Claire parked along the curb right in front. “I bet you climbed the heck out of that when you were a kid.”
Her comment seemed to please him. Had he been worried what she’d say about his childhood home? “I did.” He opened the door and put Gertrude on the grass, and she immediately walked off, nose to the ground.
While he pulled his crutches from the back seat and got himself out of the car, Claire grabbed their bags. She met him at the passenger side and found a scowl in his face.
“I feel like a dick making you carry the bags.”
She rolled her eyes and started across the grass, keeping her voice low. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
He caught up and reached the front door before her. “I told them we’d be late and not to wait up for us. My dad said he left a key under the mat.”
Claire found the key and handed it to him, then knelt to pick up Gertrude.
Graham’s gaze dropped to his dog in her arms, and that secret smile flashed across his face again.
Her heart squeezed and she frowned. What was he doing to her tonight?
Had coming here been a mistake? Too late now.
Graham opened the door and she followed him in, closing and locking it behind her. They were in what looked like a living room with a love seat and two faded recliners angled toward a small flat-screen television. A small lamp in the corner had been left on, illuminating a hallway in the back corner.
“Kitchen’s through there,” Graham said, pointing with a crutch. “Need water or a snack or anything?”
She shook her head.
“Okay. That way, then.”
They crept down the dark, carpeted hallway and Graham gestured to the bathroom, which appeared to be the only one in the house.
He entered a room at the end and flipped on the light with his elbow. It was about the size of the bedrooms at the condo, maybe a little smaller. A bed was pushed against the corner and a desk with a sewing machine sat against the opposite wall.
“My mom made this her sewing room when I left,” he said quietly. “My dad must have cleaned up in here, though. Usually the bed is covered in quilting fabrics and I end up sleeping on the couch.”
Claire eyed the bed. “I’m happy to sleep on the couch if I need to.”
Graham stalled. “What?”
“That bed looks kind of small for both of us, Graham. You’re not exactly tiny, and that cast is like a whole other person.”
He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “You’ve been in my bed every night for the last three weeks. I’m not losing you now. We’ll make it work.”
Who was this man—this impulse-kissing, sweet-smiling, sugar-speaking man—and what had he done with Graham?
Casting a hesitant glance back at her, he added, “If you want to, that is. If you’d be more comfortable being separate, you’ll take the bed and I’ll sleep on the couch. Would you rather do that?”
She bit her lip. “No.”
He grinned. “Good.”
Gertrude made herself comfortable on the bed while Claire dug through their bags for toothbrushes and something to sleep in. Minutes later she and Graham stood beside each other in the tiny bathroom with a mustard yellow toilet, trying and failing not to smile at each other as they brushed their teeth.
When she turned to leave he tapped her on the ass and winked. “Be there in a minute, sweetcakes.”
She sat on that comment the entire time it took him to use the restroom and climb into bed beside her.
“Sweetcakes is a no-go.”
He straightened his arm and she went straight for the nook between his shoulder and chest as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “For the last time, what do you want to be called?”
“Claire.”
“Claire Bear?”
“Nope.”
“Honey?”
“If anyone gets that one it’s you, Honey Grahams.”
He groaned. “I didn’t think this through.”
“It’s better than the first one I thought of.”
“Let me guess. Graham Cracker?”
She put her finger to her nose.
“I’ll definitely take Honey Grahams over that. But…do men usually get pet names?”
“Hell if I know. I’ve never had a boyfriend who demanded I have one in the first place.”
He flicked her shoulder. “I’m not demanding. I just think it would be fun.”
“Or…annoying?”
His chest lifted and he released a heavy sigh. “Fine. We can forgo the pet names for the time being.”