When Love Is Unexpected: A Sweet Fake Relationship Friends To Lovers Romance

8. Chapter 8

Afew seconds go by, but Laila says nothing. I”m curious if she”s mulling it over or if she”s speechless.

”Show me,” she says.

”What? You want me to kiss you?”

”I want you to show me the difference between physical touch and kissing.”

I lean in and lightly kiss her on the cheek. Her skin is smooth and warm.

”You missed a spot,” she says, touching her bottom lip with her index finger.

”You want me to kiss you on the lips?” I ask.

”If you”re going to show me something,” she says, ”I expect you to be thorough.”

”You”re playing with fire,” I say.

”You lit the bonfire,” she says.

”You handed me the match.”

”So, you”re not going to kiss me?”

”No,” I say.

She crosses her arms, which usually means she”s mad.

I start laughing because it”s the only thing I can do to keep from taking her in my arms and kissing her pouty lips.

”What”s so amusing?” she asks.

”You”re pouting.”

”You”re making me mad,” she says.

”Because you”re not getting your way?”

”I think it”s time for me to leave.”

”I don”t want you to leave angry. Come here.”

When I reach for her, she lets me pull her in for a hug.

”I do have to go,” she says after a few seconds.

”Okay,” I say, ”let me walk you out.”

When I open her car door, I ask her if she”s still mad at me.

”I”m not mad at you,” she says.

”Good,” I say. ”Aaron will be here with the moving truck early tomorrow morning. I”m meeting him and Adam at seven to help them unload it.”

”Okay,” she says. ”See you at seven.”

Walking back to the house, I realize how close I got to kissing her. I was playing with fire, too. I can”t let that happen again.

After a long and restless night, I get up before my alarm goes off. Knowing that I”ll see Laila in an hour gives me a surge of energy.

When the doorbell rings at ten before seven, I grab a couple of water bottles from the fridge and run to the door.

”Aaron,” I say. ”Welcome home, man!”

”Thank you,” he says, shaking my hand. ”I appreciate that.”

”Are you ready to unload the truck?” I ask.

”Yes,” Aaron says. ”Adam should be here any minute. There”s not that much to unload, and it”s a small truck.”

”Okay, let”s go,” I say.

By the time Aaron and I leave the house, Adam and Laila are already standing by the truck. I greet Adam and then walk up to Laila and give her a hug. She”s wearing black leggings, sneakers, and a pink oversized sweatshirt. Her hair is piled into a curly bun on top of her head. She looks beautiful.

”Where”s Loren?” I ask.

”She”s inside making breakfast,” says Aaron.

As soon as I walk into the house, the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee and crispy bacon awakens my taste buds.

Unloading the truck and placing the labeled boxes in their designated rooms in the house takes less than half an hour.

Loren is wearing jeans and a maternity top that shows off her baby bump in all its glory.

”Good morning,” she says, turning from the eggs she”s scrambling in a bowl. ”Thank you so much for the help.

”Sure thing,” I say. ”There wasn”t that much stuff to unload.”

”We didn”t have any furniture to move,” Loren says. ”I”m so glad we kept this house. The condo in Boston is furnished and ready for Laila and the girls.”

”Yeah, I heard,” I say. ”I”m glad Laila won”t be there alone.”

Aaron walks into the house with the last box and puts it down by the fireplace, then walks over to Loren and kisses her.

”I missed you so much,” he says. ”Let”s not do that ever again.”

Loren laughs, ”It was only one night!”

”One night too many,” Aaron says, smiling at her.

”What do you guys do when you have to travel for work?” I ask, looking at Aaron.

”I don”t travel anymore,” he says. ”We have good people on the team who don”t mind the travel. Adam and I get to be home with our families.”

”That”s great,” I say. ”You two look happy.”

”We are,” says Aaron, looking at Loren.

Loren smiles at him and mouths, ”I love you.” He kisses her again and then bends down to kiss her round belly.

