Having Tanner Bravo's Baby

“Good. Now, all our past agreements about how we weren’t going to be together are just that. Gone. Done. Over. Now, I think we have a responsibility to see if, just maybe, we might be able to get it together for a lifetime, after all.”

That shut her up. For maybe five seconds. And when she did speak, she conceded. Sort of. “I…all right. I see your point. You never know. Anything’s possible and we should be open. We shouldn’t close off any avenue out of hand.”

“Good.” He rose. “Then it’s settled. I’ll stay.”

She gazed up at him, looking adorably puzzled. “Since when was that settled?”

“Since we decided that we’ve got a built-in opportunity here, to give living together a try, an opportunity we both agree we shouldn’t pass up.”

“I don’t remember agreeing to that—I mean, not exactly.”

“Come on, Crystal. Stop waffling and give us both a break here.”

“I just…” And then she sighed. “It’s not as if I can stop you from staying here if you’re going to insist.”

“You’re right. You can’t. And I am.”

“But…”

“What?”

“Well, just for the sake of clarity. I get the guest room and we are not sleeping in the same bed. DeDe doesn’t need that. She’s confused enough already.”

Damn. He’d been looking forward to whole nights in bed with her for a change. But she had a point about DeDe.

Then again, his niece was gone a lot. She took a boatload of different dance lessons, and she had a whole bunch of friends. There was always a sleepover at somebody’s house. He and Crystal would have plenty of time alone, just the two of them….

“Fine,” he said, trying to look agreeable and harmless, which they both knew he wasn’t. “It won’t be the first time I’ve slept on the daybed in Kelly’s office.”

She frowned and he knew she was feeling guilty for taking the better bedroom. “You could use Mitch and Kelly’s room….”

“Naw. The daybed will do fine.” He held down a hand to her. “So what do you say? Let’s bring our stuff in.”

She looked at him sideways for a moment, and he knew she was thinking suspicious thoughts. But in the end she let him help her up and they went out together.

Back inside, he put his things in the office and sat on the daybed and thought how getting her to agree that he’d stay in the house had gone pretty well. He had two weeks to get himself a better sense of Crystal as a potential wife.

He’d also get a chance to break down her defenses against the possibility that they might get married. They’d even have a kid to take care of, to practice being parents. Maybe they’d get lucky and DeDe would go back to being her old easygoing self, now that her mom and dad weren’t there to fight with. Hey, it could happen.

And no matter how it all shook out in the end, at least he’d talked Crystal into this much: They were sharing a house. He only hoped the next phase of his plan would go as well as the first.

A tap on the door. “It’s open.”

Crystal pushed it wide. “I’m heading over to Raley’s, to get some things I need for dinner.”

“Great. I’ll go with you.”

She blinked. He was sure she would try and blow him off. But then she said, “Well, sure. If you want to.”

“I’ll drive.”

He was up to something. Crystal knew it. Something beyond the whole weird “practice marriage” deal he’d dreamed up. She could tell by the hooded look in those eyes of his when he jumped at the chance to drive her to the grocery store.

“Raley’s is that way.” She pointed to the left as he turned right.

“I know where Raley’s is.” He made the turn and drove on in the wrong direction.

“So how come we’re not going there?”

He turned his head her way and the sun glinted on the black lenses of his wraparound sunglasses. “I have something to show you first.”

“What?”

He turned to face the road again. “My office.”

“Why?”

“Just wait. You’ll see.”

She considered arguing with him, pointing out to him that she was willing to be flexible, no matter what he thought. No, she didn’t want to get married just because they were having a baby. And truthfully, she didn’t think the two of them would ever make a forever kind of match.

But okay, she could accept that it wouldn’t hurt for the two of them to see how they got along, day-to-day, sharing the same house. Especially since the perfect opportunity to do that had fallen right in their laps.

However, his saying he wanted to go shopping with her and then heading off for somewhere else without telling her what he was up to, well, that amounted to trickery and trickery was low. And wasn’t it just like him to do what he wanted and not bother to consult her?

Still. It wasn’t as if she needed to be anywhere in particular at the moment. She could afford a detour, even if he had manipulated her into it.

Plus, she knew damned well that if she called him on his little deception, he would only start in on her about being rigid and not going with the flow. She just didn’t want to hear it. So she rolled down the window, enjoyed the feel of the warm wind on her cheeks and didn’t say a word the whole rest of the way to Rancho Cordova, where Tanner had his office.

The ride took about a half hour. At last, he turned into the back parking lot of a flat-roofed, unremarkable two-story building. He pulled into a space, stopped the car and took off his sunglasses.

“Ready?” There was excitement in his voice.

She almost smiled. Really, it was kind of touching how eager he seemed. “Lead the way,” she said.

They went in through a rear entrance and up a flight of stairs. On the second floor, they walked down two hallways lined with doors that led to the offices of lawyers and bail bondsmen and a few businesses whose names told her nothing about what went on inside.

At last, he stopped in front of a door with Dark Horse Investigations on it and his name beneath. He unlocked that door, pushed it wide and gestured her in ahead of him.

She stepped into a reception area, which included a desk with nothing on it but a phone and a water-cooler minus the water. The lone window to the left of the desk had cheap brown miniblinds and a view of the building next door. There was brown all-weather carpeting on the floor. A brown loveseat, two end tables and a couple of brown chairs waited next to the door.

Beyond the empty desk was another door. That one had only his name on it. “I take it your private office is through there?”

He dropped to the sofa. “You got it. Want to have a look?”

“This is your deal. Do you want me to have a look?”

“Go for it.”