Free Beautiful Misery (The Beautiful Series) by Chandin Whitten Page A

and wild flowers. The house itself was a traditional brick Tudor. Just off the side of the house was a large tree with a tire swing. I could picture myself pushing my little girl on the swing when she was older.
    …”And this one is only five hundred and twenty thousand.” My relator’s, Colleen’s voice broke through my day dream. “So very much under what you wanted to spend.”
    Smiling at her I asked, “How many bedrooms?”
    “Five bedrooms with four and a half baths. There is also a pool slash guest h ouse and a barn with six stalls.
    Cobie’s eyes lit up when she heard stalls. She loved horses. I had learned that over the last two weeks. We had learned a lot about each other. She wasn’t just that girl I fucked in my office. She was the mother of my child. She had hopes and dreams. She was scared and insecure. She was funny and when she was nervous she would nibble her bottom lip. Sarcasm was her second language. She’s an amazing person and if things were different I could see myself falling in love with her.
    But , things weren’t different and this was life. We would be friends and we would raise our baby. In a way I found myself loving her but something different from the way I love Jenna.
    Cobie nudged my arm. “We could get the baby a horse, Gage!” She sounded so hopeful and excited.
    Shaking my head I said, “Yep, we could. But first, let’s find a house for our baby to live in. Don’t really feel like pullin’ some Mary and Joseph, having a baby in the barn shit.”
    “Good point,” Cobie laughed as she followed Colleen into the house.
    It was large and open. I’m no girl and houses don’t excite me but this place was beautiful.
    Marble floors welcomed us in the foyer along with cascading stairs leading to the second floor. The marble continued down the hall and into the kitchen. The large living room was a dark hardwood with wall to wall windows over- looking the backyard and the barn. There was a stone fireplace in one corner and a built-in bookcase in the other. The kitchen had dark wood cabinets with black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. There was a half bath on the first floor just off the kitchen along with the formal dining room. A small alcove was adjacent to the kitchen, perfect for a playroom.
    “The master suite is also on this floor with his and her closets and a large spa style bathroom. It is just down this hall. The other four bedrooms are upstairs along with two full bathrooms. The basement is finished, it would perfect for your weight room and maybe a man cave? I think you two will really love this house.” Colleen said as she started walking down the hall toward the master bedroom.
    “Let’s go see where the magic happens,” I joked, winking at Cobie. Her cheeks instantly pinked and she started nibbling her bottom lip.
    Cobie wouldn’t look at me and avoided me as much as possible the rest of the tour. Once we were back in my black Lexus I asked, “What did you think?”
    Shrugging she mumbled, “It’s your money. Get what you want.”
    The lighthearted Cobie was gone. B ack was the short, cold Cobie.
    Placing my fingers under her chin I raised her head to look at me. “No. You listen to me, this is for us. For our baby. I want you happy too.”
    She snorted and said, “You want me happy? Then stop making everything awkward. Everything doesn’t have to be turned into some sexual innuendo. This is hard enough with all your smartass remarks. I understand this isn’t easy for you either and you would much rather be out partying, screwing anything with a vagina, but you picked to be here. I didn’t force you.”
    Mentally I counted to ten before replying through gritted teeth. “I know I picked to be here and I would do it again, over and over. This is just as hard on me as it is you. Neither one of us pictured things happening like this but it did. This is how I deal. I make dumbass remarks and say stupid shit. I don’t mean anything by