her bags were with us and there was barely any room for humans in here. There was no way all of this was her clothing. It was mind-boggling that she would have this much.
“Where is my stuff going?” she asked as the doors slid closed.
I held my breath, waited to see if the elevator would give us a weight warning. Sighed in relief as we began our ascent. “In the closet.”
She snorted. “Which closet?”
I looked at her, narrowed my eyes. “Our closet. You’re staying here. No moving out. No changing your mind. We’ve made it this far, we’re not stopping now. If we need to do some renovations to make it easier for you, then we will. But you are mine.” I surveyed her sea of matching luggage. “And apparently that means your clothes as well.”
Her smile was brilliant. “Good answer.” She opened her mouth. Shut it. Bit her lip.
I sighed. “Spit it out, cupcake. We can’t fix it if it’s just rattling around up there in your brain.”
“Are you incredibly messy?” she asked, her words rushed.
My brow furrowed. I mean, I wasn’t a neat freak. But I wasn’t a slob either. I tried to figure out the trail her brain had taken to get to that question.
Apparently, I took too long and she indulged her pity for my lack of understanding. “When you stayed at my home--”
I glared at her.
“—my old apartment.”
I smiled at her.
She rolled her eyes. Went on with her statement. “You threw your stuff all over my floor. Ended up jamming your foot on the base of my bed. Are you messy?”
Oh. I snorted. I shook my head. “No. I was just pushing your buttons. I clean up after myself like the grown-ass man I am. I am also smart enough to employ a fabulous housekeeper and chef. You won’t be tripping over dirty socks or underwear. Unless we lose track of them while we’re getting naked.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her.
She laughed. Nodded. “Good. Clutter irritates me. I’d hate to have to kill you this early into moving in together.”
I snorted. “We might kill each other, but that will be death by ridiculously great sex. Not anger or irritation.” I smiled. “Not to say we won’t want to kill each other, but we’re adults. We can work out whatever the issue is.”
The elevator dinged and the door slid open with a quiet sigh. It took some finagling, but we managed to get everything out and the door only tried to close on us once. I was calling it a win.
We wheeled and schlepped all of her stuff into the bedroom. I hoisted it up on the bed. Soon, I could barely see the duvet.
We walked back to the elevator. I shook my head as we made our way back down to the garage. She snuggled up to my side, wrapped her arms around me. We waited in silence.
I sighed as I pressed my lips to her head. This easy comfort was my idea of heaven. She knew the worst of me and still cozied up. I knew the worst of her and still ached to have her beside me.
I wasn’t stupid enough to think it would always be smooth sailing, but having that solid base of trust? I’d never had it before. Never knew it could be so freeing. Vulnerability had been something to push aside and deny at all costs. Never something to be reveled in and appreciated.
The doors dinged open. We held hands as we headed out to the SUV. A heaviness in the air drew my attention before we got too far. That sense of excited expectation I could feel dancing across the back of my neck had me coming to a quick stop.
I pulled Willow back into the car with me. I slammed the button to close the doors and inserted the key to disable the elevators from outside use. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I brought up the SUV’s command panel. Hit the button for the garage cameras.
“What’s going on?” Willow asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. But I wasn’t going to stand out in the open while I tried to figure it out.” I angled the phone’s screen so she could see. I panned the cameras back and forth.
Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. At least to me. “See anything weird?”
Willow leaned forward, practically shoved her nose onto the screen. She shook her head. Stilled. “Back up. My luggage. I think something is missing.”
I