I held my elbow as I tapped my chin with a finger. “I find that acceptable. Though…”—I looked at the bed longingly—“I could use a little sleep.”
“I could use a lot of sleep,” he admitted.
“You willing to sleep with a criminal in your bed?”
“What makes you think I’m sharing my bed with you?” he asked, grinning.
Jackass.
“You would make me sleep on the couch? Near the kitchen with all the knives?”
He shook his head. “I hid the knives.”
I believed him.
“Still…” I pulled on his waistband to peek at the goods. “You’ll probably wanna keep a close watch on me,” I said, winking up at him with a devilish grin.
“You make a good point.”
I dropped my smile and decided to remind him who I was. “I promise not to kill you in your sleep. If Ido get around to taking you out, you’ll be awake and looking right at me.”
“That’s the sexiest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” he said, bringing me in for a hug. “Let’s get into bed.”
Not sure why the hug was necessary. Unless it was a precursor to, say, being handcuffed to the bed.
Whatever, you liked the hug.
Rafferty kissed my forehead, which startled a laugh out of me, and we stepped to opposite sides of the double bed.
“Kind of a tight squeeze,” I said, shivering as I slipped under the covers.
“You’ve got goose bumps all up and down your arms,” he complained, sliding in next to me. “You should wear a shirt.”
I turned to my side and looked at him over my shoulder. “You’re not wearing a shirt.”
“I run hot.”
“Perfect,” I said, facing my side of the bed. “You can spoon me.”
When he hesitated, I looked back over my shoulder, knowing exactly how to get him to hold me. “Dude, I’m freezing here.”
“You could just—” He cut himself off. “Never mind.”
He rolled onto his side and pulled my back to his front, tucking me in against him until my ass rested on his thighs.
“See? Nothing but a big softy,” I said, wiggling against him until I was satisfied with ourarrangement.
“Okay, fine, but you can’t be both a criminal badass and the little spoon. You hafta pick one.”
“Easy,” I said through a yawn. “You can be my big spoon anytime, Detective.”
“Yeah, right.”
He slid his hand to my chest, and I puzzled at the level of comfort between me and the man who thought he’d put me away for life. Seconds later, I was out.
9
RAFFERTY
