Page 5 of Knotting Before Them
Okay, I was very,verycurious.
I nodded dumbly, following his instructions without arguing. Only when I reached my room, when his form wasn’t so overwhelmingly against mine, did I take a big gulp of air and start to rethink the whole thing.
I was going to someone’s house, someone who I knew nothing about it, who accepted my offer too quickly. Someone so controlling, he wanted to check out for me?
I shook my head, stepping away from my suitcase and running downstairs yet again.
“Are you sure?”
“Lana…” the big man said in a warning.
Lana raised her hands up. “I worry, Theo, especially for Noah.”
“She’s just staying in the spare bedroom.”
Lana sighed, wincing as she took in Theo’s face. “I just don’t want you boys getting your hopes up.”
“We’re forty, Lana.” He smiled, wrinkles taking over the sides of his green eyes. “You can stop mothering us.”
“Never,” the older woman replied warmly.
I was ready to listen in more, but Lana’s eyes found me, and she straightened her spine, taking on a professional air.
“I’m sorry you have to leave us, Julia.”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Um, thank you for everything.”
“Where are your things?” Theo asked, his eyebrows furrowing.
I looked down at my empty hands, sighed, and tracked back upstairs.
What had Lana meant by not getting their hopes up? Who were they?
I packed my things in record time, taking only extra care of my art supplies. Once everything was stuffed into my suitcase, I dragged it behind me, making Theo jump into action when he saw me coming down the stairs.
“Thank you,” I murmured when he took my suitcase.
I went to the front desk, offering Lana my credit card, but she shook her head, “Oh no, dear, it’s all taken care of.”
I whipped my head around to find Theo, but he was already outside.
“I—I… Thank you for everything,” I said before bolting out the door. “You paid my stay?” I practically screamed as I ran toward him.
He grunted, opening the back door of his truck and throwing my suitcase in.
“Theo?” I called after him, baffled. “Theo?”
He closed the door and turned to face me. The bang of the door startled me, but he remained unmoved, looking down at me with his arms across his chest.
“You wanted to stay at my house.”
“Yes.”
“You paid for two weeks at Lana’s.”
“Yes.”
I was prepared to pay for my double booking. It wasn’t Lana’s fault she didn’t have the right view, after all.