Page 71 of One Life to Loathe

“We’re both adults, Leo. I’m not going into this blind. You don’t have to feel guilty.”

“I don’t know why I’m arguing.” He kissed me. “I can’t give this up right now. It is what it is.”

“Yeah.” He was exactly where I was. “Let’s just enjoy our morning. I’m going to need a full breakfast before I hit hair and makeup. That means you need to get moving.”

“See, now you’re talking.” He rolled on top of me. “Do you want me to show you that tongue thing again?”

“You read my mind.”

19

NINETEEN

Iwas happy.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this happy. Had I ever been this happy? Probably not. In truth, I’d never allowed myself to be this happy. Perhaps, given who my parents were, I didn’t believe I deserved to be happy.

Smiling came naturally to me now, and that was on full display as Sam and I took our tour of the House of the Seven Gables. The photographer wasn’t with us inside. He was just going to “happen” upon us in the gardens. That meant Sam and I could do whatever we wanted on the tour, including holding hands, which we were only too happy to do.

“Look how short these ceilings are,” I said as I raised to touch the ceiling with my free hand. I didn’t have to duck when entering, but the ceiling was close enough to my head that I couldn’t even extend my entire arm.

“Stop that,” Sam hissed, catching me off guard.

“Stop what?” I gave her a puzzled look.

“You’re not supposed to touch anything. That’s what Mary said.”

Mary Birch was our tour guide. She was in her seventies and crabby as hell. The first thing she’d admonished us about when we started our tour was not to touch anything. Personally, I didn’t think she meant the ceiling when she said that. I lowered my hand anyway.

“You were the kid in class that actually did her homework when the teacher left the classroom, weren’t you?”

Sam gave me a “so what” look. “I was a good student.”

“You were a rule follower,” I guessed. “Did you ever get in any trouble as a kid?”

She shrugged. “I happen to think trouble is overrated.”

“And there it is.” I couldn’t stop myself from grinning. “You’re such a good girl.” I poked her side and caught glares from her and Mary. We were the only ones on this tour. Miles thought it would be helpful for us to know the history of the house since we were going to be filming in the gardens for a night shoot the following week.

“I believe that’s exactly what you told me last night,” Sam sniffed. “You weren’t complaining then, though.”

I definitely hadn’t been complaining. We were on our fourth day in our new “relationship” and my complaints had ground to a standstill. That was a new experience for me too.

“If you’re done, we’ll be heading upstairs now,” Mary said pointedly.

“Sorry.” I sent her my most charming grin, which was probably a waste of time. Mary didn’t look as if smiling was in her repertoire.

“Are you claustrophobic?” she asked. “Either of you?”

Sam was instantly on alert. “Why?”

“Because if you’re claustrophobic, you’re not going to want to go up the stairs in this room,” Mary replied. “You’ll want to go up the other set.”

“We’re not claustrophobic,” I replied.

Sam shot me a dirty look. “I could be claustrophobic.”

“You’re not.”

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