The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [147]
“Will you accept the vitamins?” He drove from the driveway to the main road, hoping the conversation would work as a distraction. “Sawyer offered them because he wants to, you know.”
With her arms around the basket, she grumbled, “He offered because I’m Honey’s sister.”
“Bull. If you’d just stumbled into our lives the way Honey did, he’d do the same. Sawyer cares about people and likes doing what he can. It has nothing to do with you being related. Except that he takes it more personal when you refuse.”
She shook her head. “All right, fine. I’ll take the vitamins, but I insist on paying my own way. I won’t be swayed on that. Regardless of where the food comes from, I’m still staying there and taking up room.”
Morgan smiled at her. “Stubborn as a mule.” He pulled up in front of his garage and hopped out to open the door, then drove inside. “I’m going to have the driveway poured soon, and then we’ll install a garage door opener, but that’s stuff I can take care of after I move in.”
Misty didn’t wait for him to open her door after he’d turned off the engine. She hefted the heavy basket in her arms and climbed out. “I want to see the outside of the house, too. From down the hill, it looks gorgeous.”
Morgan felt like a stuffed turkey, he puffed up so proud. “Let’s go through the inside first and maybe the rain will let up.” He opened the door leading into the house and reached in for a light switch. The first-floor laundry looked tidy and neat, a replica of the one in the house where he’d grown up, with pegs on the wall for wet coats and hats, a boot-storage bench and plenty of shelving. “All the fixtures aren’t up yet, but there’s plenty of light.”
He turned to look at Misty and caught her wide-eyed expression of awe as she stared from the laundry room into the kitchen. “Oh, Morgan.”
Like a sleepwalker, she went through the doorway and turned a circle. “This is incredible.”
The kitchen had an abundance of light oak cabinets, high ceilings with track lighting and three skylights. Right now, the rain made it impossible to see anything but the blackness of the sky, but Morgan knew on a sunny day the entire kitchen would glow warmly, and in the evening, you’d feel like the stars were right on top of you.
“C’mon. I’ll show you around.” He took the basket from her and set it on the counter.
She kept staring at his cathedral ceilings. “I love the design. It’s like you’re in a house, but not, you know? Everything is so open.”
“I don’t like closed-in spaces.” He laced her fingers with his own and said casually, “I figure it’s easier to keep an eye on kids when they aren’t behind doors getting into mischief. Other than the four bedrooms and the two baths, all the doorways are arches.”
She stalled for a moment inside the dining room. He turned to look at her, and she shook her head. “How many kids do you plan on having?”
He held her gaze and said, “Three sounds about right. What do you think?”
Her fingers tightened on his and she said quietly, “I think I’ll worry about raising this one before I even contemplate adding any more.”
He wanted to tell her she didn’t have to worry, that she wouldn’t need to raise the baby on her own, but he had to bide his time. He didn’t want to scare her off. “I don’t have the dining-room furniture yet. I’m still working on that.”
She went to a window and looked out. “The view of the lake is gorgeous.”
“Yeah. Back here in the coves the lake is almost always calm, not like farther up where all the vacationers keep it churning with boats and swimming and skiing. It’s peaceful, nothing more disturbing than an occasional fishing boat.”
“I bet in the fall it’s really something to see.”
“Yeah. And in the winter, too, when everything is iced over. I figure I’ll need to hire someone to keep all the windows clear, but what’s the point of living on a hill with great scenery if you can’t see it? The view from the