“I was thinking. You know what that is, right?” she teases.
I tilt my head to look at her for a brief moment before focusing on the road again. She’s grinning like she knows exactly what she just did.
“Stop playing on my weakness, Nevaeh,” I say, glancing at her once more to show her my smile.
Silence fills the car again, but when she looks out of her window, she’s smiling. I made her smile.
See, there’s a reason why I keep claiming I’m awesome. I make the people around me smile, and that’s arguably one of the best traits a person can have.
“When am I going to see Val?” Nevaeh asks a while later, clearly remembering my sister was the one who was supposed to pick her up. Which Val wanted to do, but I had Gabriel steal all of her car keys so I could go to the airport instead.
“She had some things come up, but I will be joining you for your appointments,” I promise.
“Oh no. If you’re coming, every apartment is going to seem small. Your ego is going to take up all the space,” she says, and I swear, I almost hear my heart screaming:she’s the one!
And now I kind of want to jump out of a moving train.
Nevaeh and I have looked at three different apartments, stopped for food, and laughed so much, I’m sure I will be sore tomorrow. None of the places we went to fit her needs, especially because of how expensive they were.
We have one last appointment for an apartment that Nevaeh told me is the cheapest out of all the ones she wanted to look at today. The landlord of the building greets us at the front desk, his eyes going wide when he sees me approaching.
“Mr. Romana, it is an honor to meet you,” the short, balding man says in French and extends his hand for me to shake.
“It’s a pleasure, but we’re here for the lovely woman beside me, so if it’s possible for us to speak in English so my friend understands, too, I would greatly appreciate it,” I reply in French as I shake his hand, smiling with my usual level of charm.
“Of course, monsieur. Please, follow me.” Nevaeh furrows her brows, asking me what that was all about with a single look, but I merely hold out my arm for her to take. She grins at me before lacing hers through mine, letting me lead her toward the apartment.
It’s a small, two-room place with a large window at the far back. The bathroom is tiny, with a shower on the left followed by a sink and a toilet on the right. The hardwood floor in the room itself is light, just like the walls.
It’s so small, I feel like throwing Nevaeh over my shoulder and carrying her out of the apartment and straight to mine.
But then I notice her spinning around once, smiling like she’s never seen a more beautiful place to live. Compared to the rest of the apartments we saw, this one is a lot nicer and cheaper, so I get why Nevaeh looks at it with hearts in her eyes. Even though it’s only two tiny rooms, she’s in love with it.
“This apartment screams independence to me. It’s close to work, in my price range, and I can picture how I would set up the space already,” she mumbles, and I’m not quite sure if she’s talking to me or herself.
“You could put your bed here,” I reply anyway, and she turns to look at where I’m pointing.
“Yes, that’s exactly where I’d put it, too,” she says.
“Have a closet here and a shelf over there,” I go on, pointing all over the apartment. She takes a step toward me, closing the distance between us until I can smell her intoxicating perfume again.
“Put a tall mirror next to the closet,” she says, her eyes glued to my lips where I run my tongue over my bottom one.
“I’d place it in front of the bed,” I say, smirking at her before clearing my throat to get the landlord's attention. “How much lower can you go on the rent?” I ask in French, and he shakes his head, not impressed by my question.
“I already went as low as I could, Mr. Romana. I cannot lower it more,” he replies, but I turn on my charm again and within a minute, we’re shaking hands once more.
“Alright, I managed to convince him to lower the rent by two hundred euros, but that’s as far as he will go,” I tell Nevaeh once the landlord leaves to get her a contract.
“What? Are you serious?” I nod.
Nevaeh covers her mouth with her hand, looking around the room again like she can’t quite believe this is all happening. That it’s real.
I know that look.
It’s how I look at her.
The landlord, Nevaeh, and I go over a few more details before she signs the contract and he tells her she’ll get the keys as soon as she makes her first rent payment. He leaves moments later to give us another few minutes to look around while Nevaeh moves toward the window, looking down at the people strolling by. I step toward her, keeping my distance even though wrapping my arms around her from behind is more than a little appealing.
