Page 48 of The Love Chase

Anticipation of what, Emma? Nothing is going to happen!

Our faces were close, his hot breath puffing on my lips, and I thought—very briefly—about pressing mine to his one more time just to see what would happen. But then I remembered that we were stuck in this house together, and I didn’t need to make it any more awkward than it already was. I had felt sparks fly when we had our first kiss at the wedding, but that didn’t mean that Liam had. It didn’t mean he wanted to repeat the experience.

I rolled my lips into my mouth and held still until he finally put me down, cold smothering me as he moved away. A heartbeat later and a lamp flicked on.

I squinted as my eyes adjusted before glancing around. It was fairly small, though the open concept living room and kitchen with vaulted ceilings helped make it feel bigger. Everything was white—white walls, white kitchen cabinets, white countertops, and white backsplash. Black window trim and colorful art pieces broke it up here and there, mixing with earthy wood tones in the furniture and other decor. It was cozy even if I would’ve preferred something a little brighter.

The kitchen island was long and took up most of the back half of the room. I wasn’t much for baking, but I suddenly had the urge to bake a crap ton of cookies and make a mess on that island. Even if this was only temporary, it was a kitchen that any girl would dream of.

A staircase sat on the left side which I assumed led to the single bedroom. There was a powder room next to the front door, and a fireplace in the corner of the room. Liam was right. It was nice. Cozy.

The scent of Liam’s cologne lingered everywhere which made my mind feel a little foggy. His cologne was something I’d always wanted to secretly bottle and take everywhere.

Not in a creepy way, though.

Just in a I’m in love with my best friend and want to carry his scent with me since I can’t actually have him kind of way. See? Not creepy.

I chose to see my hopeless romantic side as not creepy, anyway.

“The bedroom is at the top of the stairs,” Liam said, interrupting my thoughts. He nodded his head, and I followed him.

The only sound was our footsteps shuffling on the carpeted stairs. There was a small landing at the top where a bookcase sat, a fluffy bean bag chair next to it. The shelf was mostly empty, and I made a mental note to fill it as soon as possible.

Liam continued into the bedroom, and I stopped in my tracks as soon as I entered, even more overwhelmed by Liam’s scent here than I was downstairs. I fought the urge to go roll around in the mountain of pillows on the bed.

Ugh. Get a grip, Emma. Act like an adult.

“I put fresh sheets on the bed, and there are clean towels in the bathroom,” he said, pointing at the doorway that led to the master bath. “There’s soap and everything in there, but if you need something else, let me know and I’ll have Bridget get it.” He stopped in front of me. “I want you to be comfortable here. It’s as much your home as it is mine.”

I could only nod. It didn’t feel like my home, even if the warm sage-colored walls and the neutral bedspread were comforting and inviting. It wasn’t my soap and towels in the bathroom, it wasn’t my blanket on the bed or my slippers on the floor. He could say it was my home all he wanted, but this was only temporary. It was like a hotel I’d be living in for a year, and then things would go back to normal.

Right?

Liam swung his arms at his sides for a moment before playing with the hem of his shirt which told me he was…unsettled. Maybe anxious.

“Thanks, Liam,” I offered, hoping it would calm him.

His mouth pulled into a half-smile. “The couch downstairs has a bed in it. I’ll stay down there so you can have privacy up here. I’ll just need to use the shower occasionally since the bathroom downstairs doesn’t have one.”

I tried not to audibly gulp as I said, “Sure. Of course.”

Liam and I sharing a shower?

I mean, separately, of course. But still.

My stomach tied into knots just thinking about it.

How would I ever survive living with Liam Walker?

Liam

The mattress was lumpy beneath my back, and the blankets were too thick and hot, causing me to toss and turn for hours. It was pitch black in the house and silent save for the faint hum of Emma’s white noise machine upstairs.

I smiled to myself. Ever since we were little, I’d never seen her sleep without that thing. Emma would turn down camping simply because she wouldn’t be able to use the noise machine. There was even one time we had a camp-out in the backyard and she lasted all of an hour before she crawled out of her sleeping bag and stalked inside. She always claimed she couldn’t sleep without the calming noise drowning out all the other sounds.

Some things never changed.

I ran a hand over my face, rolling onto my back again, and kicked one foot out from beneath the blanket. But just one. Everyone knew that putting out two meant the monsters under the bed would grab them. I snorted at the childish belief that I, and every adult I knew, still held to. The air conditioning kicked on, and a quiet whooshing filled the room as the air blew through the vents. A car drove down the street, the faint revving of the engine suddenly deafening.

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