He wouldn’t hesitate; I knew that. What if the person he was caring for needed something else? Something more intimate than food or security. What if they needed his touch? Would he add another rule about no physical contact, or would he slide his hand down—
I jumped when a knock sounded on the door.
“Luna?” His voice came through the door, and I fanned my face to try to hide the blush. “Don’t pretend you’re asleep. We both know you’re writing.”
He cracked the door open, just enough to lean against the frame and look in. He was in the same tight black shirt as earlier, and it occurred to me I was in silk sleep shorts and a tank with no bra. His eyes ran over me for a fraction of a second before snapping back up to my face. “It’s after midnight, and tomorrow will be another long day.”
“I promise, I’m almost done.”
He snorted. “You said the same thing last night.”
“I mean it this time.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Darling, you’re going to make me add another rule.”
My mind snapped back to my thoughts just moments ago, and my pulse gave a hard thump between my thighs. “Not another rule.” I clutched my chest dramatically. “What is it this time? No creativity after lights out?”
He pinned me with that stare again.
“How about no tempting fate.”
“I’m not tempting fate.”
“You’re tempting something,” he muttered. For just a second, something I couldn’t name flashed across his face, but it was gone just as quickly.
I licked my lips, and his eyes followed the motion. He had said what he came to say, but he remained standing there, and I wondered if he was fighting temptation more than fighting me on the rules.
Whatever was happening was suddenly gone, and he pushed off the doorframe. “Get some sleep, Luna.” He shut the doorbehind him, and I let out a long breath before turning back to the accusation of the blinking cursor on my screen.
Then I typed the one thing I wanted to remember from the entire day:
The hero made the rules, and the heroine convinced him they were worth breaking.
For once, I saved my work, closed the laptop, and actually went to sleep.
Chapter Six
Hayes
The event in Fort Worth the next day felt different from the moment we arrived. The air buzzed with energy. It was charged in a way that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
The line stretched out the door, and a few fans were even wearingTeam Lunashirts. It felt less like a book signing and more like I was walking one of my popstar clients into a crowd of fans.
Inside was even worse: voices overlapping and too loud. The air-conditioning didn’t stand a chance against the press of bodies. It was warm and dense, tinged with coffee and perfume.
Luna sat at the table and started the signing just as she had the day before, but my muscles felt tight.
I suspected Luna felt it too. I had picked up on a few tells she had when she was overstimulated. Her fingers fidgeted between autographs. Her smile lingered a little too long aftereach thank-you. Her shoulders were pulled up so high that they all but kissed her ears.
Of course, if she slept when I told her to, she might feel a little more stable.
I scanned the crowd, but I couldn’t see much beyond the next few faces. Too many people crammed together, too much motion, too much sound.
A fan bumped into another, and the table Luna was sitting at shifted against the floor with a loud squeak. Luna startled, and the pen she was using slipped from her grip. It was nothing, but I moved a half step closer.
The line moved forward, and she greeted each person in the same way. There were a lot of people in a very small space, and if I were Luna, I’d be feeling like a cornered animal.
“You okay?” I whispered. “Deep breath.”
