I surveyed the state-of-the-art kitchen. “I thought you said this place needed to be renovated.”

“It did.”

“How much work did it need?” I kicked off my shoes so I wouldn’t scuff the hardwood.

“Enough.”

I glanced at him. He was chewing on his lip, even though the viper bites were gone. He only did that when he was anxious or interested in sex.

“Come on”—he pulled me forward—“there’s more to see.”

I bit my tongue against the other questions I wanted to ask; such as, why was this the first I’d heard about the “early start” to the project? The main floor was open concept with nine-foot ceilings, painted in neutral tones. A formal dining space was carved out beyond the kitchen, with an ornate chandelier. The living room was massive, with clean lines and pale walls. It reminded me of Hayden’s condo, except three times the size, with architectural embellishments.

When we finished the tour of the main floor, Hayden took me upstairs. There were four bedrooms. He saved the master for last: vaulted ceilings, huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and even a reading nook.

“This is incredible.” I walked around the perimeter. Like every other room, the walls were neutral. These were a soft, pale gray.

“When did you start all this?”

“Mid-January.”

I spun around. “You’ve been keeping this from me for two months?”

“Nate suggested we get started on the interior, so all that would be left in the spring was landscaping and exterior painting. I needed a distraction from the trial. And I wanted to surprise you.”

“Why?”

“I funded all of the renovations. I want to buy Nate out.”

“I thought you were going to flip it.”

He was so nervous; his eyes kept darting away. “That was the original plan.”

“Why did the plan change?”

“You don’t like the house?” He looked almost hurt. I was getting more confused by the minute.

“Of course I like it. It’s beautiful. I just don’t understand when you changed your mind, and why I’m only hearing about it now.”

He looked up at the beautiful ceiling medallion. “I like the layout of the house, and this room. It’s a lot of space for one person, though.” He pushed away from the door and took a couple of steps toward me. “It’s a little closer to Northwestern, too.”

My heart did a little leap. “That’s true.”

“The house should be ready within the next few weeks.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “It might not feel like too much space if there were two people living here. And TK, of course.”

“Are you asking me to move in with you?” I was almost positive I had to be misunderstanding him.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Is it too soon to be asking?”

“I don’t know if I can be as tidy as you.”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t expect you to be.”

“I’d try, though,” I said, unable to contain my excitement.

“This house is huge. You can have a room where you leave shit lying all over the place, if you want.” He hooked a finger in my belt loop and pulled me closer.

“Don’t promise something like that if you can’t follow through,” I teased.

“You can keep the door closed. I’ll never see it.”

“That might work.” I laughed and looked around the bedroom, imagining it as ours. The magnitude of what he’d done started to sink in. All the late nights and the passing out on the couch had been because of this. He’d been doing this for us.

His arm wound around my waist. “So you’ll move in here with me?”

“I pretty much live with you already.”

“But you still have the apartment.”

“I haven’t slept there in months.” I rose up on my toes to kiss him. “I’ll give Cassie my notice tomorrow.”

34

HAYDEN

I hung my keys beside Tenley’s in the new house and headed for the kitchen. If I was lucky she would be pulling her domestic routine, outfitted in one of her aprons and little else. It was sexy as fuck. Much to my disappointment, she was nowhere to be found.

“Tenley?”

I dropped the bag on the counter and unloaded the groceries. I called a second time but she still didn’t answer. I rearranged all the misplaced items in the fridge and the cupboards, looking over my shoulder every so often to make sure I didn’t get caught. I was working on my organization problem, but I was under no illusion I’d ever be cured of it. So long as it didn’t impede my ability to function or get inside Tenley, I figured it was okay.

I searched the rest of the main floor and came up empty. Halfway up the stairs, I caught the sound of her voice. She was singing. She had to be unpacking.

I found her in the spare bedroom she’d claimed as her office. The den of disorganization. She was wearing earphones and had on ’80s music-video attire: short shorts and leg warmers. Her shirt, which was virtually transparent, hung off one shoulder. She wasn’t wearing a bra. The white, gauzy fabric gave me a hazy view of her entire tattoo. If I looked hard enough, I could make out the six-inch block in the middle of the right wing that hadn’t been shaded yet.

Our last session was scheduled for later this evening. I’d pushed it back twice now. We’d moved into the new house. Everything but this room was organized. Tenley had a handle on her studies. I had no more valid excuses. Tenley’s patience with me was running out. I was stalling for no reason other than I didn’t want to be done. But I was still going to try to put it off again.

Tenley shook her ass as she shelved books, arranging them with no plan I could see. But then, she subscribed to the Dewey decimal system rather than the Hayden Stryker System of organizing books. I leaned against the doorjamb and watched. It was pretty damn entertaining, even though I wanted to get in there and move everything around. There were no straight lines, no continuity. It was mayhem. Or maybe I was being a little overdramatic. It happened occasionally.

When the box was empty, she broke it down and tossed it in the pile of discarded cardboard. The view as she bent over was stellar. I had the better part of an hour before I had to be at work; that was plenty of time to get into those shorts of hers.

Tenley turned around with a gasp, yanking out one of the earbuds. “You scared me!”

“Sorry.” Not even a little bit.

Her hands went to her hips. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” I rubbed my mouth to hide my smile. “I like your rendition of that song way better than the original.”

“Ha-ha. You’re such a comedian.” Her cheeks were pink.

“I’m serious.” Her voice wasn’t half-bad and she knew it. She was always singing along in the car.

She ignored the comment and turned back to the pile of boxes. “What time is it?”

“It’s just after eleven.”

“What? I didn’t realize I’d been at this so long. I need to change.” She abandoned the box and tried to get past me.

I snaked an arm around her waist to stop her. “Where do you need to be?” Nothing was on the calendar, and she didn’t teach or have classes today.

“I have a meeting with my group. We scheduled it yesterday. I forgot to tell you last night.”

Last night I’d been snooping around in some of her boxes. I found her porn stash. It was eye-opening; a lot of the stuff in there I hadn’t expected. After she got over her unnecessary embarrassment, I kept her pretty well occupied. I could see how she might have forgotten to tell me about the meeting.

“With the Nerd Herd?”

“Don’t call them that,” she said, smiling.

“What time do you have to leave?”

“I don’t. They’re coming here.”

“Here? To our place?” She tried to worm her way out of my grip, but I wouldn’t let her get away.

“I thought that would be okay. It’s more convenient than meeting on campus.”

“But I have to go to Inked Armor.” During the last group project, that Ian fucker weaseled his way back into her group. The rest of those guys were harmless nerds, but Ian thought he was slick. He was always trying to buddy up to me, telling me what a great girl Tenley was. As if I didn’t already fucking know.