“It’s…” My eyes land on Mia. “Perfect.”
I step closer to the bed and Mia follows. She stands behind me, keeping about three feet of distance between us, giving me space to process. My hands roam over the soft duvet, then fluff the massive pillows. My poker face is on point when I turn around. “There’s something missing, though. Something crucial.”
I give her new stress lines in her forehead as she gets closer, examining the spot I was staring at a second ago.
“What? It looks exactly li?—”
I sweep her off her feet, fling her onto the bed, and land on top of her, my hand clamped over her mouth to muffle the squeal.
“You.” The word comes out raw, and I press it into her like an admission. The rest I whisper into her ear as the tension leaves her body. “That’s what makes this room mine. Complete. And fucking perfect.”
“Preston Jett, you can’t say things?—”
I shut her up with a kiss. I know this speech by heart:I can’t say things like that.I don’t have the patience to preach how wrong she is tonight.
Too bad for her. I plan to serenade and seduce this woman—now, for the length of her stay, and if I can do anything about it, for the rest of my life.
“Shhhh,” I whisper, easing her down beside me. “You don’t want to wake anybody up, do you?” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sleep here tonight. We’ll set an alarm so you can tiptoe back to your room before Lily’s up.”
Her eyes flicker, want wrestling should.
“Why?” she jokes softly. “You’re in a hurry to christen the new bed?”
“No, baby.” I pull her closer. “I just want to hold you. Possibly trap you in my arms when you try to flee after I’ve talked your ears off.”
“I don’t see myself trying to get away from your arms, Pres.” She says it more quietly. “I want to hear everything you have to say. I want to stay.”
“Good. I need you to.” Relief hits so hard my arm mustweigh double on her waist. “I breathe better when you’re close. I sleep better if your body is touching mine.”
I shift until our foreheads touch, and I close my eyes. “Today was intense. I’ve never been away from a scalpel for that long.”
Mia’s hand slides up my chest, slow. My words snag.
“Kate is too close a friend. I shouldn’t have operated on her.” Her thumbs brush my jaw. “But I couldn’t say no.” I swallow. “I understood where she was coming from. I’d do the same.”
Mia’s palms cup my cheeks, steadying me, and I lean in. “It doesn’t make today any easier on me, though,” I admit.
Her hand traces my entire face, then combs through my hair, and I breathe her in. Her scent always settles something in me. “It’s easy to talk to you. To be with you. I think you know this, but I need to be sure. I’m not ashamed of you; I’m protective of Lily. You understand that, right?”
Mia holds my face with both hands and holds my gaze. “I do, of course I do. I’m protective of her, too. And Pres, I know this is just?—”
“Stop.” I keep it calm, but firm. “This isn’t ‘just’ anything.”
“What are you saying?” Her head draws back, and her mouth twitches at one corner. “That we are… something?”
“Are you pretending we’re not?”
She moves her lips, then swallows her silence.
“Mia, I know this has been fast. Crazy. Overwhelming at times. But I wouldn’t change a thing. Nor will I pretend I’m not falling for you.” Her lips part on a quiet breath. “So tell me, baby. What do you want this to look like when we’re not hiding in a hotel room?”
She presses at my chest, trying to make space, but I don’t give an inch. I warned her I’d trap her in my arms.
“Preston, we can’t dream of hypotheticals like that. I’ll have to go home soon.”
“What kind of visa did you come in on?”
“Tourist. Ninety days total. Liam kept me on his payroll back in London. I’m notofficiallyworking here as your nanny. Like I said, he asked for a favor and I came to help.” Ninety. My brain starts tearing calendar pages by the fistful. Meetings, school drop-offs, breakfasts, bedtime stories—her ghost fading away from all of them. A loud clock sets up residence in my head, tick-tocking my sanity away. The noise spikes so high I want to punch through it. My arm bands tighter around her before I can stop it.
