LOL: Laugh Out Loud (After Oscar, #2)(74)

“I don’t know, but I can’t let you—”

“Stop right there. I’m not spending my own money on it. I’m spending your Nugget rent.”

I was confused. “Nugget rent?”

“Yep,” he said with an adorable smile. “I’ve decided not to buy Nugget after all, but rent her instead.”

I narrowed my eyes at him in the dim moonlight coming through a nearby window. “That’s not really a thing.”

“Not rent, I meant lease. I’m going to lease her. That way, you retain ownership.”

“Let me guess. You’re going to lease her for an absurd amount of money.”

“Of course. Babe, horse leasing in Manhattan isn’t cheap. Everyone knows that.” Roman’s eyes twinkled and his grin spread.

“You’re not leasing a horse in Manhattan,” I muttered. “We’re in semirural Vermont.”

“Correction, dear one. We’re in Stowe, Vermont. That’s like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous right there. Plus, I’m leasing a world-famous Central Park carriage horse. This gal has a reputation and has been on covers of magazines all over the world.”

I snorted. He wasn’t wrong.

“What if I don’t want to spend my lease income on an apartment for my mom?” I challenged.

Roman lifted an eyebrow. “Spend it on one for yourself, and let your mom stay there until she gets on her feet. Oh, and by the way, you don’t get to stay there with her since you’ll be staying over at your boyfriend’s place most nights.”

I stared at him, my chest feeling impossibly tight. “My boyfriend?”





22





Roman





How To Know When To Leave



I’d felt the tension in Scotty’s body the minute he’d slid into bed next to me and knew his brain was spinning a million miles a minute. As soon as I’d gotten him to open up about his fears, I’d finally understood that reassuring him wasn’t what he needed. He needed action.

He needed proof.

“Your boyfriend,” I repeated firmly. “And my first official act as Scotty Pinker’s boyfriend is going to be arranging to send his mother away from our little… big… love nest. Understand?”

Scotty’s shy smile was a visual reminder he hadn’t had many people in his life willing to actively look out for him. That was going to end right this minute.

“So,” I continued. “In the morning, we’re going to have breakfast and then sit her down and make the arrangements. If she wants to spend more time with you, tell her we’ll be back in the city in a couple of weeks and will see her then. In the meantime we can arrange for a phone for her and you two can FaceTime or whatever. Okay?”

“A couple of weeks?” he asked, a frown furrowing his forehead. I wanted to reach out and smooth away the lines, to smooth away everything in his life that caused them to appear. He was born to smile and smirk and laugh, not to worry and frown.

“If that’s okay with you,” I told him. “I guess I should have asked before presuming, but will you stay here with me? I can’t stand the thought of how empty this house would feel without you in it. How empty my bed would feel.”

He glanced away, his top teeth scraping over his bottom lip. Something was bothering him.

“What is it, baby?” I asked.

“I want to stay here, I really do…” He trailed off.

Something in my chest turned cold, and my heart began to pound harder in fear that he might have changed his mind. “It sounds like there’s a but coming, and not the good kind of ass.”

The corner of his lip twitched, but he didn’t smile.

I swallowed, my throat tight. “Do you not want to stay with me?”

His eyes flared wide. “Are you kidding me? Oh my god, Roman, how can you even ask that?” Scotty pressed a hand against my chest. “Of course I want to stay with you. If I had my way, I’d handcuff you to my wrist so we would never be apart.”

I liked the idea of that. “Then what’s the problem?”

“I still don’t have a job,” he explained. “It feels wrong to stay here rather than pounding the pavement back in the city. I just don’t want to be seen as a freeloader or that I’m just using you for your money and fame.”

“What about my good looks and charm?” I teased him. He still didn’t smile. I knew how much pride he took in having made his own way in the world.

I took his chin, tilting it until he met my eyes. “I know how hard you work, Scotty Pinker. And I know you’re not a freeloader. But the reality is that I make a lot of money, and I like to spend that money on people I care about, which means I’m going to be spending money on you.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off.

“Scotty, I want to take care of you. I know you can take care of yourself—I’ve seen you take care of yourself. But the idea that I can ease your burden and lighten your load… you don’t understand how much that means to me.”

I shifted my fingers, running my thumb along his cheekbone. “Please, baby. Let me take care of you. I’m not saying you can’t work if that’s what you want—of course you can. I’m just saying that you don’t have to worry.”