Cash set a piece of paper on the counter in front of me.
I started chopping the vegetables for dinner and glanced at his scrawled handwriting. “Oh my God, really? Another agreement? The first two weren’t enough for you?” I teased and dismissed him.
“This one’s different. The first is kind of null and void, don’t you think? I mean, we both broke half the rules on it, and it was for roommates. Now that we’re more than that, I figure a new one is in order.”
“Oh, yeah? And what’s this one say?”
“Read it and find out.” He kissed my shoulder before popping a slice of bell pepper into his mouth. “Your mom’s resting, so I’m going to take Aria out back to play in the sand.”
I washed my hands, dried them, and snatched up the paper. At the top, in bold print, read, “More Than Roommates Agreement.” And below that, in parentheses, it said, “take that, Sheldon Cooper.” It made me snicker, but that immediately stopped when I began to read more.
The first line was from the honesty agreement he’d made a few weeks ago, including the amendment I had him add, as well as his rule that I couldn’t color my hair green. But it was what followed that had sucked away all the humor from my chest.
I stormed down the hall and rushed through the back door, not giving any thought to my mother asleep in one of the rooms. “What the hell is this, Cash?”
He blinked surprised eyes at me, his mouth opening and closing. “Did you just curse? Out loud? Around the child?”
“Did you just suggest you stay home for two years and I go finish up my degree?” I shook the paper in the air and added, “On your dime?”
“I asked you first.”
I huffed, which seemed to lessen my panic a little. The mirth in his eyes and the slight tug of his lips into a smile breathed calmness into me. “Yes. I cursed. Out loud. In front of the child. Happy now? Can we move on to more important things? Like you suggesting I go to school while you play the stay-at-home parent?”
He stood and walked over to me. With his hands on my shoulders and a grin brightening his face, he said, “I have money in savings, and you didn’t get to finish college. I know it’s been hard without having help with Aria, and I’d love to do that for you. I can afford to take time off.”
“I’m not taking your money.”
“Then look at it as a loan. I don’t care what you have to tell yourself, as long as you do what you want.” It was clear in the way he spoke and in his eyes that he genuinely aspired to give me this opportunity. It was overwhelming, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it.
“Would it really be a loan?”
He wagged his brows, his grin growing larger. “I’ve got a loan with your name on it.”
I dragged my gaze down his body to his pants and then back up to his face. “You’re a little short.”
As if he were holding himself back and my words snapped his restraint, he grabbed me, both palms gripping my backside, and hauled me against him. With a slow grind into me, he lowered his lips to my ear and said, “You weren’t complaining last night.”
I shoved against his chest, even though I didn’t want to. “Cash…the child.” I gestured behind him with a flick of my chin, as if reminding him of the toddler in the sandbox.
“For someone so small, she certainly gets in the way a lot.” His eyes squinted with the wide grin plastered on his face, but he backed up regardless. “So…are you going to agree to finish college and let me be Tyke’s manny?”
“I have no idea what I’d even go to school for.”
“Then give it some thought.” He smiled. “Did you read the rest of it?”
I glanced back at the paper, realizing there were several other lines I hadn’t gotten to before running outside. By the fourth line, I had to stop and question him. “No panties in bed?”
“If you’d like, I can add that I’ll sleep naked, too.”
My smile stretched further, but I just shook my head and kept reading. “I don’t think you can put babies on a roommate agreement.”
He pinched the top of the page so his finger pointed to the header. “I believe it says ‘more than’ on here. And babies should be on every agreement…one way or another. I’m not saying right now, but I thought you should know that when you’re ready, I’m ready. And if it’s not planned…I’m okay with that, too.”
If it were possible to fall in love with him all over again, I would have. Right then and there.
I tipped my chin toward the little girl in the sandbox behind him. “I’m already a single mother. At this point in time, I don’t care to add to that.” But rather than say anything to me, he arched one brow and smirked.
Carrying on with the list, I ran my finger down the page to the spot where I’d left off. And the very next line made me gasp and cover my lips. Tears filled my eyes and my voice burrowed in my throat, creating a knot I couldn’t swallow past. “You…you want to adopt Aria?”
“Yes. I’d love nothing more than to be her father. I already feel like she’s mine. From the second she came into my life, I haven’t been able to imagine my world without her in it. You either. And again, this doesn’t have to happen right now. When you’re ready, of course. I just needed to put it all out there for you. You deserve to know my intentions.”
I couldn’t think straight, and staring at him with tears in my eyes only made things awkward. So I went back to the paper in my hand, pretending to read the words he’d written. But once they actually made sense to me, I squeezed my eyes shut and released the salty rivers down my face.
On the very last line, he’d written: Marry me.
“I don’t even know what to do with this, Cash.” I waved the paper in front of him. “My mom still has so much work ahead of her—we both do. She has doctors’ appointments and physical therapy. Then we have Bryn. Plus my mom’s house and where she’s going to live.”
“Babe.” His voice was so calm and even as he held my face in the palms of his hands. “You don’t have to make any decisions right now. Think about it—all of it. Make changes, add whatever you think of, scratch off what you’re not comfortable with. And once you have the agreement the way you want, give it back. Just because you agree to anything on here doesn’t mean we have to go out tomorrow and make it happen. I just thought you have the right to know where my head’s at. Where my heart’s at. What I ultimately hope to have with you.”