“That’swhat you think this is?” If anything, he got even angrier.
She immediately regretted starting the conversation in the first place, but he was already sliding out of bed and reaching for his clothes.
“WhatI’venever done before is sleep with a woman I know and like and intend to keep spending time with.” He jerked on his jeans. “So yeah, with other women, I’d generally leave afterward. With you, I was hoping you’d want me to stay.”
Her mouth dropped open. “But Idowant you to stay!”
He yanked his shirt on, yelling as soon as his head popped out the neck hole. “Then why the hell am I getting dressed?”
“I don’t know!” she yelled back. “Get naked and get back in bed!”
They both glared at each other for a long moment before his furious expression dissolved into laughter.
“Wanting me naked again so soon? I should pick postsex fights with you more often.” But he did as she asked and shucked his shirt and pants, chuckling to himself the whole time.
When he crawled back into bed and gathered her close, she let herself go limp. Exhaustion from the sex and the yelling pulled at her, and even though she should really haul herself to the bathroom to scrub off the day’s makeup, all she could manage to do was let her head fall against his shoulder.
“This was a dumb thing to fight about,” she muttered.
He kissed the top of her head. “The dumbest. You can make it up to me tomorrow.”
Thea smiled at the thick promise in his voice, at the implication that he’d still be here in the morning. But she had no idea what any of thismeant, so she fell back on a joke. “You bet. I’ll brew you my finest cup of coffee.”
He laughed and reached around to pinch her ass. “Can I convince you to serve it to me naked?”
She squeaked but didn’t respond. Was she brave enough to parade in front of him naked in the bright light of day? She’d have to see how bold she felt when the sun came up.
Her eyes drifted shut, then popped back open. “Um. Was she there this whole time?”
She pointed, and Aiden looked to where Blue was snoring softly in a pointy heap in the far corner of the room.
“If she managed to sleep through all that, I’m impressed.” He glanced over at her. “Are you a ‘no dogs in the bed’ kind of person?”
“It’s only been two days, so the jury’s still out.”
He dropped a quick kiss on her mouth that left her breathless, then gave a soft whistle. “Blue!”
The dog’s head jerked up and she leaped to her feet with a littlewhuff, then trotted to the bed. She hopped up, spun around three times, and curled around Thea’s ankles with a contented sigh.
“My two ladies. That’s more like it,” he said, and Thea grinned to herself in the dark, knowing she was about to fall asleep with a man she’d be excited to wake up next to in the morning.
Eighteen
“Good morning.”
Aiden turned to the source of the raspy voice to find that Thea had emerged through the sunroom door to join him in the backyard, blinking sleepily. “Good morning. Bed catch on fire?”
“Har.” She scrunched her face up against the morning sunlight and bundled her disheveled hair into a lopsided ponytail, then looked around the yard with a scowl.
“Geez, you’re reallynota morning person. Here.” He handed over his half-full coffee mug and bent to scratch Blue’s chin when the dog trotted over to them.
Without a word, she tossed the rest of the liquid down her throat. “Give me another three cups and I’ll be able to have a conversation.” She yawned. “Why are you standing under my bedroom window at eight o’clock on a Saturday morning?”
Because I woke up in your bedroom at seven thirty on a Saturday morning and had no idea how to feel about that or what comes next.His morning-afters with women were rare, so when he’d woken up in a strange bed to find Thea curled into a ball and tucked against his side, he’d escaped to the kitchen to make coffee.
They had to talk about it. No way around that. But tossing questions at the woman with bedhead didn’t seem fair, so he instead gestured to the wooden slats running along the bottom of the balcony. “Just making my plans for the day.”
She jerked her head toward the kitchen, and he followed her inside so they could both pour fresh cups. “I thought your plan was kitchen cabinets.”
