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I nod.

What the hell.

I follow him into his bedroom. I might as well make the most of my time with him. I’ll just have to protect my heart. Although I’m not sure anyone will ever replace this man.

CHAPTER 46

CALEB

Jaxson is waiting in my office when I finally make it in.

“Housemate, huh?” he says, laughing. Something you don’t see much of with Jaxson Lockwood. The guy takesseriousto a new level and is more buttoned up than my twin, or at least the old version of Gabriel.

“Housemate,” I state firmly.

“Housemate with benefits?” he asks, a smirk gracing his lips.

“What is this?” I ask, turning to face him with my hands on my hips.

He shrugs. “Just wondering why you added an apartment to the dance studio but haven’t told the woman it’s being built for?”

I sigh and sink back against my desk. I knew he picked up on that detail the night before but let it drop.

Why hadn’t I mentioned the apartment to April? The fact she’s only just learned to trust me? Refuses to accept anything from me apart from a roof over her head? Eventhen, she keeps talking about paying me back—as if I have any need for more money, and particularly hers.

She’s the most infuriatingly sexy, beautiful woman I’ve ever met, and she has me tied up in knots. My little dancer has turned the world of this reformed playboy upside down, and I’ve never been happier. However, I’m not about to jinx it by showing my hand, not before it’s completed. Jaxson removed the internal stairs on the plans we showed April because when she realises the apartment is connected to the studio, she will know I designed it for her. She’ll be mad, but it will be too late. She’ll have her own space. But I can’t explain all that to Jaxson.

“It’s complicated,” I say, earning myself a shake of his head.

“Complicated in that you don’t want her to move out or something else?”

Jaxson’s words stop me in my tracks.

It’s true. I have got used to having April in my space. I’d imagined having someone always around would grate on my nerves. Instead, I enjoy coming home to someone there. Even in our attempts to avoid each other, her mere presence brought me solace. But that’s not it. I know April needs to leave. Yes, the sex is amazing, and waking up next to her this past couple of days, her hot little body curled around mine. But as April continues to point out, we’re scratching an itch that expires when she leaves.

“Complicated,” I say, moving around the desk and switching on my computer. “April has an issue with me helping her, anyone helping her. I must tread carefully, otherwise, she’s likely to run for the hills.”

“Why haven’t you shown her Copper Town?” he asks, clearly not going to let up about April.

I stand up, folding my arms over my chest. “What’s with the thousand questions?”

“I’m trying to understand,” he says, his shoulders rising and falling as he shrugs before dropping himself into the chair opposite my desk. “You’ve been telling me about this woman, who is pivotal to getting the community on board, yet you haven’t shown her our flagship project. One that has been running for years and transformed a neighbourhood, much like hers, with unquestionable success.”

I know his question is valid. It’s true we can and will improve their community, but the community itself would have lost something greater had she walked away after the fire.

“After the fire, April had nothing to stay for. Everything she had worked for had gone up in flames. She is proud and stubborn and too independent for her own good. She’s spent her whole life trying to be heard.” I look at him and smile. “So I gave her a purpose, a reason. If she saw Frazer Development as the bad guys, she would have to stay and fight for the little guys. Just seeing her at that initial meeting with her community standing up for her. Seeing her with the kids. You and I both know that community is more than buildings and places to go. She’s an enormous part of hers. She’s placed herself at its heart. If she left…”

Jaxson looks at me, his expression contemplative.

“I get it,” he says, taking me by surprise. “But now it’s time to show her the bigger picture. Get her on board. It will be a win-win, I promise you.”

Jaxson joins us when I collect April from Scarlett’s.

“Wow. An escort,” April says as she comes out of the changing room, showered and dressed.

“Thought we’d show you around Copper Town. Grab some dinner at one of the restaurants or diners,” I say.

April tilts her head and purses her lips before smiling. “Dinner with two gentlemen. How can a woman turn that down?”