Chapter 18 #3
His voice is casual, but the air between us shifts. I can feel it. That invisible string tightening. Tension rising like steam out of a hot shower.
I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. “You mean...fake first kiss?”
Teddy’s still looking at the page, but there’s a flicker of pink in his cheeks.
So he does remember…
He stutters out, “Unless you want to go with the, uh…actual version.”
Oh no. Nope.
Except…my brain flashes back. The feel of his hands on my waist. His mouth, hot and hungry. The way he whispered words of praise against my throat.
I swallow hard and hug my chest. My voice comes out low and scratchy. “I guess we can use the real one.”
Teddy shrugs, then lifts his head and flashes me a lazy grin, just this side of smug. “For the record, it was a great kiss. Very memorable. There was enthusiasm.”
“Shut up.”
“What?” Teddy says, chuckling. “I’m just saying. Strong technique. Unexpected aggression. A little startling.”
“I’m pretty sure you liked it,” I mutter before I can stop myself.
His grin deepens. “Oh, I did.”
There’s a beat of silence. A long, dangerous beat where my heart tries to catapult out of my chest. The room becomes smaller, warmer. He’s staring at me, his eyes tracing the shape of my lips, and I wonder if I lean forward would he kiss me?
That’s a terrible idea. Right? I need him now. To make my mom happy. To pull off this fake boyfriend thing. A kiss would ruin that. Take us someplace we’ve been before and look how that ended last time.
Teddy gone.
Me alone.
No thanks.
I angle my body away. “Okay, so maybe our story is that we kissed at the wedding. A random spur of the moment event. Blame the open bar and poor judgment.” My heart gives a twinge of protest at the inaccuracy of that description, but I ignore it.
Teddy flinches at that, just a twitch, gone so quick I might have imagined it. “Got it. Victims of circumstance. A classic meet-mess.” His voice is too light. Brittle.
I glance back. “I didn’t mean it like—”
“It’s fine.” He waves me off, mouth in a straight line and eyes glued to the pad. “Let’s move on.”
The moment is gone. Sealed off. I gust out a breath and shake the tension from my shoulders, simultaneously relieved and aggravated that we aren’t going to discuss it any further.
Teddy chews his lip thoughtfully. “Okay, what’s my favorite thing about you?”
I arch a brow. “My dazzling personality?”
“No,” he says without hesitation. “Your loyalty. How you never give up on people. Even when they don’t deserve it.”
I blink. That hits harder than I expected. “Oh,” is all I can manage.
Teddy quickly adds, “and your taste in robes.”
“There it is.”
Teddy jots it down: Why he loves her: Loyalty. Heart. Robe curation skills. He hands me the note, and I line it up neatly next to the others.
I sink back into the couch but notice he’s gone unusually quiet. He fidgets, clears his throat, then says, “Uh…what about me?”
“You?” I wrinkle my brow. “What do you mean?”
His cheeks tinge, and he ducks his head. “Like, what are you going to tell your parents? About why you’re dating me.”
I laugh. “Teddy Wright, are you fishing for compliments?”
He rubs the back of his neck, still not looking at me. “Maybe.”
I laugh again, relieved the spotlight’s off me. “I guess that’s only fair.” I pause, thinking. “Hmm. What do I say about you?”
He shifts closer, watching me a little too intently. When the silence stretches, he teases, “Wow. You’re really struggling.”
“Give me a second,” I shoot back. “I’m trying to be thoughtful.” Then I sit up straight. “Okay, I like how you make people feel safe, even when everything’s a mess. You show up. You make things easier. Lighter, and that’s not nothing, Teddy.”
His grin fades. His expression softens. “Helen.”
“I’m not finished.” My cheeks burn, but I keep going.
“I like how you notice the little things, what people need, what they love, even when they don’t say it.
I saw you do that with your sister at her wedding.
You were always there, bringing her drinks, checking in.
You knew what she needed before she did. ”
The silence between us thickens. I look down, suddenly unsure.
“Also,” I mumble, “your ass is very symmetrical.”
He lets out a low, surprised laugh. “Damn, Chu. That was almost romantic.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
He passes me the notepad, and I scrawl: Why she loves him: Attention to detail. Not afraid of the messy stuff. Nice ass.
“Anything else I should know before I face the Thanksgiving Inquisition?” he asks, flipping to a fresh page in the notepad. “How about your dad? I’m guessing I shouldn’t call him ‘sir’ while wearing your purple robe?”
I huff out a laugh. “You shouldn’t call him anything while wearing that robe. Honestly, you might want to change before Thanksgiving.”
He winks. “Bold of you to assume I’ll be wearing clothes by then.”
I ignore the heat that creeps up my neck and answer the question. “My dad is...complicated.”
Teddy’s pen hovers over the page. “Define complicated.”
I think for a second. “He’s like a funhouse mirror version of me. Same brains, same work ethic, but somehow even less people skills. He once told a waiter the restaurant lighting was ‘clinically insufficient for menu reading’ and asked for a flashlight.”
Teddy chokes on a laugh. “That’s kind of amazing.”
I chuckle softly. “It was horrifying. The waiter actually brought him a candle. He held it an inch from the paper and read the whole thing like it was a medical journal.”
Teddy grins. “I feel like he and I are going to get along great.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Only if you brush up on your small talk about FDA drug approvals and why early retirement is a myth.”
He scribbles on a note. “Got it. Talk shop. Don’t mention Helen’s medical suspension. Avoid feelings except for the part where I pretend I’m wildly in love with you. Simple.”
“You forgot the most important rule,” I say, pointing at him.
“No tongue?”
“Correct.” I bite back a smile. A glance over our growing list, sticky notes cluttering the table. I let out a sigh and say, “We’re really doing this.”
“You better believe it, Snugglebutt.”