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She looked completely pitiful, sitting on the edge of the bed with her shoulders slumped and a disconsolate look on her face. All the fiery heat of a few moments before was gone.
“Who do you normally sleep with?” After all this, she didn’t have a boyfriend, did she? A hot flash of jealousy churned in my gut. “A boyfriend?”
She snorted. “Nope.”
“Who, then?” The relief in my gut that she didn’t have a boyfriend was dumb. Stupid. Pointless.
“The kids.”
My frown deepened. Okay, so this situation with the kids was weirder than I thought.
She stood and tottered towards me, saying, “I get that you won’t fuck me, and you know, that’s your loss.” Hiccup.
That’s the spirit, Esme.
“But please don’t make me sleep here alone.”
I blew out a breath of resignation. Resisting her took way more strength than I had right now. “Fine.” Grabbing her bag and shoes, I led her into the main suite.
She immediately flopped down on the king-sized bed, her legs dangling over the edge, her hands folded across her stomach, her eyes closed. Hoping she hadn’t just passed out on me, I hustled into the walk-in robe, rummaging through my drawers for a shirt. Perfect, this old college shirt would do the trick. It would practically cover her from head to toe.
I was just about to turn to go back into the room when I froze in my tracks. I always slept naked, so pajamas for me were in very short supply. As in, the supply of pajamas was zero. There were no pajamas in my house. Fuck. Feeling a little panicked, I turned back to the drawers, frantically riffling through them. I swear, I could have passed out from relief when I found a pair of boxers an ex had given me one Christmas. Those with a t-shirt would be fine.
When I came back out, clothes in hand, Esme pushed to sitting, swaying as she brushed her hair from her forehead.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks.” Standing up, she took the shirt from me and immediately reached for the zip on her dress.
Realizing that I was about to get an eyeful of Esme in all her naked glory, I hastily turned away, mumbling something about the bathroom. I took way longer brushing my teeth and changing my clothes than was even remotely necessary. I couldn’t risk the hit to my system the sight of a nude Esme would give it.
Once I thought I’d let enough time pass, I slowly opened the sliding door and peeked into the room. She was already in bed, with her back to the door. I switched off the light and eased in beside her.
Lying on my back, one arm behind my head, I stared up at the ceiling. I could hear her deep, even breathing, smell her peachy scent and imagine how good it would feel to just roll over and pull her into my arms. There was no way I was getting any sleep tonight.
Esme shifted, rolling onto her back, wriggling under the quilt, sighing in her sleep. Wriggling some more. What the fuck was she doing? Now she was rolling onto her side, facing me. Pulling her hand out from under the blanket, reaching for something. Muttering. Jesus Christ, was she ever going to settle? Her hand bumped against my arm, settling there for a moment before she shifted again, moving closer to me.I never sleep by myself.
I raised my arm, moving closer. “Come here,” I said, pitching my voice low so as not to actually wake her. Even in sleep, she understood, moving so that she was pressed against my side, her head on my shoulder. She threw her leg over mine, rested her hand on my chest, squirmed a little until she was comfortable, then settled. That was it. She didn’t move after that. Neither did I. I didn’t sleep, though. Couldn’t. Lying there with her in my arms felt just as good as I’d imagined, and I had no idea how to process that.
CHAPTER12
Esme
Iwoke feeling all warm and cozy, wrapped up in luxury. This definitely wasn’t my bed. Oh, and I felt sick. Also, my head was pounding. I reached out a hand, patting the pillow next to me. Empty. And no longer warm. Wolfe had been up for a while. Still, “Where the fuck do you buy clouds from?”
“Hmm?”
“This bed. Surely, it’s made from clouds.”
“Wouldn’t you fall through it if it were made from clouds?”
“Get away from me with your physics. It’s soft as fuck and it’s definitely what it feels like to sleep on a cloud.”
He chuckled, and I felt the sound low in my belly. I tentatively squeezed one eye open, looking around the room. My mouth went dry. Wolfe was in the bathroom, standing at the basin shaving, with a fluffy white towel slung low on his hips.
Jagged memories from last night flitted through my mind, and I forced myself to look away. I had no idea what to do now. Nothing in my brief existence on Earth had prepared me for how to deal with situations like this, and I just didn’t know how to behave. It wasn’t like I was some sort of elegant sophisticate, used to sharing beds with billionaires. I lived in a trailer, for fuck’s sake. Not knowing what else to do, I rolled onto my back, throwing my arm over my face and closing my eyes.
I could hear Wolfe come out of the bathroom and go into another room. The walk-in?