“Yes.”
And when she seemed to be searching my eyes, I searched hers as well, trying to decipher just how much of this might be true for her, too.
If the moment I’d almost lost her had woken her up as much as it had me.
“We tried to keep things professional, of course,” she added, her voice softening. “But eventually we just couldn’t ignore it anymore.”
“It’s hard to ignore something when you’re around it all the time,” I said.
For me, it had been impossible not to notice her.
The way she laughed.
The way she looked at me.
The way I wanted to hold her and kiss her and explore more of this connection that didn’t make complete sense yet… it was all too real for me.
Had she thought about those things, too?
Was it possible that I wasn’t the only one who wanted thisever-present spark we’d been tiptoeing around to actually grow into something real?
I licked my lips. “And when should we say that we became official?”
“I was thinking we could say that we became boyfriend and girlfriend about a week ago,” she said, her eyes darting between mine as if looking for confirmation that it fit.
“We could say the hot air balloon ride changed things,” I offered.
She nodded. “Yes. I think that would be very believable.” She looked out the window toward the beach. “Plus, it would explain why our friends and family didn’t know about our relationship until today.”
“Exactly.” I rubbed a hand along my forearm. “So, we’re just in the early stages then.”
“Yeah.”
And I should’ve left it at that. Finished the conversation and headed downstairs to put the plan into motion.
But instead of making my way to the door, I found myself asking, “So if we’re just a week into this thing… how exactly do you want me to act around you?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, her brows lifting.
“I mean…” I gestured vaguely between us. “If it’s early stages, does that mean we’re going to be acting more shy around each other? Or should we be one of those couples that is drunk on the infatuation and can’t keep our hands off each other?”
Because there was a pretty big difference between the two.
And even though I’d been reserved with women over the past two years, I definitely wouldn’t mind having an excuse to act differently with Nora this weekend.
An excuse to really break down the walls and see what could happen.
See if the fireworks I’d been imagining were even better in real life.
“If we’re going to play this similar to how I’ve been in past relationships,” she said, her eyes steady on mine, “then it will probably be somewhere in the middle. Nothing too crazy, but if it’s going to look believable to Diego, then the PDA should definitely be there.”
“Okay,” I said. “So believable, but not over the top.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, now that that’s settled…” I nodded once more, then glanced toward the door. “I guess we should probably go before people start wondering where we are.”
“Since when do you and Nora hold hands?” Lucy asked under her breath an hour later, stepping up beside me as the waves crashed along the shore behind us.