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I spent longer than necessary in the bathroom, not just because I'd forgotten my nightgown, but because I didn’t want to face Nathaniel Johnson. I couldn’t believe it—couldn’t believe he'd read my book, couldn’t believe how oblivious I'd been to the way he’d smiled at me earlier in the day.

I blew out a frustrated breath, staring at my reflection. My skin was dotted with dark spots, and another pimple was blooming on my left cheek. My brown eyes stared back at me, too plain, too ordinary, and my lips—too full for my liking. I had too much of everything—too many breasts, too much flesh, none of it Nathaniel's type.

I shook the thought away, but it lingered.

A knock at the door broke my train of thought.

"Olivia Ike, do you plan on sleeping in there?"

Nathaniel’s voice boomed through the door, pulling me back to reality.

"A girl needs time," I replied, hoping he’d take the hint.

He didn't.

"A girl also needs sleep," he shot back. "And I’m not the kind of guy to let you snore when we have an early flight tomorrow."

"I don’t snore!" I protested.

"Open the door, Olivia."

"I'm busy," I said, trying to hide the panic in my voice.

"Doing what?!"

"Just leave me alone!"

"I need to piss, so unless you can provide another toilet, which you can't... open up."

I groaned, rolling my eyes at the ceiling. He wasn't going to give up.

I cracked the door open just enough to see him standing there, looking way too handsome for my liking.

"What?" I asked, trying to hide the irritation in my voice.

"Piss," he said, pushing the door open like I wasn’t even there.

I stumbled back a few steps, unable to do anything but watch in silence as he approached the toilet, lifting the lid, and raising an eyebrow at me.

"Are you going to watch me take my dick out?" he asked, his voice teasing.

I froze, my heart hammering in my chest. He didn’t move, and neither did I. It felt like an eternity before I could even breathe again.

I bolted from the bathroom, slamming the door behind me, my face burning with embarrassment. I quickly changed into my nightgown and shorts, avoiding applying moisturizer to save time.

When I finally crawled into bed, the sheets smelled like him. His scent was lingering in the fabric.

Did he seriously spray some perfume to get in bed? I never understood why people did it; I mean, you could use the perfume you sprayed at night the next morning and save yourself a few more sprays before the bottle ran out. And despite myself, I found myself reaching for my perfume and spraying it behind my ears, on my neck, and wrists.

I wasn’t sure why.

Minutes later, Nathaniel emerged from the bathroom, and I knew he’d taken his time on purpose to make me feel comfortable to get dressed. It made me glad.

I didn’t want to admit it, but I had dressed quickly just to avoid his presence.

He didn’t hesitate. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked, eyeing me sprawled across the bed like I was trying to claim it as my own.

"What are you doing?" I shot back.

The blue nightlight cast a dim glow over the room, and Nathaniel stood at the edge of the bed, clearly amused by my antics.

"I want to lie down. And from the looks of it, you’ve taken over the whole bed," he said.

I sat up, trying to act casual. "Aren’t you going to sleep on the floor?"

He stared at me as though I’d lost my mind. "The floor?!"

I shrugged. "You’re the gentleman, right?"

He scoffed. "Why would I sleep on the floor when there’s a perfectly good bed right here?"

I bit my lip. I had no answer for that. I was being ridiculous. His mother paid for the room, Idiot.

"Sorry," I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper. "I shouldn’t have said that."

Nathaniel didn’t seem to care. He just raised an eyebrow. "The bed’s big enough for both of us."

I stared at him, completely thrown off by the suggestion. "We can’t sleep in the same bed."

"Why not?" he asked, clearly enjoying my discomfort.

I groaned. This was absurd. "Because... because it’s weird!"

"Well, it’s big enough," he said again, this time with a teasing grin.

I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "Goodnight, Nathaniel."

He caught it and chuckled. "You’re scared."

"I’m not!" I snapped, although my voice betrayed me.

He chuckled again. "I’ll sleep on the floor tonight just because you’re turning out to be more interesting than I thought."

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