He chuckled softly. “In a good way or a bad one?”
“Good,” I said quickly. “Disarming, actually. Which might be worse.”
He smiled, straightening up and motioning at the food. “We should eat before that gets ice cold.”
I took the container he handed me, dumplings and noodles that I shared with him. I fed him bites while he did the same for me, our knees brushing every now and then. When we were done eating, we put on a movie I’d already seen twice and barely watched at all.
The apartment was quiet, but in a way that felt comfortable and peaceful instead of empty or sterile. No one demanded anything from me, nor did anyone need to be managed, fixed, or redirected.
I let myself drown in it. In him. In the calm, relaxing silence of Alex Westwood existing beside me like this was our normal.
And it could be. This could be my normal.
As that thought occurred to me, I realized that this feeling of being well rested and unburdened was what I needed. Maybe my mind hadn’t caught up yet. Maybe it was still tallying responsibilities and potential fallout, but my body had already made the decision.
I was settled here, like even my instincts finally recognized a place where I could stop bracing and start living.
We didn’t have sex that night. Instead, we slept, deeply and easily, together in his bed. What could beourbed.
When I woke the next morning, light spilled across the room in soft bands and Alex was already up. There was an outfit for me on the armchair, new and perfectly my style. Even the shoes were perfect, entirely practical for work while being stylish at the same time.
I stared at it for a long moment as I sat up, struck again by the care he put into things without making a show of it. Downstairs, there was coffee waiting in the kitchen and he stood at the counter, finishing the knot of his tie while glancing at his phone like he was reading something on the screen.
“Good morning,” he said, smiling when he looked up and saw me.
“Good morning,” I replied, stepping into his space without thinking. “Why does it look like you’re already leaving?”
“Because I am.” He grimaced, finishing with his tie and sliding his phone off the table, depositing it in his pocket beforehe hooked an arm around my waist. “I really wish I could stay and make you breakfast, but duty calls.”
“I’ll see you later,” I said, ignoring the pang of longing that shot through me. “We’ll have breakfast together next time. I’ll wake up earlier.”
“Nah. You need to sleep more.” His lips curved into a smile before he moved forward and laid a kiss on me that left me breathless and wanting. “Have a great day, Killer. I’ll miss you.”
“My brothers are flying in this weekend,” I said casually, wanting to catch him before he left. “For dinner.”
He looked up, interest lighting his eyes. “All of them?”
“All of them,” I confirmed. “You’ll be able to meet them. If that’s what you want.”
“I do,” he said without hesitation. He even winked as he took a step back, then waved before he grabbed his keys and raced out the door when his phone rang.
Kissing him goodbye had felt so right, so easy, that it’d felt like something I’d already gotten used to. Smiling as I shook my head at myself, I headed back to his ensuite bathroom, finding it equipped with a whole array of new toiletries for me. My heart fluttered as I stepped into his shower, realizing how much he’d already made space for me in his life. In his home.
As I grabbed my bag after I’d gotten dressed, I realized something else. Even though we hadn’t slept together, it felt like a good thing. Like this version of us, coffee in the morning, a kiss before work, and a quiet apartment to come back to, could be a really good life.
A soft place to land before walking back into whatever hell decided to park itself on my desk that day. For a moment after that weekend, I’d wondered if maybe our relationship was going to turn into an arranged marriage with benefits, that the sex would become our foundation, and it was a relief to know that it was merely a bonus.
An awesome bonus, but a bonus nonetheless.
I smiled, feeling lighter than I had in years when I stepped out into the day, already bracing for the chaos to come, but secure in the knowledge that, for once, I didn’t have to face it alone.
CHAPTER 32
ALEX
Iwent to see my dad after work because he’d called twice before noon to complain that I’d gone MIA now that I was married. As if a wife was some kind of cloaking device.
I should’ve known better than to assume it would just be the two of us, though. Douglas was hardly the needy dad type, who just checked in with us because it’d been a while since we’d last hung out.
