Settling in

Nora felt a warm hand against her cheek and her eyes fluttered open, her eyes fell on the person in front of her, Luke. He was sitting beside her on the bed, the sunlight coming through the windows making his copper brown hair appear almost golden and he sported his ever so perfect smile.

"Morning." She stretched herself and grinned.

"Morning morning sweetheart." He smiled. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," She looked up at him, he was in a pair of dark jeans and a blue shirt, his hair seemed as if he had just run his hand through them. "And you?"

"Very well." He said and removed the covers, grabbing her by the waist he picked her up and placed her on his lap. "I missed you." He said snuggling into her hair.

She giggled, "Missed me?"

"Yes. Knowing your room was just down the hall, it took everything in myself to not come and carry you to my room."

He looked in her eyes and leaned in close until they were only breath apart. Before he could move forward, Nora covered the distance between them and placed her lips on his. He softly bit her lower lip and she opened up for him. Nora felt the grip on her waist tightened and her hands moved around his neck pulling him closer.

Both of them were breathless when they pulled apart. Luke rested his forehead against hers and smiled, "Oh Nora, what am I gonna do with you?"

She could feel her heart beat quicken and her smile only grew bigger, "Anything you want." She chirped.

His eyebrows shot up and his lips curled up in a smirk, "Anything I want?"

She nodded and looked up at him still smirking. A moment later the weight of her words finally sank in and she realised what meaning they actually held. She flushed, "No! That's not what I meant... I mean... you know–"

Luke burst out laughing, a deep, rich laughter. Nora felt herself captivated by it and seeing him laugh warmed her heart and made her smile. When he finally calmed down and looked down at her, "You're so adorable Nora." He kissed her on her cheek. Her face reddened even more. "Now I hate letting you go but I still need to feed you. So go freshen up." He loosened his grip on her waist and kissed on her temple.

"I won't take long I promise." She kissed him on his cheek before making a run to the bathroom.

As she got inside she looked at herself in the mirror, her face was still a little flushed. She smiled and shook her head. She washed her face with cold water and brushed her teeth and then made a quick shower. Half an hour later she was ready. She decided on a blue jeans and a plain black T-shirt, her hair had a mood of their own, so she let them be. Getting downstairs she headed straight for the kitchen, Luke was on his phone and the conversation did not seem lively, his back to her. Nora approached him slowly and put her hand on his back, he tensed and turned around only to face a surprised Nora. He smiled at her and hung up instantly, "Sorry about that." He said.

"It's okay but who was that anyway?" She said looking up at him.

"Nobody important. Now sit down the breakfast's almost ready." He kissed the top of her head.

"No I'll help. I don't want to be a freeloader." She crossed her arms. Luke only looked down at her with an amused expression, "Here then," he handed her a spatula and stepped aside, "you can make the eggs."

"Huh?" She really did want to help but cooking just wasn't her forte but she couldn't refuse him, given how he was looking at her. She took a deep breath and stepped up the counter, "Where do I –" she squealed when Luke picked her up and sit her on the breakfast bar, putting them almost at eye level, "You don't need to do anything when I'm around." He tugged a strand of her hair, "Understand?"

Being with him for so long made it easy to make out when to put up a fight against him. He won all of them quite easily nevertheless. And now was a moment he might give in, "But I want to." She moved forward to get off which only made him move closer. He put his hands on either side of her, caging her in, "Think about it again." He leaned in. Nora moved backwards and put her hands on his chest pushing him but he didn't budge, "Fine!" She blurted. He smirked and went back to the counter.

Fifteen minutes of persuading and trying were all in vain. Every time she stepped down she ended up back on the counter top, "You don't know when to stop, do you?" Luke said holding her waist. "No!" She snapped which made him smile. "Okay if you are so inclined at helping, go get the juice from the fridge and grab a glass for yourself." He freed her from his hold.

"See it wasn't that hard." She rolled her eyes.

She settled at the breakfast bar and poured the juice into the glass while Luke brought over two plates scrambled eggs and caprese avocado toast. He poured himself a cup of coffee and settled down on the bar stool across her.

"Bon appetit," Nora dug in immediately, "Oh Luke you're the best cook I've come across." She said. "Oh yes I forgot to tell you yesterday. I got promoted from R&D to Innovation."

"Promoted? On your first day?" He quirked an eyebrow. "That's a first." He settled his coffee mug on the island, "You were the only one?"

She nodded.

"This calls for a celebration."

"Can you make chicken parmesan?" She blurted.

Luke smiled and shook his head, "Sure I can sweetheart. Is that all?"

"I think that'll be all, no wait, let's have a movie night too. We can have our dinner over the movie." She slammed her hands on the island in excitement.

Luke just looked at her with fascination. She was not even close to any of the girls he dated before but still she was the only one who managed to break through the walls he had built around himself over the years, and what surprised him the most was he let her. He was falling for her deeper every passing second. If Nora was the end of the line then everything he ever went through was worth her.

"Luke? Hey." Nora broke him out of his trance, "We can have a movie night, right?" She asked.

"You need only ask sweetheart. Everything you say will be done." He smiled.

Nora beamed with excitement and started narrating the plan for the night. Seeing her shine like that warmed his heart. She was indeed the light of his life, a light he wanted to protect and a light he needed.