“Hey, Julia. I can’t sleep. I thought I’d make some hot chocolate, if you have some.”
“I’ll get it for you.” She started to get out of bed again.
“No.” He stayed her with a stop gesture. “I’ll make it.” He was gone before she could argue. After debating following him she slumped against her pillow. No, that would be plain silly, and she’d already reached her stupidity quotient today.
She reached for her handbag and retrieved her list. With a pen in hand, she checked through each item and crossed out two.
Ryan appeared in the doorway. “Julia, I made one for you since you’re awake too.” He handed her a cup, the rich scent of chocolate wafting to her. He’d dropped four marshmallows in the top and they’d already partially melted.
Instead of leaving, he perched on the end of her bed. He was wearing black boxer-briefs and nothing else. The man sure looked good, albeit on the skinny side.
“Don’t get cold.” Grief, she sounded like a mother. Unfamiliar heat swept into her cheeks, and she focused on her hot chocolate. “There’s something wrong with me.” The words came out unbidden, and once she’d uttered them, she couldn’t take them back.
“Oh? Are you sick?”
She half-laughed. “No, it’s you. When I look at you I get inappropriate feelings.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” His brows winged toward his hairline. “Have you turned to religion?”
“No! Not that there’s anything wrong with religion. I—you put me off balance. I can’t think straight.”
His charm came to the fore in a dazzling smile, and she gulped. She had no defenses against him when he applied his flirtation. It reached the point where she couldn’t make proper decisions. No, that wasn’t quite right. She arrived at conclusions, but her instincts steered her wrong.
“That’s not inappropriate,” he said. “I enjoy spending time with you.”
“But that’s the problem,” she almost wailed. “We can’t be together every day. Because of your job you need to travel overseas. Now that I’m helping Mum with the club, I have even more reason to stay in Auckland. I—what happens if I need you or you need me, and we’re in different countries?”
“Other people manage long-distant relationships,” Ryan said. “Can I get under the covers? It’s getting cold.” He pulled back the duvet and slid into her bed before a refusal was born, let alone passed her lips.
She gave an exasperated huff. “Don’t mind me.” She drank the last of her chocolate and set her cup aside.
“We can work out something,” Ryan said.
“Things didn’t work for us last time. I don’t want to go through that hell again.”
Ryan put his cup down and turned to her. “I’m sorry. I understand the last months can’t have been easy for you. No one could have predicted I’d get mugged and lose my memory.”
Julia struggled to find the right words to explain her inner conflict. “It’s not going to be as easy as you say. Seeing photos of you with other women brings back things I’d rather forget. I thought I had a handle on the past, but bad memories keep interfering. It’s not fair to you. I know that, but…it just happens.”
“But you’re willing to try. There’s something special between us. You’ve said you react to my charm.”
“I have no idea what to do.” A yawn took her by surprise. “I’m tired. I need sleep otherwise I’ll never get everything done before we reopen.”
“Can I stay here?”
“We’re not having sex.”
This time he didn’t flash a grin in her direction. “I don’t want to have another bad dream.”
Julia yawned again, too tired to argue. “All right.” After he’d settled, she turned off the light. For a while she was overly conscious of his body warmth and held her muscles tense. When he let out a long breath and lay on his side, she turned in the opposite direction and closed her eyes.
The alarm blared at six-thirty, and Julia smacked at it with an uncoordinated hand. The beeps cut off. Supremely warm and comfortable, she didn’t want to move.
A hand curled around her hip, and a kiss landed on her bared neck. “I like waking up this way.”
Oops, awake now.She did too but wasn’t about to admit it. Dangerous territory. “I need to get moving.”
“Give me a kiss good morning.”
