AllFreeNovel
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Parker rolled his eyes. “We’re getting married. What’s mine is yours, remember? Besides, if we’re combining households, I want our stuff to, I don’t know, match—at least a little. Plus, my bed is a queen. What’s yours?”
“Queen.”
“Exactly. I’ve always wanted a king bed, and this way, if we ever have guests, we can comfortably share a bed, which will keep us from raising suspicions. Plus, it’ll all go together.”
I had to admit, it made sense. Then again, Parker’s ideas almost always sounded good when he was rolling them out. “So, what’s your plan, exactly? A whole new bedroom suite?”
Parker nodded. “Yep. A big dresser, two nightstands, and a new bed.”
I swallowed hard. “That sounds like a lot.” I didn’t know if I wanted him spending all his money on us like that.
“We won’t get it all today. Maybe just the dresser and the nightstands? Or maybe we go big with the bed today. I don’t know. Let’s get there and see how we feel.”
“Sure, how we feel.”
“Only one thing—you’re driving.”
“Why me?”
“A flat-packed bed won’t fit in my car. You’ve got the pickup.”
He had a good point. “Let me just get my camping gear out of the bed and we’ll be good to go.”
“Camping gear?” His tone was dry, but he had a smile on his face. “You are such a park ranger.”
Both of us laughing, we headed out to my truck to empty the bed and hauled my things into his foyer before climbing into the truck and heading north. After slogging through the northern Virginia traffic, we made it to IKEA and I navigated the truck into a space in the parking garage. I let out a low whistle as I parked, eyes wide, looking around and taking it all in.
“This is…”
Parker laughed and took my hand. “Let’s go.”
I smiled and shook my head fondly, following Parker. Inside, we took an escalator upstairs and wandered through room after room, small spaces decorated to look like mini living spaces, each advertising how easily the furniture could fit into a hundred square feet and still give someone a functional space. I could hardly believe just how much stuff I was looking at. Eventually, we made our way to a dedicated selection of bedroom furniture, including at least a dozen bed frame styles.
“Which one do you like?” Parker asked, staring at one bed in particular, tapping his finger on his jaw.
“This one’s good.”
“But is it, though? Maybe we should get that one instead.”
I tilted my head and considered the options. “I like them both, but the first one has storage under it.”
Parker nodded and pointed at me. “Good point. Practical. I like it. What color?”
“Oh, the black, definitely. It will go with your whole theme.”
“Smart. I like it. Now on to mattresses.” He led the way once again until we were in a space with probably twenty bare mattresses.
“Wow, you really can get just about anything here.”
Parker flopped down on the first mattress and tossed around on it. “Come try this.” He patted the bed next to him.
I looked around before I responded. There were very few shoppers in the department, and I grinned despite myself. Throwing my self-consciousness away for a moment, I lay next to Parker.
“What do you think?” he murmured.
I turned on my side and faced him. “It’s good.” My heart leaped into my throat and my breath hitched. Be cool, I told myself. It’s just a mattress in a department store. We’re not really in bed together.
Parker twisted his neck to look at me, his cheeks flushed pink. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “It’s good.”
