A real relationship.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Sean said he had work to do and went back to his house for the afternoon. He came back for dinner, carrying a folder, which he set aside and ignored until dinner was finished and cleaned up. Then he picked it up and said, “Can we talk?”
“Of course,” I said with a furrow in my brow and followed him to the living room.
When I came to sit down beside him on the couch, he looked nervous, like he was afraid of my reaction. Which, of course, made me wary of what he was going to say.
He dove right in.
“I’ve found three houses in the area with adequate security. I’d like you to choose one.”
I scrunched my eyes at him, suspicious. “Why am I picking your house?”
“It’s not my house. It will be your house, in which I’m hoping you’ll be kind enough to let me use a guest room.”
I pulled my chin back then glanced down at the papers he’d spread out on the table. I thumbed through them.
“These are multi-million-dollar houses.”
“That’s what you pay for a secure house.”
“Why are you buying me a house?”
“So I can sleep at night knowing you’re safe.”
Okay, so that was…really sweet. And yes, the reporters had been too aggressive, and remembering the stalker fan girl still made me nervous, and I would love to feel like I wasn’t being watched, but… “What if we don’t work out?” I asked in a whisper, my eyes still on the papers.
“Then I’ll sell it or rent it out, and you can move back here. But we are going to work out.”
I smiled, loving the conviction in his voice. Loving that he was willing to lay out the practical solutions even though he didn’t think we’d need them. I ran my fingers over one of the photos printed on the semi-glossy paper, giving myself time to think. “You really think this is necessary?”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Libby…”
I looked up at him, worried by his tone.
“My guys have noticed a couple of cars parked on the street lately that shouldn’t be there.”
My heart rate jumped.
“They can’t be sure, but we think there are at least a handful of reporters who know where I live.”
I closed my eyes. “I suppose that was inevitable.”
His face was sad and apologetic when I looked back at him. “Sorry,” he said simply.
I chewed on my lip, not ready to give in yet even though I knew I would. “I want to keep working.”
He put his hands up, indicating I’d get no fight from him. “You can do whatever you want with work. And hopefully you and I will become old news soon enough. But I’ve got another concert coming up in a couple weeks, and if you’re here, alone, in this house, with all the media crawling around, I will go crazy.”
I looked up at him, surprised. “You scheduled another concert?”
He looked suddenly unsure. “It’s actually been scheduled for a long time, and Randy will kill me if I miss it, and the label might drop me, but I will get out of it if you think—”
“No. It’s good.” I smiled, a breath of relief escaping me. “I’m glad things are moving forward.”
“It’s sooner than I would prefer, but I’m glad it will be done before the baby comes.”
I barely kept myself from grinning outright. He so naturally took on the role of protector and advocate for me and my baby, like he didn’t even have to think about it before taking on a child that wasn’t his.
“So,” he continued. “Will you consider it?”
I looked back at the house options, letting myself really consider it. It made sense. I knew that. But as I looked up and took in all the details of my little house, the thought of actually leaving it made my heart sink, and I couldn’t help the frown that rumpled my face. I chewed on my lip and reached for the necklace that was once again a permanent fixture around my throat.
“What’s wrong?”
I looked at him and tried to smile, tried to be reassuring, but I couldn’t make my face do it. Finally I just gave a little shrug. “I have the nursery all set up. I—” I swallowed, trying to herd my thoughts together. “This is my house. This is—” the home I built with Jonas. I finished the thought in my head because my aching heart wouldn’t let the words past my lips.
Sean didn’t say anything at first. He just sat there, empathy pouring off of him. Then he pulled me into his side, resting his chin on my head. “It’s not fair,” he finally said. “I know. What I’m asking of you isn’t fair. It shouldn’t be necessary, but…”
“But it is,” I finished for him.
He nodded.
♪♫♪
The house I chose was beautiful, gorgeous. How could it be anything less at that price? But really, I was quickly falling in love with it. We walked through all three that Sean had found, but this one spoke to me. It had balconies and was surrounded by lots of trees and it didn’t have a pool. Sean was confused at my desire to not have a pool, but I just pointed to my belly.
“Right,” he’d said. “No pool then.”
It also had a guest house, so Sean would be able to have more than just a room.
Sean said it would take less than a week to get everything done and all of our things packed and moved into the new house. But before I let anyone start packing anything, I felt like I needed to call Louisa.
We’d spoken several times since she’d agreed to come. I didn’t ever want her to have reason to believe that something in a tabloid was true, and so I was determined to keep her in the loop.
Her face popped up on my screen. “Hey, Libby. It’s not baby time, is it?”
“Nope. She’s staying put for now. I’ve still got four weeks left.”
“Oh, I know. I’ve been counting down. And buying things.”
“You already bought me plenty of things,” I protested.
She shrugged. “Babies need a lot of stuff. So, how are you?”
“I’m doing well. Um, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be moving.” Better to just get it out there and over with.
She blinked in surprise. “Moving? This close to your due date?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Sean is getting really worried about the reporters and other people wanting to get photos. So we found a house that has great security, it’s own gate and everything.” I raised one shoulder in apprehension, afraid she would think my choice was somehow a negative reflection on Jonas, like he hadn’t taken care of me well enough or something. Probably irrational, but the fear was still there.
I watched as she took a deep breath and then heaved a sigh. “Good,” she said quietly. “That’s a good idea. I’m glad you’re doing that.”
“Really?” I asked, my body sinking in relief.
“Of course. I want you to be safe above all else. And I’ve seen some of those photos and I do not like how close those darn vipers are getting to you.”
“You’re not upset I won’t be living in the house I shared with Jonas anymore?”