She said she didn’t want this.
But now?
She’s in my bed.
And I am never going back to pretending.
***
Sunlight pushes through the blackout curtains like an unwanted guest. For a second, I don’t move. I just breathe.
There’s a warm weight against my chest, soft hair tickling my jaw, a leg thrown over mine like she claimed territory overnight.
My arm is around her. Her fingers are curled in the fabric of the pillow, her cheek pressed against me, completely relaxed.
She looks peaceful.
Which is ironic as hell considering last night she sounded like she was trying very hardnotto wake the entire floor.
I smile.
She shifts and her nose brushes my collarbone.
Then she makes this soft morning sound.
Not a groan.
Not a sigh.
Something between the two.
Something that shoots straight to my dick.
Her eyes flutter open, unfocused at first, then sharp as memory smacks into place.
She freezes.
Classic.
Her eyes widen and her body goes still like she just woke up in a crime scene.
I tighten my arm around her waist so she can’t bolt.
“Uh-uh,” I murmur against her temple. “Don’t eventhinkabout panic-teleporting.”
She swallows. “I… I wasn’t—”
“Belle.” I lift her chin with one finger so she looks at me. “You froze like I just proposed with a ring made of red flags.”
A tiny, reluctant laugh slips out.
Good.
She needs laughing.
Because the second she stops? She’ll run.
“That wasn’t freezing,” she mutters. “That was… recalculating.”