Adam, who”s been in one of the back rooms, comes in and hugs Loren.

”Are the girls still sleeping?” he asks.

”They”re getting dressed,” Loren says. ”Are you all hungry?”

”I am,” says Adam.

”Where did Laila go?” I ask.

Right then, Laila, Holly, and Tori step out of one of the bedrooms.

”I was helping the girls with their hair,” says Laila in answer to my question.

The girls have their hair in matching French braids.

”Oh, my goodness!” exclaims Loren. ”you two look like twins.”

Holly starts giggling and asks, ”Can twins have different colored hair?”

”Yes,” says Laila. ”Fraternal twins can have different hair colors.”

”It pays to have a doctor in the family,” says Aaron.

Loren has made breakfast burritos stuffed with eggs, bacon, and potatoes.

Just as we”re getting ready to eat, the doorbell rings.

”That must be Jon,” says Aaron, getting up to answer the door. ”He”s dropping off my changing table. Yes, from when I was a baby. Mom kept it all these years.”

”Good morning, everyone,” says Jon in greeting. ”Sorry, I”m late. I lost track of time at Peter”s. Your mom is still there chatting with Christina.”

”Thank you for picking up the changing table,” says Aaron. ”Mom is adamant that we use it for the baby since we didn”t have it for Holly.”

”That thing is heavy,” says Jon. ”I”ll need help pulling it off the truck.”

”That”s our cue,” I say. Adam and I stand up and head out the door.

”It”s solid wood,” says Aaron as we pull the table off the truck. ”We”ll put it in the garage so I can strip it and paint it white.”

”This is nice,” I say, putting the table on the floor. ”Are you sure you want to paint it?”

”It”s nice, but it”s old,” says Aaron. ”All the furniture in the room is white, so we want it to match.”

”I have to go get measured for a tux this morning,” I say. ”But I can come back in a couple of hours if you want me to help you sand this thing.”

”Loren has a doctor”s appointment in an hour,” Aaron says. ”Can you meet me back here this afternoon?”

”Okay, I”ll see you then,” I say. ”Gentlemen, have a great day.”

”Oh, we”ll probably still be here when you get back,” says Adam. ”Loren wants all the furniture in the bedroom moved around to fit a co-sleeper on her side of the bed.”

”Alrighty then,” I say. “So, let me get this straight —you have an entire bedroom filled with baby furniture, but the baby will be sleeping with you in your bedroom?”

”Don”t question the process, Man,” says Adam.

”You have a lot to learn, Son,” says Jon.

”I just do what I”m told,” says Aaron.

I walk back into the house and let Laila and Loren know I”ll be back later.

”Do you want to take my car?” offers Laila.

”I was going to call an Uber,” I say.

”Here,” she says, handing me her keys.

I take the keys and wink at her.

When I pull into the parking lot that serves the tailor”s storefront building, the bank, and a small grocery market, I see Eric”s late-model Hummer parked across from the bank. I park Laila”s car in the only free stall, a few spaces away from the Hummer.

Walking up to the building, I spot Eric exiting the bank. My hope that he won”t see me is futile. Who could ever miss a six-foot-six-inch man weighing two hundred and thirty pounds?

He”s looking straight ahead, but as soon as he sees Laila”s car, he looks around, thinking he”ll see her. Instead, he sees me. I brace myself for what I”m sure will be an unpleasant exchange.

”Is Laila here?” he asks as he approaches.

”No,” I say, ”she”s not.”

”Why do you have her car?”

”I borrowed it.”

”Are you two together?”

”I don”t think that”s any of your business,” I say.

”Did she dump me to be with you?” he asks.

”Laila and I are not together,” I say.

”I”m sorry,” he says, surprising me. ”I love her and don”t want to lose her.”

”I understand you wanting to talk about it, but I don”t think I”m the person you should be opening up to.”

”How long will you be in town?” he asks.

”Now,” I say, ”I know you”re not asking me because you”re interested in my itinerary. You want to know when I”m leaving and no longer a threat.”

