The Pact (Winslow Brothers #2)(48)

My eyes feel suddenly heavy, the weight of the move and the dinner and the one-bed situation leaving me in a potent exhale. I blink against the lure of sleep, eager to hear more soft secrets from my fake husband, but the pull is too strong.

I’m no match for the solace of sleep, and the next thing I know, the only thing I see is the black backs of my eyelids.





Tuesday, April 23rd

Daisy

My toes curl and my calves tighten as I stretch my arms to the ceiling and blink through the soft morning sunlight cutting through the windows and across my comforter-covered body. I roll over immediately to stretch myself in the cat cow position, and it’s only when I’m done that I realize where I am—which is not in my LA apartment.

My groggy eyes transition quickly to alert, and I sit up in the bed, pulling the comforter up over my bare chest as I go. The room is pretty self-explanatory in its emptiness, but that doesn’t stop me from surveying the walls as though Flynn’s going to pop out of a secret Batcave behind one of them at any moment.

His empty shelves stick out like an ugly thumb, and I wonder if he’s even considered filling them with some very manly décor. Nothing fancy, just, like, a plant or two and some heavy black stoneware and maybe, like, one gold accent.

I rub at my lips with my pointer finger and my thumb as I flip through the rolodex of New York vendors in my head who I know have that kind of stuff on hand. I’m only a shelf and a half into my design plan when I shake myself awake from la-la land with a scrub of my face and a shimmy.

“Stop it, Daisy. The man doesn’t need you and your design aesthetic throwing up all over his loft.”

With an internal scoff, I push the comforter off with a toss, pausing slightly when the gust of wind from my brusque motion sends a tiny piece of notebook paper flying off the bed and onto the floor.

I hop down and scoop it up quickly, and then I read through the short-stroked, manly scroll.

Daisy-

At work.

-Flynn

Oh. Well. I mean, I guess that makes sense. Of course he has work. His life didn’t stop just because I got here.

Even if your own issues mean you’re a little disappointed that it didn’t…

Moving on from the bed to the closet where one of my suitcases lies open for its unpacking, I dig through recklessly and toss on the first pair of sweatpants and T-shirt I come to. I have a lot of my life to get organized today so that I can be ready to focus on work when I start tomorrow, but I need coffee first.

I pad my way down the hallway on careful feet, just in case Flynn’s note about going to work was a recent deposit and he hasn’t actually had time to leave, and peek into the main living area of the apartment with a crane of my neck that rivals several safari animals, even with their far more accommodating physiology.

It doesn’t take but a moment to ascertain that this space, too, is empty. My lips purse and my shoulders settle as my body takes a beat to adjust. Walking normally then, I make my way behind the sofa and around into the kitchen to the coffeepot in the corner. The coffee itself, sugar, and mugs are all in the cabinet directly above, making my ability to set up the pot and switch it to brew swift and painless. For that, I’m thankful.

The pot spits and gurgles as it works to produce my precious nectar, and I take that time to snoop a little bit more. Dishes are in the cabinet two down from the stove, spices in the one directly to the left. The counters are pretty devoid of things, both in decoration and functionality, and I make a mental note to see if he’s got a toaster somewhere.

I’m not high-maintenance, but some peanut butter toast on my way out the door to work in the morning wouldn’t go amiss.

During my scan, I notice my purse sitting on the corner of the island counter and walk immediately to it to dig through its contents and sort them. My phone, which I know is still inside, will need to be charged, and the shiny key I’m guessing Flynn left for me sitting next to my bag needs to be secured on my key ring.

My stomach flutters as I slip the gold metal through the split in my silver ring, and I press myself into the counter in an attempt to stop it. My oh my, how strange this normally huge milestone feels.

The move in. The next step. The declaration of intentions. Normally, that’s what the exchange of keys or codes or any general method for making yourself at home in someone else’s residence would mean, but not for us. For us, it’s a requirement in our charade with USCIS, and for Flynn, I’m sure a necessity so that he doesn’t have to babysit me twenty-four seven.

I’ve just pushed the key past the final millimeter of the split, securing it in place with the rest of my own when my phone starts to ring wildly on the counter, my volume set quite apparently to the max.

“Jesus,” I groan, swiping quickly without looking at the screen to stop the nearly violent playing of Gwen Stefani’s “Don’t Speak.” Evidently, a couple of months ago, I found the idea of making a song with that name my ringtone ironic. Right now, in the midst of my emotional confusion, it’s just obnoxious.

“Hello?”

“Daisy, doll! I’m officially back on dry land!” Gwen declares excitedly. “Ready to hear all about my favorite girl and her exciting life in the States!”

Oh shittt. What am I going to tell Gwen about all this?

With her gone on the cruise for the last two weeks, I haven’t even thought about how I might explain the fact that I’m married to a man I barely know in order to keep my exciting life in the States.