Needing Happily Ever After - Elena Aitken Page 0,27

do all the heavy lifting.” Her voice was light and teasing and totally normal.

Maybe he’d imagined it. Maybe there was nothing there.

It had been years since he’d actually been in the cottage, but it was almost exactly as Damon remembered it. The entire guesthouse consisted of one large room with a small but well-equipped kitchen tucked into one corner, with a table and two chairs that would be perfect for Katie to set up a studying station. The rest of the room was filled with a large couch and two oversized chairs facing the glass doors that looked out to a large covered deck and the view that was worth a million bucks. Behind the kitchen was the one bedroom and bathroom that completed the space that was really the size of a small apartment.

It would have been perfect for one, or even a couple. A real couple. But as Damon pushed open the door to let Katie enter first, the problem with the space became clear immediately.

One bedroom. And they were definitely not a real couple.

“I’ll sleep on the—”

“You take the bed—”

They spoke at the same time.

Katie laughed. “I’m not taking the bed while you’re out here. It’s your house. That’s silly.”

“You’re doing this for me, Katie. There’s no way I’m going to make you sleep on the couch.”

He watched as Katie walked through the kitchen. She ran her hand along the backs of the wooden chairs as she moved slowly and Damon was hit with a blast of deja vu. She’d done exactly the same thing, the last time they’d been in the guesthouse together. They’d been teenagers and they’d been looking for alcohol they could sneak out to a bush party that was happening that Friday. Damon was sure his parents wouldn’t notice any extra they had in the cottage if it went missing, so together, they’d snuck in. Even back then, Katie had walked through the small space with a dreamy look in her eyes.

“Could you imagine if this was your house?” She’d spun with her arms outstretched. “Like, all yours? You didn’t have to share with anyone.”

“It’s pretty small.” Damon had laughed.

“Are you kidding?” She turned on her heel to stare at him. “It’s perfect. I can imagine it now.” She squeezed her eyes shut and a small smile crept up her face. “The perfect apartment, with no annoying big brother barging in when I’m listening to music, and no parents telling me what to do or when to go to bed.” She opened her eyes again. “Maybe one day, right?”

Damon shook his head clear of the memory. “One day” was upon them.

He closed the door behind him as Katie walked through into the bedroom and flicked on the light. “It’s a king-sized bed,” she called out. “We could share.”

His body reacted immediately and dramatically at her suggestion. There was no way. “Share?” He hoped his voice didn’t betray every racing thought going through his mind because the moment she’d offered up the suggestion, his brain had gone directly to imagining her in the middle of that king-sized bed, her arms behind her head, her long, dark hair spread out on the pillow beneath her, and her perfect little body completely naked and—

“Sure,” she said, interrupting his thought before he could get carried away with it. “Why not? We’ve shared beds before.”

They had. That was before.

Before he’d kissed her. Before she was Katie.

Katie appeared in the doorway with a smile on her face. “I’m sure we can handle it,” she said. “After all, we’re getting married in a few days.” She waved her ring in the air.

Damon forced a lightness into his voice. “Of course we can. We can handle anything.”

Chapter Seven

We can handle anything.

Damon’s words, like a bad joke, repeated themselves over and over in Katie’s head the next morning, dominating her thoughts as she drove into the city when what should have been in her thoughts were the terms and definitions for her last exam.

We can handle anything.

They could. She could.

Of course Katie could handle anything. Like focusing on her exam.

She was strong. She’d always been strong and independent, and when she made her mind up about something, she did it. No wavering.

She could handle anything.

Except sleeping in a bed with Damon Banks.

And it was driving her crazy. Or maybe that was the lack of sleep or the stress of the pending exam—never mind the wedding—talking. But whatever it was, even after only one night sleeping next to Damon, only inches from his