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“Decorate. Change your space. You didn’t have to do that for me.”
This isn’t the first time she’s said something like this, and every time she does it, it bothers me even more. I don’t know what else I can do to get through to her that no one makes me do anything I don’t want to. That just isn’t who I am.
“I did it because I wanted to. I know none of this is ideal, but the least I could do is make sure the house you’re forced to live in for the next year doesn’t feel cold and empty.”
All she does is stare at me. No words leave her mouth for what feels like forever. I shift uncomfortably, trying not to break the silence on my own. I want to know whatever she’s thinking about, and I don’t want to interrupt her.
“That was…” Her words trail off, and I’m dying to know what she isn’t saying. She doesn’t make me wait for long. “That was really, really thoughtful of you,” she finishes. She moves to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, and the light catches the ring on her finger. I focus on it for a moment, loving the way it looks there.
Everything seems to fade away as we stare at one another, both lost in our own thoughts to say anything out loud for some time.
I clear my throat, pushing off the counter before I let the moment turn into anything more than it should be. “Tell me what sounds good for dinner. I’ll order some food, and we’ll get to work getting to know one another.”
CHAPTER 12
WINNIE
“Are you a dogor a cat person?”I ask, popping a piece of pita bread into my mouth.
Archer leans forward, tearing a chunk of bread for himself and dipping it into the hummus. “I’d love to know which you think I am,” he counters, his eyes trained on me.
I think for a moment. I don’t know if I see him really being a dog or cat person. He seems to like order; it’s hard to imagine any kind of pet wandering around this house. “Cat,” I guess, trying to imagine him with a cat curled up in his lap. I think cats are known for being a cleaner animal so I went with them instead of a dog.
Archer shakes his head, sitting back in the dining room chair with a smile on his face. “Nope. If I had to choose, I’d pick a dog. But my life is too hectic to be responsible for any kind of living being.”
I let out a low whistle, shaking my head. “I really had you pegged for a cat guy.”
He laughs. “No, you didn’t. You had no idea.”
I throw my straw wrapper at him, but at the last second, it curves to the right and floats down to the tabletop. “I almost said neither,” I argue, mad at myself for not going with my gut.
“What aboutyou? Cat or dog?”
I shrug, taking a drink of my iced tea. It has way too much sugar in it and is overly sweet, but I need the caffeine if we’re going to spend most of the night getting to know one another. “I’ve never had a pet, so I don’t know. I guess I’d probably say the same thing as you and go with dog.”
He stares at me incredulously. “You never once had a pet?”
A nervous laugh bubbles from my throat. He looks so stunned that my family never had pets. “No. Unless you count Norbert as one.”
“A stuffed animal doesnotcount,” he argues, shaking his head.
“Are you telling me you had pets as a kid?” I ask, unable to imagine his family with dogs or cats running around their expensive house.
“Yes. I had a dog named Skip as a child and a cat named Butters.”
My mouth falls open. “No, you didn’t.”
“I’m sure my mom has photos of them somewhere. You’ll have to ask her. They both slept with me every night. I’d throw them birthday parties every year, and I’d refuse to go to school unless I’d taken Skip for a walk.”
“That’s actually adorable.”
He rolls his eyes like he hates the idea of anyone calling him adorable. “Anyway. Let’s talk about what we’re going to tell the journalist tomorrow when she asks how we met.”
I push my plate away from me, completely stuffed. I’d told Archer to choose what he wanted for dinner. I’d been starving, but nothing really sounded good. We proceeded to argue for five minutes when he consistently demanded that I choose until I finally agreed to it.
He’d laid out at least twenty takeout menus along his granite countertops, insisting I choose one. I’m learning very quickly just how stubborn he is, but it doesn’t bother me. At least this didn’t. I thought it was kind of sweet that he was so insistent on me choosing.
We’ve been sitting at the table for almost an hour now, going over random facts about each other so it can be more believable that we’ve fallen in love. There’s so much I didn’t know about him. I didn’t know he was quarterback on the football team in both high school and college. He wouldn’t really tell me how good he was, but just by the nonchalant way he talked about the awards he’d been given and the championships he’d won, he must’ve been good. Not that it really mattered; his career path was always going to end in him taking over Moore Hotels. It is kind of annoying that he was so good at a sport when it was never his intention to do anything with it.
