Married With Me: A With Me In Seattle Universe Novel

by Bailie Hantam

  I chuckle and get up off the chair. “We’ll see. So where are we with the alterations to the units.”

  “I just explained them to you.” He pulls the plans in front of us again. “Start thinking with your other head or we’re going to fuck this up. Or better yet, sort out your love life so you can concentrate.”

  I move alongside him as he explains all the alterations that will work. I give some input and ask questions and an hour later I have a better understanding of how the units will all work together.

  A knock at Wyatt’s office door draws both our attention. Angela looks gorgeous in a tight pencil skirt and pale pink fitted shirt. It doesn’t help that I know what those curves look like naked. She smiles at us, the epitome of professionalism. “I’m going out for a coffee run for Lia and I, do you guys want anything?”

  Both Wyatt and I give her our coffee order and then he shakes his head. “You can’t carry four mugs by yourself. Why don’t you take Justin with you?”

  “I can manage four coffees,” she says before turning to me. “But if you need to get out for some fresh air, you’re welcome to join me.”

  Actually, getting some time alone with her sounds like a good idea. A really good idea.

  “Whose car are you using?”

  She jingles keys from her forefinger. “I’m using Lia’s.”

  “We’ll take mine.” I grab my keys and wallet off Wyatt’s desk. “I’ll drive.”

  That little frown is adorable. “Don’t you trust my driving? You’ve driven with me before.”

  How do I signal that it's better if we don’t do what I have planned in someone else’s car? Instead of saying anything I just stare at her and lick my lips.

  Her eyes darken and I can tell she’s on the same page as me.

  Wyatt clears his throat. “Take his car. Please.”

  I walk downstairs with her, my hand resting on her lower back. She may be self-conscious that Lia will see, but she doesn’t move away. Besides, I’m pretty sure by the time we get back from our “coffee run” Lia will know everything I’ve just told Wyatt.

  As we’re leaving, Lia’s on the phone. She tells the person on the other end to hold. “Angela, are you in the mood for a girl’s night out? Dinner and a few drinks. No hangover tomorrow, but you may need someone to drive you home.”

  Angela lifts a brow. “Just you and me?”

  “No.” She shakes her head. “My sister and sister-in-law will join us.”

  I was hoping to take Angela out this evening but that can wait. It’s probably better for her to get out and make friends in Seattle.

  She moves her head from side to side in a thinking motion. “Can I bring my sister with me?”

  “Of course.” Lia’s smile brightens. “The more the merrier.”

  “Then I’m in.”

  Angela

  Lia and her family are a hoot. The one thing I worried about leaving behind in Vegas is that I would miss hanging out with Cassie and Lilly. And I will. But I can so see them fitting in with these ladies. I asked both Bridget and Andi to join us. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves despite there being more than ten years between Bridget and Joy, Lia’s sister-in-law. Actually, technically she’s Wyatt’s sister-in-law but that’s just semantics, these ladies are clearly just sisters. Kind of how Bridget and I think of Andi.

  “So,” Andi swirls her cocktail glass. “Are you going to stay married to my cousin.”

  I can feel my eyes widen and I look around the table.

  Lia waves her hand, dismissing my concern. “I already know. Wyatt told me while you two were out for coffee. I just wasn’t sure if your family knew. That’s why I didn’t bring it up.”

  A small smile crosses over my face as I remember us going to get coffee. I’m sure that was the longest coffee run ever. Justin found a secluded spot behind a nearby school. Neither of us removed our clothes. It was quick and hot and the naughtiness about it just made it even more memorable.

  Does it make me pathetic that I like the idea of sneaking away from work for a car quickie with my husband? And how pathetic does it make me that I can’t picture that husband as anyone else but Justin?

  Anastasia, Lia’s sister waves her hand in front of my face. “Earth to Angela. You still haven’t answered Andi’s question.”

  It takes me a moment to remember the question. Am I going to stay married to Justin? “His lawyer said it’s more hassle to get an annulment but if we want to make it as if it never happened, it is possible. His lawyer also went on about there being no prenup, so an annulment is better. But Justin doesn’t want an annulment.”

  Andi frowns at me. “That was a lot of words to not answer the question.”

  “We’re probably going to just get a divorce.” I push down the pang of disappointment. “I mean there was no fuss over getting married, there’s no need for fuss over ending it.”

  Bridget points a perfectly manicured finger at me. “There is another option, you know.”

  “It’s not an option.” I roll my eyes at my sister. “We barely know each other.”

  Lia shakes her head. “I don’t think that’s true, or that it’s even necessary.”

  “No, it is. When I think back over the last week and a half there’s a lot of sex but hardly anything else.”

  Okay, that’s not exactly true. We could stay up all night talking. All the mini dates we went on, which I suppose was just a prelude to the sex, but we got to know each other. He came to most of my performances and even I got to see him in action. There was a whole lot more than sex. But I wasn’t going to tell them that.

  “But the sex is good, right?” This from Joy.

  I don’t answer but a smile creeps across my face and I feel my cheeks heat up.

