Free Finding Joy (The Joy Series) (Volume 2) by Jenni Moen

room.
    After all the details of Lizzie’s stay had been thoroughly hashed through, Marlene said her good-byes, promising to call me the next day for an update.
    As soon as the door shut behind Marlene, Lizzie turned the TV on again and started flipping channels. Adam spent a few minutes getting his books together for his class the next day and then walked to the door. With his school stuff, his duffle bag, the cat carrier, and the box with the toilet contraption in it, he was more loaded down than a pack mule.
    It was then that I remembered that he’d packed my cat.
    “You aren’t really taking my cat, are you?” I asked, following him into the hall.
    “I most certainly am. He and I are making progress on our little project. We can’t take two days off. We’ll lose our advantage over the competition.”
    I chuckled. “I had no idea you were so competitive.”
    “Win or die trying, babe,” he said with a crooked smile.
    “Well, how are you going to get him to your apartment? You aren’t really going to take Rubber Cat on the subway, are you? He might have a coronary. He’s an introvert, you know.”
    “I thought of that. I’m going to take a cab.”
    “ You … Mr. Public-Transportation-or-Nothing … are going to willingly take a cab?”
    “I am. For you. So that your cat doesn’t die of an embolism on the subway.”
    “Do you need any cash?” I asked. Now I was just trying to delay his departure. I wasn’t in any hurry to see him leave.
    “No,” he said, throwing me a harsh look. “I don’t need any cash. I’m not a kept man, Allie.”
    What? That wasn’t what I’d meant at all. “I know that,” I stammered. “I meant. I just meant …well, you never have cash on you. I just wanted to make sure that you could get home okay…since you’re taking a cab and all.” I looked down at the floor and shifted nervously on my feet.
    Money was something we didn’t talk or worry about. He had his. I had mine. But Adam was a proud man, and I was very aware that he took issue with the source of his money. I still didn’t know exactly how much money my dad had paid to Adam’s family in the settlement, but from what I had gathered, it was substantial. Though it meant financial freedom for Adam and his mother, it was a thorn in his side. I certainly hadn’t meant to imply that he needed to get money from me.
    He set the bundle of bags, boxes, and cat down at his feet. Moving toward me, he pushed me up against the hallway wall and caged me in with his hands on either side of my head. His hips pressed into my stomach, causing the butterflies that dwelled inside to wake up and take flight.
    “Let’s get one thing straight,” he said, looking me square in the face. His eyes were talking to me again, and they were telling me that despite his gruff voice he wasn’t mad. “I’m not going home. I’m already home. I’m willingly leaving only because I know its temporary.”
    “Temporary,” I said with a contented sigh. I wrapped my arms around his waist and tucked my fingers into the back pockets of his jeans.
    “Yes, temporary,” he said, leaning in and brushing his lips against mine. His tongue gingerly swiped across my bottom lip until I opened up to him. Our tongues tangled around each other until my knees were weak and my breathing ragged. My fingers, still tucked into his jeans’ pockets, grasped at the firm ass concealed within. He held onto the kiss, not letting me come up for air until I was rethinking this whole alternative sleeping arrangement. Only then did he pull away.
    “Two nights and I’ll be back where I belong. So don’t be getting any ideas about getting another roommate,” he said, before placing a final kiss on my forehead. Then without further fanfare, he pushed off from the wall, retrieved his belongings from the floor, and sauntered down the hall toward the elevators.
    “See you bright and early in the morning!” I called after him.
    “Sleep tight,” he said smoothly