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As I walked into her bedroom, I looked around. It was big. Nowhere near as big as mine, but as far as master bedrooms went, it was decent. So was the bathroom.
I took off my suit and dropped it to the floor, not caring that it was going to get crumpled. I wasn’t going to wear a groom’s suit again anytime soon. I turned the water ice-cold. It was brutal. My entire body felt as if someone had cut off my circulation.
It was exactly what I needed.
I’d brought my toiletry bag with me and found my shower gel, rubbing it over my body. After the initial cold shower, I turned the water to warm. Clearly this was going to be more difficult than I’d anticipated. I’d postponed thinking about logistics because it seemed like a waste of time, but maybe I’d been wrong. Then again, I hadn’t expected to maul her in my dressing room either. This was all uncharted territory for me.
After I finished the shower, I put on slacks and a T-shirt and headed downstairs. Allison had changed into long pants and a T-shirt, and I exhaled in relief.Thank fuck.If she’d been wearing that same short dress, I wasn’t sure I’d let her go upstairs without being properly kissed—or fucked.
“I had to go upstairs and swap linens because those were far too big for the couch, but these fit better.”
I hadn’t even realized she’d done that.
“Thanks, Allison.”
“It’s the least I can do after flashing you not once but twice.”
She was smiling, but I knew her mannerisms well enough by now to realize that she was nervous. She stood by the kitchen counter, leaning against it, fiddling her thumbs. I walked straight to her.
“Allison, we’ll get used to this,” I said.
“Will we?”
I had no idea.
She sucked in a deep breath. “Nick.”
Damn it. How had I ended up in her space? I glanced down, which turned out to be a big mistake because I looked straight into her cleavage. I took a step back with great difficulty and rolled my shoulders.
“It has to get easier.”
She nodded. “Do you want me to make some tea or anything?” I shook my head, and she blew out a heavy breath. “I don’t know how to navigate this. I mean, I know this is yourspace now in the evening. Are you sure you don’t want to take my bedroom instead? I can camp out here.”
“Allison, I’m fine on the couch, really. I’d never let you sleep there.”
“But here’s the thing. I’m actually a pretty bad sleeper, so sometimes during the night I get restless.”
“And what do you usually do then?”
“Come down here and drink some water, eat some ice cream. Sometimes I even go out in the yard.”
“You can do all of those things anyway. I sleep very deeply.”
She tilted her head. “Opening doors wouldn’t wake you up?”
“No, and if it does, I’ll join you.”
“How do you even know I’d want company?” she teased.
“Oh, so your midnight activities are secret?”
She licked her lips, and I swallowed hard. We were slipping right back into dangerous territory.
She seemed to realize that, because she said, “I’m going to go upstairs. It’s been a long day. I’ll try not to wake you tomorrow morning.”
“As I said, all good.”
“But the kids might be harder to keep quiet.”