  “Oh, God.” Andi covers her ears. “Don’t answer that. I don’t need to hear about my cousin’s sex life. It’s bad enough I actually caught Blake in the act once.”

  Blake was Justin’s younger brother and Andi’s cousin. He lives in Europe now, but he was the player in that family when they were growing up.

  I roll my eyes at Andi. “You're right. Catching a family member bumping uglies must be so disturbing. I can’t imagine what that must be like. Oh… wait.”

  Andi at least has the decency to blush. “We do not speak about that!”

  Bridget’s eyes widen. “Wait you caught them too?”

  I stare between the two of them. “Bridget was eleven when you two were dating. What the fuck were you thinking?”

  Bridget scrunches her face confused, and shakes her head. “I was fifteen when I caught them.”

  I don’t want to know the details. But I do wonder if they’re still doing whatever they’ve been doing.

  I nod, sincerely hoping that my brother has learned the art of using a door lock since then.

  Joy looks between us. “Who caught who?”

  “Andi and my brother.”

  That’s how the night progresses. The more we drink the more we learn about each other’s sex lives. It’s disturbing and fascinating all at once.

  It isn’t until I hear that deep sexy voice behind me that I realize how late it’s gotten. “Good evening ladies.”

  “What are you doing here?” I don’t mean to sound so abrupt; I’m just surprised to see him.

  “I’m your ride home.” He says it like it’s the most logical thing in the world. And I suppose it is, but I was expecting my brother to fetch me. He turns to the table and addresses Lia, Joy and Anastasia. “Wyatt is on his way here to get you. Apparently Jace is in the middle of an emergency surgery and Kane is fetching Anastasia from Lia’s.”

  As if on cue Wyatt walks in behind Justin. “Are you ready to go?”

  We all nod as we drop cash on the table to cover our bill and the tip.

  “Are you taking all of us home?” Bridget looks up at Justin. “I mean isn’t it a little out of your way.”

  Justin shakes his head and points between Andi and Bridget. “I’m dropping you two off
at home.” He then pins his eyes on me. “And you and I will discuss why, again, you asked your brother to drive you and not me.”

  I roll my eyes, not wanting to discuss this. I had effectively avoided the topic on Sunday, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do it again. “Oh goodie. Something to look forward to.”

  His glare doesn’t leave me. As we all gather our things and leave. The ride to drop off Bridget and Andi is tense but the two of them chatting in the backseat seems to cover most of it. Once we’re alone in the car the silence becomes unbearable.

  “Listen, Justin.”

  He holds up a hand. “Not now. Let’s wait until we get home.”

  “No, I need to say this now. If you don’t like what I have to say, you can drop me off at my parent’s place. But I’m really hoping you’ll understand and we can just go home.”

  He looks at me. “Okay, but before you say another word, just think about what you just said to me.”

  I replay the last sentence in my head. “Oh.”

  Chapter 11

  Justin

  I can see the moment her words click. It wasn’t something she said deliberately, but I do believe that she meant what she said. At least I hope so.

  “Now tell me, why’d you ask your brother to pick you up when I was right there when you got the invite?”

  “Justin, you didn’t exactly offer, and I don’t want to take advantage of you.” She moves deeper into her seat folding her legs.

  “Those are two separate things.” I take a deep inhaling breath. I’m not angry and I don’t want to sound as if I am. “And I didn’t offer because I don’t want to force my way into your life either. For all I knew the three of you were going to share an Uber and didn’t want any men around. But that’s not the case, is it?”

  “That’s not fair.” She huffs out, she’s obviously just as frustrated as I am. “I don’t want to take advantage of you. You have a very giving nature and it would be so easy to do just that. I didn’t want to seem needy.”

  “If we’re going to give this a fair shot, we need to rely on each other.” I turn into the parking garage of my building and into my spot. I turn off the car but make no attempt to get out. Neither does she. “I don’t think you have it in you to take advantage of anyone. For fuck’s sake you’ve lived in a city with no family around for years. I know you can take care of yourself. I’m just saying if you need to call someone, let that someone be me.”

  She opens the car door and gets out. At some point she’s going to wait for me to open it for her I hope. Something tells me we’re still worlds away from that. But the fact that she’s getting out means she wants to stay and not go back to her parents’ place.

  I follow her and take her hand as we head up to my apartment. Once we’re inside she plops down on the couch. “Justin, I just feel that we have a very one-sided relationship. I noticed it in Vegas already. We did everything I wanted to do. I left it alone then, because you were experiencing the city through my eyes. But now that we’re here, I still don’t know much about what you like.”

  With every word my shoulders tensed. It wasn’t that I wanted to please her all the time. I would do the things I wanted to do. I just didn’t know what those were. I wasn’t about to tell her that, though. But there were things I did enjoy.

  “I like spending time with you.” I know it’s not what she wanted to hear, but it’s the truth. “I’ve learned in the past week that I also like taking care of my grandfather. I’m not sure he likes me taking care of him, though.”

  “You’re really close to him.” I sit down next to her and she shifts to rest her head on my lap. “Have you two always been that way?”

