She winced. “I’m sorry. I should have asked you first. It’s totally weird, right?” She nervously looked at her nails, adding quietly, “Probably should have stayed in a guest bedroom too.”
“The beds weren’t made up.” I reminded her.
“That’s not why I picked your room.” She said so softly I wasn’t sure I’d heard her right.
She’dmeantto sleep in my bed—pink dildo and all?!My mind started whirring with possibilities. I swallowed hard. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“No.” She laughed, “I guess I didn’t.”
“Why are you hiding from Liam? From your dad?” I asked gently.
She was a terrible liar. “I just, uh, I wanted some alone time before I went over there.” Was her father coming home drunk a regular occurrence?
“You could’ve had alone time at your apartment.” I countered. She looked at me for a long moment, like she wanted to tell me the real reason, but she closed her mouth again. I moved to thedresser and put my watch on, knowing that was all the answer I was going to get for now. “I know about your art exhibition.”
“What?” Her voice turned slightly panicked.
“Sloane told me.” I said over my shoulder, meeting her wide brown eyes.
Sara flopped back onto the bed with a groan. “Why would she do that?”
“Because you need people there to support you.” I sat on the edge of the bed.
She threw an arm over her eyes, hiding. “You don’t want to see it.”
“Sure I do.” I pulled her arm down so I could see her face. Even now, I could tell she was still hurting so damn much. I wished there was something I could do to ease her grief, to help her find her spark again.
She exhaled. “No, really, you don’t.”
“Care to tell me why?” I tugged on her shirt, and she finally looked at me.
“It’s just, it’sdifferentthan the piece I sent you.” She looked down.
“That’s okay. Different is good, different is moving forward.” I wanted to touch her, and even though we’d been pressed together all night, for some reason, I didn’t know if I should. “Every collection is bound to be different, besides it shows your versatility as an artist.” I encouraged.
“Maybe.” I could hear the sadness in her voice. It had snaked its way into her heart and stolen everything from her, sapped the joy right out of her, and I hated it, seeing her so sad.
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to see what it’s all about tonight.” I teased gently, and her gaze snapped up. “Oh yeah, I’m coming, and there is nothing you can do to stop me, sweetheart.” I leaned back on my forearms, snapping my teeth at her bare feet.
She yanked her feet back with a gasp, and something lusty passed through her eyes. She chewed on her lip, consideringwhatever it was playing through her pretty little head, and then smiled to herself.
God, I wanted to dive into the bed and crush her, wanted to kiss her, wanted to give her something good, anything good. She deserved it so damn much.
I didn’t do any of that. “Do you want to grab a shower? I was going to pick up some breakfast for us.”
She nodded emphatically. “Yeah, a shower would be good.Really, reallygood.”
Just for a minute, I didn’t stop myself from staring. She was so beautiful even after just waking up, actually,especiallyafter just waking up. “You want your usual?” I finally asked, and she smiled softly at me and nodded.
Damn, she looked way too good in my bed.
CHAPTER 26
Knock Twice or Snap Once
CARTER
“Ham for you, sausage for me.” I pulled our loot out of the Breakfast Bar bag.
