I stopped in the doorway and stifled a grin. “Who else would it be?” I called back, dropping my keys into the bowl on the shelf by the door. “A very polite burglar?”
“Pretty sure that a polite burglar would knock, not have a key,” Dane shot back as I giggled my way into the living room. “Uh, you didn’t drive, did you?”
“No, Daddy,” I huffed. “My car is still in the shop. Dex brought a new guy to the bar and he drove us all home.”
“A new guy?” Dane asked curiously. “Like a date?”
I blinked. “Oh, no. I mean, I don’t know. I didn’t ask,” I said with a shrug. “I don’t think so.”
Dane seemed to be stifling a laugh. “Well, as long as you’re sure. Sounds like you had a good time, anyway.”
“I did,” I agreed through a yawn. “Sleepy now.”
“Okay. Do you need help getting to bed?”
My face twisted into a scowl. Why would I want help when he’s just going to leave me in bed alone?
“Excuse me?” Dane looked startled.
“I didn’t say anything,” I muttered.
Dane bit down on his lip, definitely trying not to laugh. “You didn’t just complain about being left in bed alone?”
Uh, did I say that out loud? I wondered to myself. Or is Dane reading my mind?
Dane gave up on biting his lip and laughed. “Not reading your mind and you’re definitely talking out loud.”
Oops. Well, in for a dime, in for a dollar.
“You never snuggle with me anymore,” I groused.
Dane stopped laughing and rose to his feet, pausing for a second to catch his balance. “You’ve been mad at me,” he said quietly. “If I’d known you wanted to snuggle, I would have loved to snuggle with you.”
Dane led me into my room and sat me on the edge of the bed while he knelt down to remove my shoes and socks. Before he’d finished, I’d flopped back and closed my eyes with a groan. “Think I might be drunk.”
“Maybe a little,” Dane agreed, swiftly removing the rest of my clothes. Once I was down to my boxer briefs, he maneuvered me under the blankets and a minute later, crawled in beside me, all warm and strong. “But you’re safe with me.”
“I know,” I snuggled into his side with a deep sigh. “Even though you don’t want me anymore, I know you’d never hurt me.”
“What do you mean that I don’t want you, Shelly?” Dane’s voice sounded far away as my eyes got heavier.
“Gave me away,” I mumbled, too tired to add any detail as I faded off to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dane
Long after Shelly’s breathing had settled into the deep rhythm of sleep, I was lying awake, staring at the ceiling while I puzzled over his words.
What the hell had he meant that I gave him away? Even drunk, he’d sounded so sad that I was sure there was something besides a few too many behind the words. Rolling onto my side, I gathered Shelly in my arms and tucked him in close to my body, just the way he liked to be held during his heats. And with my nose resting against his head, Shelly’s intoxicating scent was flooding my nostrils, settling the damn bear down for the first time in days and letting me sink into sleep.
When I woke the next morning, I was alone in Shelly’s bed. Stretching, I climbed out of bed and collected the neat pile I’d left my clothes in the night before, then ambled down the hall to my bedroom for clean briefs and a pair of jeans before going in search of him.
Not that it took much of a search. Shelly was sitting at the kitchen table, staring out the window with a cup of coffee in front of him.
“Hey, you.” I kept my voice low, trying not to startle him. “How’d you sleep?”
“Like I had way too much to drink,” Shelly said with a forced chuckle. “Do I want to know how you ended up in my bed?”