  Stroking her hair, I rest my head on the back of the couch. If I was going to tell her this story, I needed to be touching her, but I don’t think I can look at her. I won’t be able to handle her pity. “I’ve always known that I wanted to build things. Maybe not hands on. But I wanted to create, conceptualize. When I started high school, my dream was to go into city planning.

  She doesn’t say anything or scoff, so I continue. “We were poor. I knew if I wanted to go to college, I needed to work my ass off to get a full ride. There was no way that my grandfather could afford to pay even part of it. I knew I could apply for student loans but what I wanted to do does not pay very well and I would be in debt until I retired if I didn’t get a scholarship.

  “One evening, my grandfather made dinner. He dished four plates of food. Us kids each had a decent plate. Andi asked him why he wasn’t eating, and he told her he wasn’t hungry. It may have been true, but a few hours later, I took a break from studying and found him at the kitchen table eating a sandwich. At that moment I knew. We exchanged a look, nothing more. He’d gone without dinner so that each of us could have a decent meal. I wasn’t sure what to do with what I had seen. As I was leaving the kitchen, he called out to me and I’ll never forget his words. ‘You will eat every morsel I put on your plate. Right now, your growing body is more important than mine. Do you understand?’

  “I nodded at him. And as much as I hated it, I knew anything less would be making a mockery of the sacrifice he was making for us. But it did make me change gears. I switched my focus. My goal became to make so much money that my grandfather would never have to choose between the roof over his head and a decent meal.”

  I swallow and look down at her. Subconsciously, I brace myself for the pity in her eyes. But it wasn’t there. Instead what I saw was awe or even pride. Her eyes were watery, but she wasn’t feeling sorry for me.

  “Justin, you gave up your dreams for your grandfather.”

  That was not the point of the story. The point is… I’m not sure why I told her that story. She asked about my relationship with my grandfather and that’s the part I wanted to share with her. I’d never told anyone about that night. Not my brother or cousins, not Michael or Denver. It was a private moment between my grandfather and me. So, she may see it as easy-going or over accommodating or whatever. That’s not how I see it. Love is about sacrifice. If you love someone you support them. Make sure they have what they need.

  “I didn’t really,” I counter her statement. “Not permanently. I did what I needed to do and now I can do what I want to do.”

  “Are you though? I mean you said that you wanted to go into city planning and now you’re buying apartment buildings and renovating them to be off-the-grid.”

  I shake my head. “This is the inner city. They’ll never be completely off-the-grid. It’s just not practical or cost effective.”

  Angela smiles at me. “So, you’re not some philanthropist out to make the world better and save the poor.”

  “Fuck, no.” I smile at the notion. “Why would you think that?”

  “You just don’t seem too concerned about making money. You’ve made millions developing apps and you’re willing to give it all up to develop low-cost housing that saves the planet.”

  Raising her brow, I can't help but tease. “Firstly, I’ve made a little more than millions developing apps. And secondly, the dream was to make a living building things. Or at least conceptualizing and letting others do the building. Yeah, I have the resources to adjust the dream, so I do some good in the process. But it would mean nothing if I can’t make a living from it.”

  “I think I get it.”

  “The thing you need to understand is that most people don’t want a handout.” That is the one thing I know. Despite raising four active kids with different interests, my grandfather never wanted any charity. That’s not to say he didn’t accept some from time to time. Sometimes he didn’t have any other choice. “People want to earn their keep in this world. I’m just trying to make that a little easier for them.”

  Angela was silent for a long time. “I understand wanting to earn your keep. I mean, I’ve been staying with my parents for a few days, and I already feel like I’m mooching off them.”

  Yeah, she would. “You’ve been on your own since you graduated high
school. Of course, it’s an adjustment having to rely on the people who care about you. But needing help temporarily while you figure things out is not mooching.”

  “I suppose you’re right. But I do need to find my own place.” She sits up and straddles me. I don’t think she's aware of what she’s doing because she doesn’t look like she’s about to seduce me. “Seriously, this time. Are there any vacant apartments in this building?”

  “I have a few actually.” My mind turns. I had plans for those apartments. “If you’re willing to apartment hop as I have each one renovated, I can charge you a reduced rate. We’ll keep it on a month to month basis, until things are finalized.”

  “How reduced? I don’t want you to undercut yourself.”

  I smile at her. “We’ll work something out.”

  A small smile lifts the corner of her mouth. “Will you help me move in?”

  My shoulders relax in a way they haven’t in weeks. “Of course. Under one condition”

  “What?”

  I figure if she’s letting me in, I should let her see more of my life. “You come with me to check out the retirement village my grandfather wants to move into.”

  Angela

  Working for Wyatt Crawford is… interesting. He’s pretty organized and has an accountant handling the bookkeeping. I spent most of my first day sitting around waiting for things to do. Slowly he’s started handing over responsibility to me. I now handle his calendar and the filing. The filing was a big deal. He had a system already in place and didn’t want anything disturbing it. He also gave me his own to-do list each day. I was learning what he needed for each item on his list and could draw up my own to-do list from there.

  It was nearly five in the afternoon and I’m busy finishing up for the day. Wyatt is sitting across from me at the makeshift desk he’s set up for me. “What do I have for tomorrow?”