“What were you doing?” I ask casually, like I don’t care.
She clears her throat. Doesn’t meet my eyes.
“Nothing.”
That makes me want to smile. I don’t.
Her gaze flicks down my suit like she’s clocking it for the first time, and then she winces, the apology already forming.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I—I don’t have anything that would fit you.”
“I know,” I answer.
It’s not the first time I’ve had to make do. If I didn’t suspect she’d be uncomfortable, I’d strip down, get into bed, and call it a night.
But I have a feeling that wouldn’t go over the way I’d like. Or maybe it would, and I should just do it.
I glance at the bed again—big, at least. Big enough, tall enough, that I can actually fit. I had a moment earlier where I pictured some narrow college mattress, and her practically on top of me out of necessity.
It would’ve been highly appealing.
I step to the chair in the corner and start with my shirt, unbuttoning the rest of the way. The cool air hits my skin.
Erica takes a quick, sharp breath.
Not loud.
But I hear it.
In the mirror above the dresser, I see her eyes drop down to her phone like it’s suddenly urgent.
I don’t comment.
I shrug the shirt off and toss it over the chair.
My tie and belt have been gone for hours. Just the pants left.
I unbutton them and unzip, slow and unhurried, because I’m not going to pretend I’m not aware of her watching me. She thinks she’s being subtle.
She isn’t.
I glance at the bed—at the duvet pulled tight to her chin, at the way she’s tucked herself in like she’s trying to disappear under the fabric.
And I wonder, briefly, what she’s wearing under there.
I don’t see any evidence yet of clothes, but I’m not stupid. She’s not naked.
The things I’d do to her if she were naked…
All bets are off if she’s naked. Even I don’t have that kind of control.
I find myself hoping. A man can dream, right?
I strip my socks off first, then as I step out of my pants, I slip off the holster and weapon strapped to my calf with subtlety earned from years, with Erica none the wiser. In seconds, they’re folded neatly into my pants, which I lay on top of my shirt. Practical.
When she’s asleep, I’ll move everything within arm’s reach of the bed. There is security stationed in the neighborhood, but I prefer to have a hands-on approach to my own safety as well.
Then I turn back toward the bed.
