“You’re not taking advantage of me, Nora,” he said easily. “If anything, I still owe you for stepping in to watch Charlotte when I needed help. Entertaining a three-year-old all day isn’t exactly light work.”
“You gave me a job,” I said with a small laugh. “I’m the one who should be thanking you.”
“Fine,” he said, pulling out of the parking lot. “Our arrangement is mutually beneficial.” He glanced over at me again. “But do you really want to live in a hotel for a while? Because from where I’m sitting, you’re basically at my house all the time, anyway. It doesn’t make much sense for you to findsomewhere else.” He shrugged one shoulder. “And you might as well save yourself—or your brother—the rent money.”
“Are you sure?” I asked quietly. “I don’t want to be a burden.”
“You’re far from a burden,” he said, his voice firm but gentle. “And if you lived there, you wouldn’t even have to wake up early. You could sleep in and just already be there when Charlotte wakes up.”
I bit my lip, thinking about it.
It did make practical sense.
Still…
“At least consider it,” Theo said. “You don’t have to decide anything officially tonight. But it seems logical to me. And live-in nannies are a pretty normal thing.”
I let out a small sigh. It reallywouldbe nice to sleep in a little longer instead of waking up at five each morning. “Okay. I’ll stay for now. But if you ever feel like I’m invading your space too much, you have to tell me. I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”
Theo chuckled as he turned onto another street. “Don’t hold your breath on that. Lucy never complained about having you as a roommate, so I doubt I will.”
“Lucynevercomplained?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Not even once?”
Theo laughed as he stopped at the next intersection. “Okay, maybe she got slightly annoyed about a few things,” he admitted. “But I’m pretty sure she was just super anxious about a gymnastics meet or something because she was going off about all kinds of things that day.”
I laughed. “That’s fair. I get like that sometimes, too.”
“Part of being human,” he said easily.
A few minutes later we pulled into his driveway. I gatheredmy clutch and stepped out of the car, the cool night air brushing across my bare shoulders as we headed inside.
Once we were in the house, Theo veered toward the kitchen to grab some water while I slipped upstairs to the guest room.
My room now, I reminded myself.
That thought still felt strange.
The house was quiet without Charlotte, and the silence made the whole evening feel dreamlike.
The wedding.
The dancing.
Theo’s arms around me on the dance floor.
Crossing the room, I set my clutch on the dresser and slipped my phone out of it so I could return it to Alisha’s closet later. Then I kicked off the strappy silver heels and lined them neatly on the floor in front of the dresser.
They really were fabulous shoes.
Next, I pulled open one of the drawers where I’d tucked the pajamas Theo had bought me earlier that afternoon. A cute bright yellow set. I laid them on the dresser beside my clutch, then glanced at my reflection in the full-length mirror.
The dress really was beautiful.
For a moment, I simply stood there, taking it in.
The way the soft fabric draped over my hips. The way the color warmed my skin. The way I’d actually felt pretty tonight.
I lifted my phone and checked the time. Almost eleven.