Page 67

“Oh shit.”

I paused in front of my door, turning to look at Reid. She patted down her pocketless dress, exhaustion and exasperation twisting her face.

“I don’t have my access card,” she murmured miserably.

With a frown, I rummaged through my purse. “Damn it,” I muttered. “And we can’t call the front until morning.”

I swallowed.

I glanced at my door, already unlocked.

There was only one option.

“You could always crash here until tomorrow, if, um,” I paused as she turned to me, “if you’re comfortable with that?”

“I will sleep on your floor,” she groaned, rushing over to me.

“Okay, no, you won’t sleep on the floor.” I giggled, pushing the door open for her.

She grabbed my hand and hauled me inside. “I wouldn’t mind at this point,” she said through a yawn, and I knew she’d probably be willing to pay me for the bed.

I smothered a giggle. It was easy considering my boss was dragging me to bed. My stomach did its best impersonation of an acrobat. Without bothering to flip on any of the lights, we somehow found the bed and collapsed onto it, her legs tangled with mine.

“We’re still full of sand,” Reid murmured into the darkness, her voice inches from my left ear. Her bare leg brushed against mine, the grains of sand on her skin grating against the sheet.

“We could wash up,” I offered, my heart hammering in my chest.

“The bathroom is so far away.” She sighed, shuffling a little. Her hand brushed along my calf and I swallowed a squeak of surprise. “We could just dust the sand off if you’re uncomfortable.”

I sat up and tried to dust the sand off, but it just bounced back.

“It’s all over my clothes.” I chuckled tiredly, and Reid yawned, her hand replacing mine.

“Just take it off,” she said as if it was the most obvious answer. “It’s dark anyway.”

I hesitated but she had a good point. Despite the incessant scratching against my legs, I could just take the dress off.

I was tired enough that the logical part of my brain had already begun to drift off into slumber.

“Could you-” I huffed, my body so ready to fall into the abyss of sleep that I didn’t care that maybe it was inappropriate. That, maybe, I should just sleep on the sofa. “Could you get the zipper for me, please?”

She sat up behind me, her fingers hot against my skin as she groped around blindly for my zipper and pulled. Reid’s inner thighs pressed around mine, the steady rise and fall of her chest pushing her breasts against me with each breath.

“Why is your dress so tight?” she grunted, something a little more heated than irritation in her voice. She clicked her tongue and her hands vanished. “Wait.”

Her silence lasted a split second before her lips were on my back, between my shoulder blades, while her teeth yanked at the stuck zipper.

A gasp slithered up my throat and I reached for the bed, for something to keep me from passing out or jumping out of my skin. My hand found her thigh instead.

When she didn’t pull away, when the panic in my hands turned liquid, I let my fingers wander, the sand rough where it clung to her silky smooth skin.

The zipper finally came undone, and Reid’s fingers trailed down my spine.

“Better?” she murmured.

I nodded, my fingers featherlight over her thighs.

The darkness around us made it… safe.