Hell, did she?
Okay, that was probably a stupid question. That kiss had been, without a doubt, the best she’d ever had. And while she hadn’t been lying earlier when she’d said she wished they could skip dinner and fall into bed, now that the moment had passed, she wasn’t sure she wanted that. If that kiss was anything to go by, she had no doubt that Aspen could absolutelyruinher, and she was barely holding on as it was.
Aspen’s brow pinched ever so slightly as she no doubt read her rising anxiety, but the look was quickly replaced by one of gentle understanding. “How does jammies and bed sound? It’s been an eventful day—I’m kinda beat. And your clock is two hours ahead of here.”
The knot that’d begun to form in Eve’s chest loosened. “That sounds perfect, honestly.”
“Good.” Aspen squeezed her hand once more before letting it drop. “I’ll move my bag off the bed while you change. Are you still good with me taking the right side?”
Eve nodded. “I’m so—”
“Eve,” Aspen interrupted gently, “there’s nothing to apologize for.”
While Eve appreciated Aspen’s willingness to let the matter drop, she still felt compelled to point out, “But we kissed.”
“We did.” Aspen held out her hands and, when Eve obligingly placed hers in them, lifted Eve’s hands to her lips and brushed alight kiss over her knuckles. “And while I very much enjoyed it and am not at all opposed to doing it again, it’s late. We’re both tired. Hell, you’ve got to be exhausted.” She licked her lips as she gathered both of Eve’s hands in her left so she could caress her cheek with her right. Her thumb painted a whisper soft arc over the curve of Eve’s cheek, and her voice was hushed and warm as she confessed, “I like you, Eve. More than I probably should considering I just met you, if I’m being honest.”
“I like you, too,” Eve whispered.
Aspen smiled, and, god, the way it lit her face was something Eve wished she could capture for eternity. “We have time, beautiful girl,” she murmured. “We don’t need to rush anything, okay?”
Eve wanted to argue that she was flying home on Sunday and time was the one thing theydidn’thave, but found herself relenting to the promise that shone in Aspen’s eyes as she echoed, “Okay.”
Aspen snapped awake at 4:59 the next morning. Exactly one minute before her alarm was set to go off. Were it any other morning, that loss of a minute’s sleep would have been annoying, but on this particular morning, she found she didn’t mind. Partly because Kyle was covering for her, so she didn’t have to get up and hustle to the airport, but mostly because, despite Eve’s assertion that she liked to sleep on the left side of the bed, the beautiful redhead had moved during the night and was now draped on top of her, with one leg thrown over her hips and her head pillowed on the plane of her chest.
It was, without a doubt, the best way to wake up that Aspen had experienced in years.
Hell, possibly ever.
It was also, without a doubt, the unluckiest, because she hadn’t turned off her alarm and, with Eve on top of her, she couldn’t get to her phone to kill it before—
The alarm chittered merrily to life and Eve, who’d been sleeping so peacefully, protested the intrusion with an adorable little whine as she snuggled closer and tried to bury her face in Aspen’s chest to escape it.
Aspen wrapped her right arm around Eve’s waist to hold her in place as she twisted her upper body just enough that she was able jab at the screen to turn it off.
“It’s okay, beautiful girl,” she murmured against Eve’s hair as she settled back into place beneath her. “Go back to sleep.”
“S’okay,” Eve murmured as she relaxed against her, her breathing slow and even and body heavy and boneless in a way that signaled she was already on her way back to dreamland.
Aspen ducked her chin to press a gentle kiss to the crown of Eve’s head, and closed her eyes as she lightly dragged her fingers along Eve’s arm that was draped across her stomach. The day before had beena lot, and if she was feeling that way, she knew Eve had to be feeling it a thousand times worse.
Too used to being up and running from the moment her alarm went off, Aspen never quite fell back asleep, but instead dozed off and on for the next few hours while Eve slept. She was a blessed to be able to make a living ferrying people around the mountains she loved, but her schedule could be grueling at times. Summers were generally pretty laid back—on her busiest days she took out two charters, one around lunch and the second at dinnertime, to get a bird’s eye view of the mountains with a stop to enjoy a breathtaking Rocky Mountain picnic. But once the snow started to fall, her business model shifted to heli-skiing, and that meant early starts and long days in the cockpit. The money was great, and she loved the backcountry drops, but she was in perpetual motion from the moment she woke up until she got home at night, but it wasa lot.
So, even though she’d argued with Michael about this favor eating into her schedule, she was honestly kind of grateful for the opportunity to enjoy a few days off.
She might have been awake at zero-dark-thirty, but she actually felt refreshed when Eve finally stirred a few hours later, and she smiled against Eve’s hair as she resumed idly caressing her arm. “Morning, sleepyhead,” she teased softly.
Instead of pulling away like Aspen expected, Eve pressed closer with a groan to hide her face in the crook of Aspen’s neck. “Good morning.”
It was, without a doubt, the sexiest thing Aspen had ever heard.
“I’m sorry I smushed you,” Eve apologized as she pulled away.
Aspen sighed. She was warm and comfortable and perfectly happy to stay where she was, but she obligingly relaxed her hold so Eve could escape. She wanted to tell Eve that she wasn’t at all sorry about waking up with her in her arms, but the playful, flirty comment died on her tongue when she remembered the way Eve had frozen when they’d returned to the room after dinner.She has a lot on her plate, she chastised herself.Don’t be an ass and make things worse.
“You didn’t smush me,” Aspen murmured. Her heart fluttered as she drank in the perfection that was Eve Morrison in the morning, still a little groggy with sleep and all her walls down, and smiled as she reached up to tuck a rogue strand of hair behind Eve’s ear. And if her voice was a little breathy when she said, “There you go,” well, she was only human.
The fluttery feeling in her chest wasn’t helped by the way Eve’s gaze softened and warmed as she whispered, “Thank you.”
