I salute. “Yes, sir.” Then I lean back into the soft, luxury pillows. These are much softer than the hotel pillows. I feel like I’m floating on a cloud. The comfort alone is helping my pounding headache.
“Open up.” Max hovers pills in front of my mouth and opens the water bottle. I swallow the water greedily. It’s freezing cold. It’s the best thing that has been in my mouth all day.
“Thank you. You don’t need to be taking care of me, Max. I’m a big girl.”
“I want to. Now, be a good little patient and do as you’re told. Drink the water.”
Max takes off my shoes and pulls a cover over me. I catch his hand and stop him from turning away. I might be crazy for asking this, but I don’t care. I’ll blame the illness in the morning if he questions it. “Stay with me.”
A small smile lingers across his lips. “I’ll grab a shower and then I’ll be right back.” He leans down and kisses me on the mouth. I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.
Chapter 9
Max
I never thought the first full night I’d get to have Lexi in my bed would be because she was sick. Since the first time my eyes landed on her, I’ve been fantasising about spending the night with her, ravishing her body slowly, exploring her likes and dislikes, pushing her boundaries, and falling asleep with her in my arms. I’ve never had those thoughts about any other woman before, but for whatever reason, she is different, and I’m struggling to ignore that.
I didn’t get much sleep last night because she was like a furnace. I kept dabbing her head with a cold face cloth, making her drink water every so often, and popped pills in her mouth every four hours to help with the fever she had. The fever didn’t break until gone seven a.m. this morning. It’s no wonder it’s nearly lunchtime and she’s still sound asleep.
I climbed out of bed this morning and took care of last-minute jobs around the hotel. Unlike Lexi, I trust my staff to do the jobs I pay them to do, and I left them to get on with it. I don’t care if Lexi has any work to do today, she needs the rest. I’ll take her anger and frustration when she wakes up.
I returned to my suite with my laptop to do admin and sat at the desk in my room just staring at Lexi’s sleeping form. I couldn’t keep away from the room knowing that Lexi was here alone. I was walking around the hotel doing the jobs I had to do, but my heart wasn’t out there. It was back here with Lexi, and that’s a scary thought. It’s a thought I don’t know what to do with. I might have money and status, I might knowmy way around the woman’s body, but I know nothing about relationships and settling down. The thought alone terrifies me.
A groan comes from my bed at just the right time to stop me from overthinking things. Lexi turns over in the bed and the sweetest brown eyes are staring right at me as I sit at the desk, working. She looks much more relaxed than she did in the middle of the night.
“Good morning,” she croaks.
Her voice is hoarse and she sounds terrible.
“Good afternoon.” I get up and join her on the bed, my back leaning against the headboard, and I put my feet up on the mattress.
She tries to sit up, but she holds her hand over her head and lies back down. “It can’t be. It’s Friday. I’ve got work to do.”
“I’m sure whatever it is can wait for one day, Lex. You were really sick in the night. I was close to calling the doctor.”
She lowers her hand from her head and her eyes dance across me. “Thank you for being my knight in shining armour.”
“Anyone would have done the same.” I brush off her compliment. I know it’s a dick move; I should have just taken the fucking compliment.
“Well, thank you. Now I’m awake, let me get out of your hair.”
I grab her arm and stop her from moving out of bed. “Let me run you a bath first. It might make you feel better.”
I can feel her body relax back into the mattress. Her fight has gone. “I don’t want to put you out, Max. You have a hotel to get ready for tomorrow night.”
I nod. “Everything is taken care of.”
“On one condition.”
“What?”
“You join me in the bath. You’ve been working hard lately.”
Do I want to submerge into the hot, bubbly water with Lexi? Abso-fucking-lutely. But I can’t give her more than sex. I know she will want more than that; she’s a sweet girl with emotions. She deserves more than what I can give. I should have listened to her about blurred lines, but I followed my heart instead of my head.
“Okay.” I lean in, kiss her temple, and get off the bed.
I have never felt as mixed up as I do right now. I can either tell Lexi that all I can give her is sex, or I act like a dick and push her away. Either way, I’m going to come across as a prick. I can’t win.
