I stopped a few steps in front of him, interlacing my hands. “Thanks for what you did tonight.”
His head snapped up, and our eyes locked. “You don’t have to thank me for being there for you.”
“How did you know to help me in the first place?”
“I saw you walk to the side of the hotel instead of the front door and knew something was off. I swung back around and got the valet to take my car and followed you. And when I saw Garret, I knew things weren’t going to be good.”
“I’m glad you did.”
I wrung my hands, not sure what to do next. Throwing him out seemed wrong, and it was also the last thing I wanted to do. But I longed for my bed.
“Let’s watch some TV so you don’t go to bed with thoughts of Garret.”
While that was an excellent idea that I could get on board with, it would also mean we’d have to sit on the bed, since that was the only spot to watch TV together, as the couch was off to the side. It was also only a two-seater and uncomfortable.
Grayson grabbed the remote while I debated what to do. My tired body urged me to get in the bed and not overthink things. I was too tired to argue with myself, so I pushed the blanket back and rearranged the pillows until I’d stacked them into a pile at the head of the bed.
I slid under the cool sheets with a sigh, my body relaxing into the mattress. The bed dipped when Grayson sat down beside me but on top of the covers. He’d taken off his shoes and opened the top button of his dress shirt. He’d also removed his tie and jacket and rolled up his sleeves.
He was a sight to behold. The corded muscles running along his forearms made my hands itch to reach out and touch him.
But instead of giving in to the urge, I practiced the control I’d gained after years of having to hold myself back when it came to him. Turning onto my side, facing the object of most of my fantasies, I relaxed into the pillows.
“They’re playing old episodes ofPrison Break.” Grayson stopped clicking through the channels when he came to the show we used to watch together. Without having to ask if it was what I wanted to watch, he put the remote down on the nightstand.
Despite my shitty night, Grayson’s presence was comforting. It only took a few minutes for me to fall asleep.
Ten
“Idon’t know how anyone can sleep like that,” Grayson’s sleepy voice rumbled beside me.
I’d just woken up, stretching as I usually did, when his voice interrupted me. I jerked around, staring at Grayson. Who was still in my hotel room. In my bed. And under the blankets.
“You’re still here.”
He gave me a sleepy smile, and I melted into the bed. “It appears so.”
His hair was messy, his shirt rumpled, and he had never looked better. I’d only woken up next to him one other time, and I didn’t think I’d ever get to repeat the experience.
Grayson sat up, running a hand over his face. “Do you ever move in your sleep?”
“Not usually.”
I slept curled up into a little ball, waking up in exactly the same spot I fell asleep in.
“We should get going if we want to make it on time.”
A glance at my phone showed me we were cutting it close already. I ignored the notifications on my screen and instead got up, throwing on jeans and a sweater. One good thing about being on the show: someone else did my hair and makeup for me and decided what I was going to wear every day. Made the whole getting ready in the morning struggle much easier and allowed us to be on the road only ten minutes later.
“You mind if we stop at my house so I can get changed?” Grayson confidently navigated the crazy LA traffic, shooting me a grin when I gasped when someone cut into our lane. His car would be more at home on a racetrack instead of the cramped streets we were currently on. But he’d always liked his classic cars, and this one was no exception.
“No problem.”
He only lived twenty minutes from the hotel and close to the studio. If he didn’t take too long to get ready, we would be able to still make it on time.
When he stopped in front of a huge gate, I craned my neck to see what was behind it. The neatly pressed lawns, white towering mansions, and gorgeous lake weren’t what I expected his neighborhood to look like.
“You live in a housing estate?” I didn’t manage to keep the disbelief out of my voice.
