-old. “You went out last month … without me,” he said, when he was done.
She could see how hurt he was by that. “Yes. I’m sorry. Jules doesn’t even know I do this …” she trailed off. “It’s just something I’ve always done by myself.”
After a beat, he asked, “Were you ever going to tell me about this?”
“Eventually, yes.”
He reached over and took her hand. “I’d like to go with you the next time, if that’s okay.”
She smiled, the thought of him being with her making her heart a little lighter. “I’d really like that.”
“You know what I’d really like?” Evan asked from the doorway, hands on his hips. “If I wasn’t the only one working my ass off around here.”
The sarcastic complaints, delivered with the perfect amount of blandness, made David and Paige both chuckle, lightening the mood. David got to his feet, pulling Paige up with him. “I guess it’s time to get back to work.”
“I guess so,” she agreed.
“But first … this,” he said, then reeled her in for a kiss that lasted long enough to make Evan pull them apart by grabbing David’s arm.
“You can do that later,” Evan said. “Right now, I need your help.”
“With what?”
“With something up in the attic.”
“All right.”
“You two have fun.” Paige gave the men a little wave as they headed out of the bedroom, then bent to pick up the box she’d brought into the bedroom and stacked it in the corner. “I’m going to grab the rest of my boxes, then start unpacking my clothes.”
“Jesus, Cat Lady’s got a lot of clothes,” Evan murmured, once they were ascending the stairs to the attic and Paige was no longer in earshot. “You know that, right?”
“Yeah. I know. What’s your point?”
“Just that she has a lot of clothes … so, say goodbye to your closet.”
Rolling his eyes, David followed Evan over to where two boxes had been placed, one with PICTURES written on it, the other one, MASTER BEDROOM LAMPS. “So, what do you need help with?” he asked.
“Okay, so as you know, I’ve been opening every box to make sure what’s written on the box is actually what’s in the box, because I only want to move boxes once. Anyway, the box that says it has pictures in it, does have pictures in it, but all of them are pictures of you and Paige from your previous life together, so I brought it up here, figuring you wouldn’t want Jacob to accidentally see any of them when you or Paige opened the box to go through it.”
“Oh, shit. Yeah, good call.” David rubbed his face, still not used to it being naked. “Mine have been packed away for so long … I totally forgot about all the pictures she had. Thanks. The last thing we need is another uncomfortable conversation we’re not exactly ready for.”
“What do you mean?”
David told him about Jacob getting into the wooden chest, which led to Paige telling him about the baby she’d lost, while leaving David out of it for now.
“Well, in Little Man’s defense, it does look like a treasure chest. It was only a matter of time before he was getting into it.” Evan paused before adding, “You better make sure your sex toys are hidden in a good spot, because those will be harder to explain.”
Not overly concerned, since he didn’t have any real sex toys, per se, David still made a note to find a better hiding place for his handcuffs … and to make sure Paige had the equivalent of a safe to lock her vibrators in.
“As for this box,” Evan continued, going to the one labeled MASTER BEDROOM LAMPS, then squatting down beside it and opening the top flaps, “I wasn’t surprised to find lamps inside, but let’s just say I was surprised the lamps had tits.” Reaching in, he grabbed one of the mermaid lamps and lifted it out of the box. “Now, to each their own, and all that, but I’m having a hell of a time picturing Cat Lady buying these. I seriously mis-judged her the night we met.”
Unable to stop himself, David laughed out loud. “I actually bought those for her.”
“You did?” Evan blinked at him. “Why?”
David quickly relayed the story of the ugly antique lamps he and Paige had gotten as a wedding gift, and after they’d both been broken, David had looked for an equally ugly pair of lamps to replace them with, but bought the mermaid lamps, instead, to mess with Paige.
