Which… I guess he should be since he was the one who’d just volunteered to be my fake boyfriend.
“Anyway,” I added quickly, “we’re going to take our stuff upstairs.”
“Yeah,” Theo said as he grabbed our bags and nodded toward the staircase. “Lead the way, babe.”
Babe.
The word sent a small jolt through me. Never in my life did I ever dream that Theo Archibald would actually call me something like that. Giving me his own term of endearment.
But since I didn’t trust myself to respond in any sort of chill and relaxed way, I just turned and started up the stairs, very aware of his tall, handsome form following close behind.
Because, yeah… apparently, we were sharing a room now…
45
NORA
“So, this is your room?”Theo asked as he stepped into the upstairs bedroom that had been mine ever since Ky bought the house several years ago.
“It is,” I said, stepping in after him.
I let my gaze drift around the space, trying to see it the way he might.
A king-sized bed sat along the wall opposite the door, oversized nightstands on either side. The soft comforter was covered in a lilac print, the pale purple and green tones echoed throughout the rest of the room.
To the right, a large dresser held a few framed photos. Two were of the beach just behind Ky’s house, and the third was of Ky and me sitting in the sand from a couple of summers ago.
It had always felt like my home away from home.
Familiar. Comfortable.
But now… with Theo standing here, taking it all in, it suddenly felt a little too intimate.
“It’s really nice.” Theo set his bag down on the bed. “Very peaceful.”
“I’m glad you like it,” I said, watching him as he moved farther into the room.
“Did you help design it?” he asked, pausing at the dresser to look more closely at the photos.
“I printed those photos and put them in the frames,” I said, nodding toward them. “And I gave some input on colors and things, but Ky’s interior designer did everything else.”
“Well,” he said, his gaze moving slowly along the walls before landing back on me, “it looks like you.”
“Thanks.” Warmth crept up the back of my neck.
I took my suitcase from him and set it on the bench at the end of the bed.
Then I just stood there for a second, my hands resting lightly on the handle.
What was I supposed to do now?
Usually, I’d unpack—tossing my things in the dresser, stowing my toiletries in the bathroom, and head back downstairs.
But with the curveball that was me suddenly sharing a room with Theo—the man I had daydreamed about sharing a bed with more times than I should probably admit—I suddenly wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do next.
We should probably talk about this new dynamic, right?
Make some sort of game plan for what to do next.