Page 55 of Danger Close

“What about me?”

“You’re still… you’re still hard.”

“So?” I said, with a chuckle.

“Joe…” My eyes fluttered with pleasure as the old nickname left her lips. “You should… I should… help you…”

“That wasn’t what this was about, Princess.” I kissed her forehead, pulling the blanket over us, wrapping her body around mine so she could take my warmth. “Go to sleep.”

The fact she called me Joe, instead of Cobra, was more than enough.

Chapter 23

A Dark Wound

Teri

It had been years since I had slept—trulyslept—with a man. The presence of other people usually kept me from ever relaxing enough to sleep. The mere sound of someone else breathing would prickle my ears. It felt like spiderwebs on my skin, and kept me alert.

But with Joe, I felt safe.

Falling asleep was a quiet, gradual thing and I woke up from a dreamless night, disappointed to see that he had left. The door was firmly shut.

I was surprised that I hadn’t felt the temperature difference. I’d curled into his body, clinging selfishly to his warmth all night, especially when the fire died down to nothing but embers. WhenI sat up, I realized that he’d draped his black leather jacket over me, like a second blanket. It still retained the scent of him. That must have let me sleep longer.

I dressed and went out to hunt for caffeine and nearly jumped out of my skin when the front door slammed open, and I was greeted by a dog’s bark.

“I’m going shopping. Would you like to accompany me?” Charlotte closed the door, shaking rain water from her coat as she slipped it off her shoulders. Her old, graying German Shepherd followed on her heel, sloppily panting.

She kicked off her big, knee-high Wellingtons.

“Uhmm,” I said, trying to think of an excuse.

It’s not that I disliked her, no matter what she might think of me. I despised the awkwardness of forced company.

She stomped to the kitchen, pulled something from the drawer under the oven. It was some kind of half-cooked bread, then went to the fridge.

“I’m sorry, I seem to have phrased that like a question.” Charlotte had her back to me as she continued scraping something into a larger bowl. “You and I are going shopping today for dresses.”

“Dresses?” Of all the activities I thought would be forced on me, dress shopping wasn't the one I expected.

“For Taz’s wedding,” she clarified when I didn’t answer.

“Oh,” I said, quietly.

I hadn’t thought about that at all. The wedding felt far in the future. Tomorrow felt like an eternity away.

“It wouldn’t hurt to get you some things as well.” She finally turned, her hands covered in white flour, her apron absolutely fighting for its life, covered in the same powder. “Cobra told me that you don’t drink coffee.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised that he remembered such a silly thing. “I do drink coffee—”

“But you prefer tea,” she interrupted. “But you’re not likely to correct someone when they shove coffee into your hands. That’s the kind of thing he thought I should know.”

“Oh…” Cobra had called me out.

I blushed.

“Yeah,oh,” she said, amusement sparkling in her eyes. “He left early this morning, and gave me a bit of an earful. I didn’t know he’d spent the night.”