Page 33 of Sackett (Demented Souls #17)

“F eeling better?” Sackett asked as they strolled back toward the hotel after dinner. The evening was nice and now that they’d eaten, neither of them were in a hurry.

“Yes. Much,” Selena said. She fell silent for several steps, then spoke again. “I’m not sure if it was because I was stiff from being in the car for so long or because I was hungry. Either way, the walk and a meal and I almost feel like a new person.”

He found himself smiling into the dim light of the dusk settling around them. He’d felt much the same way, not that he would ever say so much out loud.

He watched the street around them, unable to keep from being alert for anything that might be a threat. At the same time, he was hyperaware of her walking beside him, just as he had been while they’d sat in the car for hours longer than they’d planned this afternoon.

As frustrating as traffic and sitting waiting for it to clear had been, she hadn’t lost her temper, she hadn’t gotten bitchy or blamed him. He’d been prepared for it. Then the screw up at the hotel hadn’t helped. He’d thought for a moment she was going to lose it. But she hadn’t.

Now they were headed back and would have to figure things out.

He’d been serious about sleeping on the floor.

But her expression when he’d suggested it and the set of her shoulders now, told him she was going to balk at it.

She was going to insist he take the bed.

But he wouldn’t be letting her sleep in the chair.

He hadn’t touched it yet, but it looked uncomfortable for sitting, and he’d yet to find a chair that was comfortable to sleep in.

Back in the room, Selena opened the closet door, took her suitcase to it, and did something he couldn’t see as she stood in the open doorway. After a moment, she turned around, the fuzzy pants she’d worn in the evenings in one hand.

“I’m going to change, then we’ll talk about the bed.”

“Okay.” He didn’t know what else to say.

There was no way he’d let her try to sleep in the chair, that much he was sure of.

He took his backpack to the far side of the bed where the uncomfortable looking chair sat and took a seat.

He pulled out his reader and settled in to read while he waited.

This wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to, but he knew how he planned for it to go.

He was prepared for the argument when she emerged from the restroom, but what happened wasn’t what Sackett had expected.

Instead, she came out, went to the closet and her suitcase for a moment then turned to face the room before putting her hands on her hips and scowling at the bed for a full ten seconds before turning her attention to him.

He’d looked up when the bathroom door had opened and was watching, waiting for whatever she was getting ready to say.

“This is stupid.”

Her first words didn’t comfort him, but he knew her well enough by now to know she wasn’t done.

“What is stupid?” he asked. She seemed to need some prompting.

“This whole thing!” She threw her hands in the air.

Then turned and paced the short walkway between the foot of the bed and the dresser that held the TV.

“We’re both adults. It’s a king-size bed.

There is plenty of room for both of us!” She flung one arm out over the bed as if pointing it out before turning and meeting her gaze.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

Sackett blinked then shook his head confusedly. The speed she’d hopped from one topic to another left him dazed for a few seconds.

“I’m not seeing anyone,” he said, not sure where this was going.

It was true. He rarely saw anyone more than two or three times, and he always made it clear from the beginning that he wasn’t looking for anything serious.

If the girls he dated went from him to another brother, more power to them. He was only looking for a little fun.

“Good. No one to get all bent out of shape if anyone finds out we shared a bed.”

Sackett stared at her a moment, unable to keep his brows from lifting as took in that gem.

Not that he had an issue with the idea, but he’d assumed she would.

“What about your boyfriend?”

“I don’t have one. You see, no one to care.”

Sackett wasn’t so sure about that. Someone would care, even if it was Donna and Savage.

He could almost hear it now. Not that Donna would say anything to him.

No, she’d spent too long being beaten down, verbally if not physically, by the asshole behind Selena’s kidnapping.

He wasn’t sure that the asshole hadn’t abused her physically, but Donna wouldn’t volunteer that information to him, and he had no plans to ask.

It was none of his business and it would only embarrass her.

“Wait,” he said, after a few seconds. He’d been on the road all day and his brain wasn’t as fast as he was used to. “I just want to be certain I’m understanding what you mean. You are saying we should share the bed, right?”

“Yes, of course.” She frowned at him as if not sure what was so difficult about the idea. “I mean, if you think you can trust me not to molest you in your sleep.”

Sackett fought back the urge to roll his eyes at the thought that she could get the best of him. At least physically. He had no doubt she could best him in a contest of wits. That just turned him on more.

“It’s usually the other way around,” he said after a moment.

“You often get stuck in a situation with women where there’s only one bed?” She watched him, one brow lifted as if she was challenging him.

“Not me, and I’m sure you know what I mean. Usually in a situation with only one bed, it’s the woman worried that the man will take advantage while she’s asleep.” He scowled wondering how he’d ended up talking about this.

Selena waved one hand in dismissal. “I trust you. You have been nothing but considerate. You said before that you don’t touch a woman without permission, and I get that.

You’ve had plenty of opportunity over the last couple of days to take advantage of me, if that was what you were inclined to do.

I don’t think that will change just because there’s no longer a wall between us. ”

Would she feel the same when all that was between them was a sheet? Sackett didn’t say that out loud. He knew better. He moved his gaze from her to the bed, for a moment, then back to her.

“You take this side. I want to be closer to the door.” He fought the urge to sigh. He didn’t know how much sleep he’d get tonight, but he’d at least be more comfortable than in the chair, or on the floor.