Page 23 of Tangled in Vows

Why is he in my bedroom?

And why does his familiar spicy scent surround me immediately? Something about it is just so incredibly masculine and sexy. The instant that thought crosses my mind, I roll away from it before I do something foolish. Like, climb him like a tree so I can sniff his neck. Because I totally don’t want to do that. Not at all.

I almost fall off the bed to escape, but Holden’s hand shoots out and grips my arm.

“Hurricane, we need to talk about this.”

I ignore him, and he huffs a frustrated breath. “Can you at least listen to me?”

I grumble into the comforter, which he takes as an affirmative.

“I know you’re unhappy about this and that it’s not ideal. But no matter how much we want to, we can’t fix the past.” His Adam’s apple moves when he swallows. “Can we call a truce? I’ve thought about it a lot this week, and it seems that’s the only way this can work.”

“A truce?” I turn my head to see him better.

He nods. “Yeah. No matter how unbothered I am by your constant glares, no one will think ‘happy marriage’ when they see us in public.”

I rub the back of my neck. I know he’s right. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Because I really don’t.

Holden continues, “And at home, I’ll try to stay out of your way as much as possible.”

I grunt.

The corners of his mouth twitch. “Speaking of home, what do you think about living outside the city?”

The way he saidhomedoes something to my insides. My blood pumps a little faster, my chest feels a little tighter. It’s a vivid reminder that I once considered him my home. Even if we lived in two separate apartments. We spent so much time together, the thin wall that separated us didn’t matter.

Holden opens the door to the apartment and shows me around. It’s exactly how he described it—one bedroom, one bathroom, and a small living room and kitchen area. But it’s mine for now. He said he’d made a deal with Tom, so I don’t have to worry about the rent. I don’t enjoy handouts, but I won’t be stupid about this either. I’m planning on paying back every penny of it.

He places my bags we picked up from the motel on the floor by the kitchen and holds out the key to me. “Here’s yours.” He pushes his hand into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulls out another one. “And here’s mine.”

I look at the second key in his outstretched hand. “Yours?”

Holden nods, giving me the same carefree grin I’ve often seen since I met him. “Yup. I want you to be able to get into my place anytime you need me. Remember, we’re in this together, and I want to help.”

I absentmindedly touch the simple silver ring on my left hand he gave me on the way here. We’re getting married tomorrow, on my birthday, and Holden said I should have a ring.

And now he’s giving me a key to his place too?

He barely knows me, and he’s doing so much for me. Too much. What if he’ll be disappointed in me when he gets to know me better? When he finds out what happened to me?

Holden’s smile turns gentle. “You can keep it for emergencies, only if you want. Or you can stop by if you’re bored and want to hang out. Entirely up to you. No pressure or anything.”

I blink at the memory and ignore the sharp pain in my chest. I don’t want any of this. I don’t want to give in and forget how much he hurt me. Or worse, set myself up for disappointment again.

But that’s the entire problem of this mess, isn’t it? I don’t have a choice. It doesn’t matter what I want unless I want to risk my career.

My eyes widen. “You want me to move outside the city?”

He shrugs. “We don’thaveto. But I bet Stormy would love a place where she could run freely in the backyard, and we wouldn’t need to deal with paparazzi constantly either.”

Of course, he has to bring up the one thing I’ve been feeling guilty about for years—a backyard for my fur baby. I’ve always wanted something where she could spend more time outside, but it was impractical, especially when I was running around nonstop at the beginning of my career.

Holden continues, “I know it’s easier for some of the work stuff to stay in the city, but it seems your calendar isn’t as busy as it used to be, so having a better living situation might be worth the longer commute for the few times you have to return to the city.”

I frown. Now he can read my mind too?

“But what about Stormy if we have to go somewhere? You know my neighbor, Susanne, usually takes her.”

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