Page 65 of Pretend

“Why are you prolonging my torture?” Morgan asked, licking her lips nervously when he didn’t say anything.

“You can take off the blindfold, baby girl,” Eric said, chuckling when she reached up and ripped off the blindfold and-

“Oh, my God…”

“Do you like it?” Eric asked as he placed her glasses back on her face as Morgan stood there, taking in everything in the incredibly beautiful bedroom that up until a few days ago had been a nightmare, from the hardwood floor to the crown molding, the light grey walls, refinished built-in shelves, the French patio doors that led onto the balcony, noting that he’d moved the bed back in here before shifting her gaze towards the bathroom that she could tell even from here was exactly the way that she wanted it, but that wasn’t what had her attention.

“Is that…” Morgan started to ask, only to let her words trail off as she made her way across the large bedroom towards the framed picture that she couldn’t take her eyes off.

“The hotel gave it to me when we checked out. The original copy is on the wall back at the hotel,” Eric said as she took in the picture of their first kiss.

“Our first kiss,” Morgan mumbled hollowly as she watched Eric reach over and push the picture aside seconds before she heard the click, drawing her attention to the right to find the built-in bookshelf separate from the wall.

“That wasn’t our first kiss,” Eric said, taking her hand in his as he reached over and pushed the bookshelf open the rest of the way, revealing a small hallway.

“You found it,” Morgan whispered reverently as Eric led her into the small hallway.

“Not exactly,” Eric said, smiling as they stepped into a small, windowless room with hardwood floors, the same light grey walls as the bedroom, and a small antique chest in the middle of the room with a silver skeleton key lying on top.

“What does ‘not exactly’ mean?” Morgan asked, throwing him a questioning look as she released his hand and slowly walked around the room, taking in the freshly painted walls and the beautiful hardwood floors.

“I repurposed half of the bedroom next to this one.”

“You built a secret room?” Morgan asked, glancing back at Eric to find him watching her closely.

“I built you a secret room, baby girl,” Eric said softly.

When she opened her mouth, he cut her off with, “Do you remember our first kiss?” making her smile.

“Sleeping Beauty,” she said, watching as Eric leaned back against the wall with a fond smile.

“You wanted to see if a kiss could break a spell and I wanted to kiss you,” Eric admitted, making her chuckle.

“And I just wanted you to kiss me,” Morgan said with a teasing smile.

“What do you want now, baby girl?” Eric asked softly, his intense gaze locking on her.

Swallowing hard, Morgan said, “I want to find out what’s in the chest.”

“Fair enough,” he murmured, gesturing for her to have a look.

Slowly exhaling, Morgan knelt down in front of the chest and picked up the small key and slid it inside the keyhole, not really sure what to expect when the lid popped open with a click. Throwing one last glance at Eric to find him watching her, Morgan raised the lid and felt her lips pulling up into a smile when she spotted the treasure waiting for her.

Four tin soldiers, a half-dollar, a small handful of pennies, an antique pocketknife, several small rocks, and-

Was that an itemized bill? Morgan couldn’t help but wonder as she picked up the piece of paper and felt her lips twitch when she read it.

“I’m afraid that the secret room put you over budget,” Eric said as she went over the bill and-

“You’re charging me a hundred kisses for carpet removal?” Morgan demanded as she looked up to find him releasing a heartfelt sigh.

“It was a really fucking ugly carpet,” Eric said, earning a glare.

“So, you’re charging me a hundred kisses?” Morgan demanded as she gestured wildly to the bill in her hand. “You only charged me ten kisses to replace the window with the patio doors.”

“You’re right,” Eric said with a heavy sigh as he reached over and plucked the bill out of her hand and made a quick note on it before handing it back to her and-

“You doubled it?” Morgan asked, shaking her head in disbelief as she looked back up at Eric and-

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