“Well, he is with me,” she said with a sniff.
Ian grumbled, then slipped into the chair he had sitting by the bed. She studied him. His eyes were red, his mouth pulling down, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes. Guilt hit her square in the chest. This man had come to her rescue. Yes, whoever had come to clean up might not have found her, but there was at least a 50/50 chance.
“You should get some rest.”
He shook his head. “I got a few hours last night. That’s enough.”
“Listen, I get you were an assassin and that meant following your mark with not much sleep at times. But we have three other trained operatives in this house. They can protect it.”
He rolled his shoulders. “Fine.”
He rose from the chair, and she expected him to leave her. Instead, he pulled off his shirt.
“What the hell?”
“There are only two beds in this house at the moment. Dad’s in the other room.”
He dropped his pants and she squeezed her eyes shut. His chuckle was low and sexy. There was that word again. She needed to come up with some other word to describe him.
“I don’t go commando,” he said. She heard a drawer open, then close. The floor creaked and there was a rustle of clothes. “I have shorts on now.”
She opened one eye and he was telling the truth. They were grey knit shorts, which were cousins to the grey sweatpants. The man was trying to kill her. He also didn’t have on a shirt. She cleared her throat.
“You forgot your shirt.”
“I get too hot. Normally, I would just sleep in my knit boxers, but I knew you wouldn’t be comfortable with that.”
She kept staring at his chest. The man was built. Those suits hid a lot. Lean muscles and a freaking eight pack of abs had her stomach trembling.
“You can always take yours off and we’ll be even.”
Her gaze shot up to his face.
“Aw, that’s a no, I guess?”
“You would be correct.”
When had she gotten so breathless? She sounded like a thirteen-year-old with a crush. How embarrassing.
“Then, let’s get some sleep. We’ll have to start getting ready soon. Unless you think you can’t keep your hands off me?”
The smile curving his lips made Lila want to growl, but she didn’t. Instead, she harrumphed, then lay down. “Don’t hog the covers unless you want to be kicked out of bed.”
Another deep chuckle wound through her blood. The man was lethal with that chuckle.
The mattress dipped behind her, then he settled down with a sigh. Another wave of guilt hit her. He sounded tired.
“You should have slept a little last night.”
“I told you I slept in the chair. I can sleep just about anywhere.”
She said nothing to that because she was sure he was lying. Why would he do that? She didn’t need anyone looking after her. Granted, he had come running when she had called, but she did not like the idea of a debt owed. That would just not do. She had too much on her plate and that?—
“Bloody hell, woman, stop thinking and just go to sleep.”
She blinked and looked over her shoulder at him. “Was I mumbling?”
She had a problem with that. It was one of the reasons the two serious relationships she’d had didn’t work out. Her quirks were too much for other people.
