“I’m sorry.” I pulled away, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
“What for?” She looked concerned. “You’re not going to go home now, are you?”
The look of horror on her face suggested that I’d just told her I was moving to Australia.
I shook my head. “No. No. I’m staying here. If the guest suite’s still ready. I’m sorry for scaring you both.”
Jerrica bit her lips together. “The guest suite’s not ready. Leon, the nanny – he’s got here earlier than expected and the annex isn’t ready yet.”
There were two separate buildings on the grounds, one of which was going to be used for Nate’s parents when they wanted to stay, and the other as a nanny suite, so Leon had proper time away from the family.
“I can use the sofa.” I never had any trouble falling asleep on it.
“You can sleep with me.”
It was the first time Nate had spoken since we’d arrived at his home. My head snapped round to look at him. His arms were folded and his expression was taut.
“What about the girls – if they wake up?” I wasn’t sure how they’d feel if they found me in Nate’s bed.
“They’ll think it’s a sleepover.” Jez handed me a mug of tea that was now just about the right temperature to drink. “I’ll tell them you’re here in the morning. They might want to come and see you. Is that okay?”
I looked at Nate, who just shrugged. Jez glanced at him, clearly as confused by his reaction as I was.
Sleeping in the same bed as him in his house wasn’t making me want to run for the door. It was making me want to run to his bed. Being there tonight, someone who would hold on to me, or let me hold onto them, sounded like heaven.
“You need to rest.” He finally spoke. “I don’t want the girls waking you up.”
Jerrica rubbed her face. “I won’t let them then. Zara’s at nursery all day tomorrow, so I’ll be home as soon as I’ve dropped her off. You’re not going into work tomorrow, are you?” She looked pointedly at me.
I shook my head. “No. I’ll stay off for the rest of the week.” Which I hated doing, but the club would understand. I put my mug down on the kitchen island.
“Good.” She yawned. “I’ll be resting as well tomorrow. Night night.” She gave us both a half-hearted wave and dragged herself off to bed, a mug of tea in her hand.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay in your bed? I can sleep down here or–”
He didn’t give me time to finish, sweeping me up into his arms and capturing my lips with his.
This wasn’t a slow, sweet kiss like we’d been sharing for the last few weeks. This was pure unadulterated passion, mixed with a shot of possession.
I gripped onto him, not knowing if I could stand up if I let go. Exhaustion gave way to lust, then need kicked in. Nate lifted me up, my legs just about able to wrap round him and he carried me out of the kitchen towards the stairs, pausing before he took the first step.
“I didn’t want you in my bed because I’m not sure I can just let you sleep, and you need to rest.” He placed me down. “I’ll sleep on the chair.”
I grabbed at his sweater, probably hastily thrown on when I called him. “Sleep in the bed with me. And the doctor did say it was okay for us to, you know–”
He didn’t respond with words, just another kiss that was slower this time. “But not tonight. I can wait another day. I’ve waited long enough.”
“Deal. No chair though.”
He bent down and picked me up in his arms, carrying me slowly and carefully upstairs to his bedroom.
“I’ll go down for your bag in a minute. Do you want some water brought up?” His eyes told me he was nowhere near ready to sleep.
I hoped I wasn’t going to regret this, but right now I was too strung out with the last few hours to think about following through on that need I still felt. “Please.”
His bed was mussed and rumpled, a lamp still on. White sheets pooled halfway down the mattress and only one pillow was indented. I still felt sticky from the gel for the scan, and Nate’s shower was so very, very tempting.
Fuck it. I went into his bathroom, turning on lights so they were dim. Towels were hanging neatly on the heated rail, so I brought one over to the shower, then tied my hair up in a messy bun.
