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She froze. Not because she was uncomfortable. Because she didn’t want to move.

“How did we get into this situation?” she muttered.

She looked up. Noah was still asleep. She realized she could feel his heartbeat.

She glanced at Biscuit, asleep at their feet. For once, the dog wasn’t between them, and they ended up cuddling in their sleep. Of course.

Biscuit knew what he was doing.

For just a second, she let herself stay there. Then she carefully tried to shift away. Noah, still asleep, instinctively pulled her closer. She smiled.

Then Noah started waking up.

Their eyes met. Silence. Neither of them moved. Neither of them seemed particularly interested in moving.

Finally, in his stupidly attractive sleepy voice, he quietly said, “Morning.”

She smiled. “Good morning.”

“This is probably breaking at least three fake-dating rules,” she said, sounding amused.

He looked down at where his arm was. Looked back at her. “Probably.”

And neither of them made an effort to untangle themselves.

After a while, Noah asked her, “Are you ready for coffee?”

She nodded. She didn’t move.

“If you want me to make us coffee, you have to get off of me,” he said. He looked very amused and pleased with the situation.

She shook her head.

Silence.

“Noah,” she finally whispered, “this is starting to feel kind of real.”

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed.

“I don’t know when it stopped being fake.”

Noah’s smile softened. “I do.”

She looked up at him. “When?”

He held her gaze for a moment. “It was never fake for me.”

“But we agreed,” she said.

“We did. I just don’t think I’m doing a very good job pretending anymore.”

Claire looked at his arm still wrapped around her, then back at him.

“Neither am I.” A nervous laugh escaped her. “I don’t want to pretend anymore, Noah.”

“Me neither.” His smile faded into something softer. “I thought pretending would be easier than telling you the truth.”

Claire stayed quiet.