Attraction - a fraudulent marriage

13. settling

This is the revised version of Attraction

I almost expected Tom to give me a tour of the apartment, but it seemed he had better things to do. Without a word, he turned a corner and left me alone in the hallway. Not entirely sure how to respond, I dropped my bags by the wall and wondered whether I was supposed to remove my shoes or not. I hadn't adopted the American custom of walking inside with shoes just yet, even if I'd had months of practice.

Opting to keep my sneakers on, I peeked around the corner to the sound of a cupboard closing. There wasn't a door to the kitchen, but there was a doorway. I preferred open style flats with a kitchen and living room together, but the rest of the place made up for that little defect. The place was spacious with a high ceiling and large windows, but I loved the dark parquet the most. Together with the white walls, it gave off a modern feel even though the house must have been over a century old.

My eyes bulged when I saw a fleeting glance of the view from the living room. This place would have cost a fortune in Stockholm, and probably even more here. How the heck did he afford this place?

"Do you want some water?" Tom emerged from the kitchen with two glasses in hand. Ice clinked against the sides, and I instantly felt a wave of thirst. It was a warm day, and the city always made it ten times worse with the fumes of cars and stale air. Besides, the tension between the two of us didn't help.

"Thanks." I guzzled down the chilled water faster than what might be socially acceptable. If I'd been bolder, I might even have let some of it slip from my lips. I snorted at the thought. A lot of things that were depicted as "sexy" weren't the least bit sexy in real life, water running all over your face included.

"Do you want some lunch before we head over to pick up your things?"

I tilted my head and tilted it back the moment I noticed what I was doing. He asked a reasonable question, but as always, I reacted in the most illogical way. We'd already decided that I would live here, and that we would bring my stuff over, so why was did it feel like such a big deal?

"I'm up for whatever. I'm not that hungry." It was true. We hadn't eaten in a while, but my stomach was in knots rather than hunger pains.

"Might as well get it over with then. I'll be back in a minute." Tom shrugged out of his suit jacket and folded it neatly over his arm as he headed toward the hallway again. I wondered if that hallway also led to some kind of bedroom, and if there were two of them or just one. That little detail had gone by unanswered.

It was probably a good idea to leave to get my belongings before things got even more awkward between us. Doing something that didn't involve too much thinking had to be a positive.

I walked around the living room while waiting for Tom to emerge, touching the furniture with a strange fascination. The centerpiece of the room was the huge, thin, curved TV screen. I had to admit that it was kind of impressive even if it also spoke volumes about Tom in ways that I hadn't expected at all. A game console of some kind stood on the white bench below the screen. I'd had a period in my life when I played Halo almost every day with a guy I'd had a crush on, but that was years and years ago. The guy was of course straight, but my teenage hormones hadn't listened to reason. In the end, his rejection had put me off playing video games entirely.

A few paintings graced the white walls, but they were all realistic enough to resemble photographs. I read the signature on one of them. I couldn't read the name, but I could read the year 69. I took a step back and studied the painting again. Whoever had done it must have been quite skilled. The car looked amazing, actually.

"Let's go." Tom's voice pulled me away from my fleeting thoughts.

I almost froze as I turned my head. For the first time ever, he wore something other than a suit, and the black T-shirt hugged all the right muscles perfectly—not too much, and not too little. He was hot. Way too hot for my sanity.