I see the muscles in his jaw tense up as his calm demeanor starts to slip. I bet if I look at his hand, it will be curled into a fist, but I maintain even eye contact and wait.

”You”re in love with her,” he says.

”One thing I”m not going to do is discuss my feelings for Laila.”

”The only reason she broke up with me is because she”s leaving Cold Spring and doesn”t want to be in a long-distance relationship.”

”Eric, I”m trying my best to be cordial because I know you”re still processing the breakup, but we are not having a heart-to-heart here. We are standing in the middle of a strip mall parking lot.”

”Why didn”t you just stay away?” he asks, with furrowed eyebrows.

”I don”t even know how to respond to that,” I say, ”so I”m going to walk away now.”

I turn around and head towards the tailor”s front door. Thankfully, he doesn”t follow me.

Half an hour later, I”m done with the tux measurements, so I go back to the house. As soon as I walk in, my phone rings.

”I”m texting you the measurements right now,” I tell Emma.

”Your hair better be short,” she says.

”Yes,” I say. ”My hair has been short for six months.”

”Clean-shaven?”

”Yes, no facial hair.”

”Good,” she says. ”See you Saturday.”

I return to Loren”s, and the whole gang is here. I greet all the ladies, including Sharon and Katherine, who just arrived.

”How was your doctor”s appointment?” I ask Loren.

”Baby”s doing well,” she says.

Laila, her mom, and her sister are helping Loren unpack. When I walk in to say hello, I can hear the kids playing in the den. The men are in the garage working on the changing table.

”I just ran into Eric,” I say, shutting the door behind me once inside the garage to make sure no one can hear us.

They all stop what they”re doing and look up at me.

”Don”t worry,” I say. “Nothing happened.”

”Did he say anything?” asks Aaron.

”In a nutshell, he wants me gone.”

”Even if you”re gone,” Adam says, ”Laila is done with him.”

”I don”t know that he”s fully convinced of that,” I say.

”He stopped by the office yesterday,” Adam continues. ”He picked up the keys to his new house.”

”I”ll have a talk with him,” says Jon.

”I don”t think it”ll help,” I say. ”Either way, I would rather Laila not know.”

”If we don”t tell her,” Adam says, ”she”ll be pissed.”

”Okay,” I say. ”Then let me tell her.”

”I feel bad for him,” says Aaron. ”But it really is for the best. She never had strong feelings for him.”

”How do you know?” I ask.

”She never walks him to the door,” says Aaron.

”What?” I ask.

”Eric was always at Jon and Sharon”s for Sunday dinner. When it was time for him to leave, he”d say goodbye and leave. Laila never walked him to the door to say goodbye.”

Jon and I exchange glances because he and I both remember the hundreds of times Laila walked me to the door when I left.

”You can”t blame the man,” I say. ”He”s in love with the most beautiful woman in Cold Spring, and she broke his heart.”

The room goes silent.

”What?” I ask.

”I”m sorry to break it to you,” says Adam, ”but the most beautiful Linder woman is Katie.”

”Are you all blind?” asks Aaron, ”My wife is eight months pregnant, and with each passing day, she gets more beautiful.”

”You”re all mad,” I say. ”As in, insane. Laila, come on. She”s gorgeous.”

”Katie is perfect from head to toe!” exclaims Adam.

”Loren”s eyes are more beautiful than any gem on the planet.”

”Boys, boys,” says Jon. ”Sharon is the most beautiful Linder woman. She”s the original. Without Sharon, none of you would be standing here today talking about my daughters. She”s the original, the most beautiful, the most perfect, and the one with the most gorgeous green eyes on the planet. Capiche?”

”Capiche,” we all say in unison.

I reach for the doorknob, turn around to face them all, and say, ”Since Laila looks most like Sharon, the most beautiful one after Sharon is Laila.” I promptly exit the room before loud protests erupt behind me.