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She reaches into her bag and pulls out her planner, jotting a few things down. As she’s finishing up, I park in front of her building and shift so I can get my notebook out of my pocket. Once I get to the right page, I add “perfume” to the bottom of the list, tear out the full page, and fold it in half.

“No pressure, but I thought you might like this for what to leave in my room. They’re just ideas,” I say, holding the list out to her between two fingers. She takes it while looking a little puzzled. As she reads it, realization appears in her features.

“You made me a list of things to pack to keep at your place?” she asks with a mix of happiness and a little caution.

“I did. You can do whatever you’d like with the list but sleeping with you in my arms for a few minutes might have me addicted already, so I’d like you to be able to stay whenever you’d like.”

“And you wrote a list so I wouldn’t have to…” She lets the sentence trail off unfinished.

“Guess what to bring? Nope, I wanted you to know you can leave as much as you’d like for a variety of situations, including going to work from Landen Acres.”

She smiles and we both lean in at the same time, her hand cupping my cheek and mine at the nape of her neck as we slowly kiss. Taking our time and feeling this moment as we keep taking steps to open ourselves up to this being it.

At least I hope we’re both on that page.

Chapter 45: Sam

Toothbrush.

He included a toothbrush.

My heart is pounding in my chest like I decided to go for a run rather than stand just inside my entryway while my door bumps against me.

Tommy wants me to have a toothbrush of my own there. And pajamas. And socks, jeans, sweats, and at least one outfit for work.

I lock my door and put everything away as I walk into my bedroom, pulling out my duffle and setting it on the bed. It’s not until I have everything except my perfume and a few toiletries that he listed that it hits me: I'm packing so I can stay at Landen Acres. Judging by how much is on this list, he’s not planning for just one night. This is a list that covers several scenarios for when I might be over as well as what could be happening the next day.

I eye my drawers and shift a few things around so there’s one that’s completely empty and I sit down to write a list of things Tommy might like to keep here before getting ready for bed.

Per usual, I’m early. It’s just my little sedan parked to the side of the house.

A house that I’ve been invited to leave things at so I can stay over.

But how does their family dynamic work with four of the five brothers living under the same roof? The house is enormous, so I’m sure there’s some privacy afforded simply with the square footage, but would I be leaving for work with a Landen brother drinking coffee in his boxers?

Oh my, I’m not sure how I would handle that situation.

And what about other partners? Will there be people sneaking out in the middle of the night? Or will we all sit down and have breakfast together?

Movement catches my eye and, thankfully, stops my train of thought. Tommy steps out of the door to the office, the landline phone held to his ear as he leans against the doorframe. His smile brightens his face and he waves me over.

I turn off my car, grab my purse, and pause. Am I supposed to bring my duffle bag? Did he mean for me to pack everything on the list? Will I look like I don’t care if I don’t bring it up now? Do I pop the trunk to get it?

When I look back up at Tommy, his head is tilted to the side and he has a quizzical look on his face. Fantastic. He knows something is up.

Why on earth didn’t I pack my extra shoes and single change of clothes for today in a smaller bag so I could just bring that in and decide on the overstuffed duffle later?

I’m still in the same position when I notice Tommy walking to my car, slipping the phone into his pocket. While I’m feeling some relief that I can just ask him, my heart starts pounding in a panic because an SUV is pulling up beside me. Jacksy and Avery are here and now I have an audience. At least they’re on my passenger side.

Tommy waves at them from in front of my car and walks right to my door, which I open.

“Everything okay?” he asks, a slight frown on his face.

No hiding, Samantha Davies.

“I have a massive bag in my trunk and I didn’t think through actually bringing it in and if that’s what you wanted when you gave me the list,” I blurt. “And now people are arriving and I didn’t put my mudding change of clothes in a separate bag so now it’s going to look like I’m ridiculously high-maintenance if I need this much stuff for changing after getting dirty and I’m kind of stuck.”

Tommy’s face relaxes and I think he’s trying to not show any amusement. “Did you pack everything on the list?”