I hesitate for the briefest moment before doing as he says and turning my back to him.
Not a second later does his heat burn down my back as he presses himself up against me. His hand brushes my waist, but before he does more, he whispers, “Is this okay?”
I nod, forgetting that he can’t really see me.
“Yes,” I breathe. “It’s okay.” It’s more than okay.
It’s also entirely inappropriate to be the little spoon to my boss’s bigger one. But am I going to put a stop to it? Absolutely not.
He needs me. I saw it in his eyes just now as he thanked me for giving him a family for a night.
Hell, I’d probably give him anything he asked of me right now.
It’s probably for the best that I now have my back to him.
His hand slides around my stomach, and before I know it, he’s holding me against him as if I’m an anchor that’ll stop him from drowning.
Emotion clogs my throat and burns my eyes as I think about a younger version of the man behind me, desperate for someone to call his own. Craving someone to be on his side, to fight for him, to want him.
“You’re shaking,” he whispers.
“I’m okay,” I whisper back, but it’s clear that it’s a lie.
“I’m sorry, I’ll?—”
“No,” I cry when he starts to release me. “Don’t go. Please, don’t go.”
He relaxes again, his breath tickling across my shoulder and down my spine.
“You deserve this, you know.”
“Spooning my chef?” he deadpans.
A laugh explodes out of me. “No, to spend the whole night with someone who cares about you.”
He mumbles a non-committal response.
“I mean it. You have a lot to offer someone, Cole Hansley, and any woman would be incredibly lucky to have you.”
“What about you? Would you consider yourself lucky?”
I pause. Not because I don’t have an answer, but because the one that dances on the tip of my tongue is entirely too honest and raw.
But then I remember that we’re sharing, and it free-falls from my mouth.
“The luckiest girl in the world.”
Nothing else is said as we lie there in each other’s arms.
It’s been so long since I’ve been held like this. I embrace every second of it until sleep finally claims me.
I sleep better than I have in a long time. In fact, I don’t think I even stir, which is unheard of these days.
I wake up feeling refreshed and a little confused. But the second I feel movement behind me, it all comes crashing back, and everything begins to make sense.
I slept so well because I had someone here protecting me.
“I know you’re awake,” he rasps. The roughness of his voice sends a shiver racing down my spine.
