Her Crown Jewel (Hygge Royal Romance Series, Book 1)

The Picture of You

Berg took a step back as soon as Carter opened the door. Kajsa gave the driver a grateful smile over her shoulder, and Carter followed Berg with his eyes as the blond man headed down the stairs.

"Like in middle school," Carter muttered.

Kajsa looked up at him. "Pardon?"

He met her eyes. "Evening."

"Hi."

She thought that she needed to take her grinning under control, and stepped into the hall. She glimpsed around, while he was hanging her coat in a small closet - mostly to avoid ogling him. The soft tee hugging his torso, and his simple dark jeans, sitting low on his hips, were rather stimulating

"It's a corner one, so it's odd," he said. It took her a second to understand that he was talking about the flat. "The bedroom and bathroom are that way." He pointed to her right along a dark narrow corridor. "And the living area and kitchen are there. So, no balcony, but the lounge has two sets of windows."

"Do you mind if I take off my shoes?" Kajsa said. "I've stepped in a puddle."

He nodded, and she unbuckled the strap of her Bottega Veneta on her ankle. She wobbled, and he caught her under her elbow. Kajsa gave out an embarrassed chuckle.

"You have frighteningly fast reflexes," she murmured.

Barefoot, she felt unusually short, but it was probably just because of standing next to him. She caught him glance at her feet, and then he made an inviting gesture towards the living area.

"I've ordered Lebanese," he said, following her into the sitting room.

"Sounds great! I love–"

Words stuck in her throat, and she made a croak-like noise.

"Are these– Are they yours?!" she exclaimed and twirled on one spot, drinking in her surroundings.

Every wall of the room was covered in framed photographs. She immediately knew the answer to her question: there was a large desk in the corner of the room, under the aforementioned two sets of windows. A wide, ceiling-high shelving unit had photo equipment neatly organised on it: cameras, lenses, flashes, labelled containers of cables and some other parts she didn't recognise.

He probably nodded in response, but she wasn't looking. She was frozen in front of the first photo she'd approached, unable to tear her eyes off the smiling face of a small boy, dirt smeared on his cheeks, his top front teeth missing. To think of it, most of the pictures seemed to be portraits.

"This one's from Egypt," he said, and she whipped her head and stared at him. He studied the photo of the boy, frowning. "My second tour."

Kajsa shifted her gaze onto the next one. On it, two young men, shirtless, in military trousers, were squatting over something on the ground. Kajsa moved closer, and saw that it was a scorpion. One of the soldiers was facing the camera, his eyes widened in childish surprise.

"They're amazing!" she breathed out. "Danny! You're so talented!"

She walked to the next frame, and then to the one next to it. She bent and then rose on her tiptoes, peering at a photo after a photo.

"That's flattering. Coming from an artist," he said quietly behind her.

Kajsa laughed softly. "I'm not biased! I wouldn't have sugarcoated it, if they'd been mediocre, even though–"

She didn't continue. Neither 'even though I'm your girlfriend,' nor 'even though we're dating' sounded right in her head. If anything, 'even though I fancy you' would express her view of their relationship best. After all, they'd just had three dinners together.