He smiles, seeming content to look at me. Last night we fell asleep so quickly, we didn’t do this. Sit in the intimacy of this room and just be together. I’m tempted to reach out and touch him again, but the caution is back in his eyes, as I’m sure it is in mine. It’s been twenty-four hours, and everything’s changed. But only in this room. What happens when we go back to our real lives? Can this continue?
“Don’t look so worried,” he says, brushing my hair off my shoulder with one fingertip.
“What happens after this?”
“When the roads open?”
“Yeah.”
He hums, dropping to his back on the mattress. “We still want to keep this between us, right?”
The idea is still logical. All the reasons we made the decision still apply, but the reality of pretending is starting to set in. “Yeah, I think that might be smart.”
“Maybe. So we just try to find time together, wherever we can then, right? Could be kind of fun sneaking around at the office.”
“Fun, sure.” Sounds great. Pretending we’re just friends while pining after him. Sounds familiar. But I won’t be in it alone this time. And if Declan is to be believed, I wasn’t last time either. This should be simple. Report to HR, to Janey, and tell her we’re dating. That’s the end of it. Except his brothers are interfering twats, and I have blurred the boundary between friend and co-worker so often with them that it’s basically non-existent.
Proving he’s far more intuitive than I ever gave him credit for, he takes my hand, bringing it to his mouth. “It’s different now. It’s just about us, and we don’t owe anyone any piece of this. Not until we’re ready.”
“You’re right. You are. It’ll be fine. And if things go well...then we tell them when we’re ready.”
“Except Colt. No way will he ever let up if he figures out this shit worked.”
“It didn’t work yet.” I remind him with a raised eyebrow.
He grins adorably. “We’re in a way better place, though. Trust me, that’ll keep him going for years.”
“If we really want to fuck with him, we could.”
He sits up. “Oh, hell yes. What’s the plan?”
“Simple. He wanted this to bring us together. Instead, let’s show him how much worse it made things. We could move from a truce back into hate. It would make his in love little heart miserable.”
“We never hated each other, did we?” he asks stiffly, the small grin on his face falling away.
“No, not entirely,” I say deliberately.
“Shit. You did a bit, then?”
“Well, you said some shitty things. I moved somewhere in the neighborhood of hate. Hate adjacent.” He opens his mouth, and I slap my hand over it. “No more apologies.”
He clamps his hand over mine and blows the longest, loudest raspberry of my life. I’m sure they heard it in the next room. In fact, I know they heard it when the sex show pauses.
“Eww,” I hear through the wall. I roll into Declan, giggling uncontrollably, burying my head in his shoulder. He pulls me into a hug, laughing silently. It’s moments like this, moments I didn’t even dream of that are everything right now. Making me believe that we can do this. We can figure out our relationship...or build one without the world interfering.
“You going to give me more dates tomorrow?” he murmurs against the top of my head.
“Yeah, but you’re going to have to work to top the picnic today.”
“I’ve got all night to think up something awesome.”
“Do you think we’ll get out of here soon?”
“I can’t imagine we’ll be here much longer. The roads have to be open soon.”
Hopefully, we’ll get a few more days in this bubble. A few more days to just be us.
29
