Page 25 of My Dream

I tried not to focus on the fact that my whole life was in that basket and bag.

I stepped inside and looked around. It was neat—neater than I expected, actually—but it still screamed Compass. Hisboots were lined up by the door, a few jackets hung on hooks, and a half-empty bottle of whiskey sat on the dresser. There was also a large Harley Davidson flag hanging on the wall above the bed. That was an interesting headboard.

“You can have half of the closet,” he replied easily. “I’ll move my stuff.”

“That’s... considerate of you,” I said slowly. “Though I only need about ten hangers, and I’ll be good.” It was hitting me how I had really abandoned my life when I came here.

“Don’t sound so shocked, babe,” he teased. “I’m a gentleman when I want to be.”

I shot him a look but didn’t bother arguing. Instead, I moved to the closet and started organizing my things.

“You wouldn’t, by chance, know if we can go to my apartment at some point and get more of my things?”

Compass shook his head. “Not going to happen, babe. We’re not sure if Boone and Gibbs’ goons know you are here, and we want to keep it that way. If you go back to your apartment now, I’m sure they will be waiting for you.”

That sucked.

I looked at the measly things I had hung in the closet and remembered the full closet I had back in my apartment. “Maybe we can go to the store again sometime.”

Compass chuckled, and I looked at him over my shoulder.

“Might make for good TV,” he mused.

I moved to the bed and found it impossible not to notice Compass’s chuckle as he leaned casually against the edge of the dresser. His broad shoulders shook slightly with amusement. I tried not to let my nerves show as I stood near the bed and fiddled with the edge of the comforter.

His lips curled into that crooked grin he seemed to rarely use.

That grin. It scrambled my brain and made my stomach do backflips.

I dropped the comforter and turned to the side as I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. “I think I’m going to puke,” I muttered before I could stop myself. I just realized Compass and I were going to have to act like we liked each other, and also… kiss.

Oh, boy.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his head snap toward me. “What?”

I waved my hand in front of my face and fanned myself like that would do anything to calm me down. “I might be being a bit dramatic, but it just hit me what we’re about to do. I have to act like we’re together.” My voice cracked on the last word. “Holy guacamole.”

Compass pushed off the dresser before I could take a full breath. He was in front of me and caught my hand mid-wave. His touch was warm, steady—surprisingly reassuring.

“Calm down, babe,” he said softly. His voice was low and grounding.

“Calm down?” I wheezed and tugged my hand free to press it to my forehead. “Compass, you have to act like you like me!”

“I do like you,” he said and chuckled again as if my panic were amusing. “Babe.”

I rolled my eyes so hard it was a wonder they didn’t get stuck. “I heard you complain about being the one stuck keeping an eye on me, Compass. And now you have to act like you like being in the same room as me. We won’t even get into the fact that you’re going to have to touch me and… other things.”

His head tipped slightly to the side, and for a second, I forgot why I was panicking at all. The way he looked at me—hisdark eyes warm, his jawline sharp enough to cut glass—made my pulse stutter. Damn him for being so gorgeous.

“Other things?” he asked softly. His tone was low and teasing.

I couldn’t tell if he was genuinely confused or just enjoying my mortification. “We can’t just say we’re together, Compass. We have to act like it, too.”

He nodded slowly, like he was taking in what I was saying. “I know that, babe.”

But did he really? He’d been uptight about going out in public, and now he was ridiculously laidback about the fact that we were about to be filmed pretending to be a couple. Who was this man?

“Like, kiss,” I blurted out. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been on camera before, let alone had to kiss on camera. Our first kiss is going to be filmed.”

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