I paused. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Do you smile whenever he’s around?”
I cheesed way too big to answer that question any other way. “Of course, I do.”
Lexi gazed into my eyes. “He makes you feel safe, doesn’t he?”
I sighed. “Yeah, he really does.”
She nudged me. “You like him, girl. Just admit it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, okay, West is a sexy hunk of man meat. There. You happy?”
She clapped her hands as I tossed the covers off our heads. “I knew it! I knew you had the hots for him. I was telling Dean these past couple of nights that I could’ve sworn I saw you staring at him the other day. I knew it!”
“I’m never going to hear the end of this,” I whispered to myself.
“Hey,” she said as she rolled over onto her back, “we’re going to be on lockdown here for a while. I can just feel it. So, why not have a bit of fun with it? Why not indulge in some stress relief before we have to go back to our regular lives?”
“I knew that’s where you were going with this, and I’m not sleeping with him. That would complicate things.”
Her jaw dropped open and I knew I had royally fucked up. “Complicate what!?”
I pointed to the door. “Out.”
The two of us fell apart in laughter while Lexi shot out questions I refused to answer. I playfully shoved her out the door before I closed it, and then I flipped the lock for good measure. Lexi slammed her palms against the door. She threatened me with… something. I honestly didn’t remember. All I knew was that I had gone from endlessly crying to endlessly happy in the span of a few minutes because my best friend was single-handedly the most amazing person on the planet.
But the moment faded into the background when my cell phone lit up on my bedside table.
That can only be one person at this time of the night.
I moved away from the door and snatched up my phone. The agent’s name scrolling across my screen with the little icon for a text message stared back at me. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, readying myself for things to get ultimately more complicated.
Then, I opened the message and beheld its insane contents.
Agent Baker: Tomorrow. Two PM. The restaurant. I’ll bring what you need.
Fuck.
Seven
West
As I laid my ass down in bed again, I flopped back against my pillow. A groan left my lips as my body sunk into the mattress, and all I wanted was to get a good night’s sleep. I had to be at my best if I was going to protect Chloe at all times, and I simply couldn’t do that if I was exhausted.
And yet, as I laid there staring at the ceiling, the only thing that popped up into my mind was her.
“It’s been a while,” I whispered.
I tucked my hands behind my head and smiled. It had been a very long time since I’d been even remotely attracted to a woman. Sure, I had hookups here and there. I mean, a man had needs, you know? But nothing that ventured outside of a one-night stand. Hell, most of the women I slept with were gone before fucking midnight, treated to a paid taxi ride via my own fucking wallet.
Yet, with Chloe, all I wanted was to talk with her.
Did I want to sleep with her? Of. Fucking. Course. Her curves were something to be marveled and worshipped, and damn it I wanted to wrap my hand into her dirty blonde locks and pull while spanking that jiggly ass of hers. But I wanted to know her, too. I wanted to hold her at night and kiss the back of her head while she slept. I wanted to dote on her and get her the medication she needed to stay pain-free through her recovery. I wanted nothing but the best for her, and there had only been one woman in my entire life that had ever made me feel that way.
And as my eyes fluttered closed, the memory of that woman haunted me in the dark recesses of my mind.
“West!” Tiff shrieked.
