Suddenly, Ryan pushed into me, and I was on my back with his forearms framing my head.“Woman, your health and your safety are more important than a closing no matter how difficult it is to coordinate.Pretty sure your boss will feel the same way, and if he doesn’t, fuck ‘im, he isn’t worth working for.”
“She,” I said on autopilot.
“Whatever.She ought to be understanding in this fucked up sitch, and what I said still stands.If she doesn’t get it, it’s not worth working for a bitch like that.”
The phone cast a dim light into the room allowing me to see the intensity in his blue eyes.I loved how fierce he was about my health and safety, but feeling his body heat and having him hovering over me like this turned me on in a big way.
I kept staring at him willing myself to keep a stoic facial expression because otherwise, I’d give away how much I wanted him to kiss me.
His face came closer.“Do you get me?”
“Yeah,” I whispered, pressing my lips together at the end.
“What time’s your closing?”
“Eleven,” I murmured.
“I’m thinkin’ we can get you eight hours between then and now.Just won’t be uninterrupted.”
The light from the phone went out, and in the darkness I felt bolder.I reached up and stroked the side of his bicep.“Thanks.I appreciate it.”
He sighed and I felt his nose graze along side mine.“You don’t need to appreciate that.Let’s get some sleep, though at this point it’s gonna be hard as hell to sleep next to you.”
“As if,” I whispered.
He rolled away on a chuckle.“Woman, you griped about seeing me in my underwear, but you’re over there in my shirt without a bra, and I’m doin’ my damnedest to keep my hands off you.”
“What if I said you didn’t have to?”
“You deserve better than that.”
“That makes no sense.We’re both drawn to each other.We could scratch the itch and make out before sleeping.”
“That will make shit worse, woman.I won’t be able to stop, and if I did, I’d have blue balls instead of fighting a painful hard-on.”
He was probably right.Rather than argue with him, I twisted away from him and murmured, “Good night… for now.”
I heard him exhale hard, and I knew he found a sliver of humor in my words.Crazy as it made me, I felt better for that.
The most bizarre trilling sound woke me from a dead sleep.It kept going and I shifted.I made out the sound of Ryan not exactly snoring, but definitely making the same sounds as Darth Vader, if the Sith Lord ever slept.More forcefully than necessary I rolled toward him.He still didn’t wake, and I began to worry that he’d suffered more of a concussion than I had.
I reached out and nudged his arm.“Nickel.Ryan, wake up.”
He snorted in a breath and his body jolted.“Whas goin’ on?”he asked in an almost boyish voice that made me bite back a smile.
“Your alarm’s going off, big guy.We both need to be awakened every so often, remember?”
The way he took in a deep breath couldn’t be missed, and then he sat up, twisted to the nightstand and grabbed his phone.He disabled the alarm, put the phone down with a clatter, and flopped back to the bed on his back.
I couldn’t help but laugh, and even though it was silent, my body shook with it.
“Are you fucking laughing at me, Ives?”
My smile widened, my lips parted and I laughed out loud.“Yeah.You’re the one who insisted on waking up on a schedule and yet, you’re the one who can’t stick to the plan.Add to that, you sound almost – don’t take this the wrong way – boyish when you first wake up, and it’s funny to me.”
He sighed and groaned at the same time.“Glad I’m entertaining to you.How are you feeling?Still got a massive headache?”
“No, but more importantly, do you?”
