She narrows her eyes and tips her head to the side. “Nan told you that, didn’t she?”
“She heavily implied it.”
A soft laugh slips out of her, and it loosens the tension in my body.
“So…” she draws out, biting down on her bottom lip and rocking back on her heels. “I’m sorry. I just can’t believe that of all the people in this town,you’remy landlord?”
I shrug. “It could be worse. I hear the other side of town has a moose that looks through your windows while showering.”
She laughs, louder this time and its music to my ears. “Yeah. That’s definitely worse.”
All I can do is stare at her, feeling the smile widen on my lips as I take it all in. We both still stand here in the entryway of the apartment, unmoving, staring at each other while the air between us crackles. It’s different from being at the house yesterday.
She’sdifferent.
“Do you…want to come in?” she asks.
It’s casual, almost careless. Something in the way she says it feels like she’s testing herself. The clipped answer and controlled distance on site earlier is gone. In place is something more uncertain, like she’s deciding in real time how close she’s willing to stand to me. And I don’t know what shifted between yesterday and now. I only know this is the first time we’ve been alone sinceour night in the city, and the weight of it settles into me in a way I didn’t expect.
“If you’re sure.”
She nods, stepping back to make room for me. “Just ignore the chaos. I haven’t unpacked my bags.”
I follow her to the small kitchen table I had put in when I first moved here, thinking I’d have it in me to allow someone to rent this, but never did. Until now. Until her. She has her laptop open and papers scattered beside it. She moves it all to the side to place the takeout bag down.
She pulls the container out of the bag. She looks at me and then gestures to the other seat. “Sit, Tucker.” And the way she says it makes me melt. Like I’d obey anything she told me to do at this point.
This is so fucking dangerous.
Moving to the drawer, she brings out a knife and a plate before cutting the burger in half and sliding the other half to me.
“Oh no. This is for you.”
“I’m not eating this entire burger at midnight.” She chuckles. “We can share.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I say before I can stop myself.
Her breath catches. Just barely, but I see the way her cheeks pink.
“I’ve been thinking about what the producers told us.” She looks from her plate to me. I feel the tension creeping into my body again because I know what she’s talking about. I’ve been thinking about it nonstop myself. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if it’s going to work.”
“What do you mean?”
The edges of her eyes soften just a fraction. “Us doing that whole dating thing in front of the cameras. I just want to focus on doing this house, and…” Her voice trails off as she averts her eyes from me. “Doing it right.” Then she faces me again. “But I keep thinking about it since she brought it up. About what it would look like.”
Little does she know, Icoulddo this with her—for her.
I can be whatever the producers want me to be. I might be too broken for a real future with anyone but faking it? That I can do.
I already do it every day.
I shrug. “I think it’s your show, not mine. I’m just the guy making sure the house doesn’t collapse on national television.”
“I hate that it matters this much, but…” She trails off, as if thinking of her next words carefully. “This show…it’s my shot. I can’t afford to be stubborn about every little thing.”
I watch her carefully. The way she takes a steady breath, I don’t say anything more to allow her to keep going.
“I don’t want the story of the house to disappear behind something messy or fake.” She sighs, looking down at the plate in front of her. “But I also don’t want to spend the entire season fighting them.”
