His breath caught audibly.She worried for a minute that she’d overstepped.She’d dragged him into this bed to comfort her, forced him to talk, and pulled memories out of him he’d obviously had no interest in sharing.He was probably overstimulated, overwrought, and justoverher nonsense in general.
But after a brief pause, he laced his fingers through hers and whispered back, “Deal.”
And just like that, Hadley Lockhart became Cole Clayton’sperson.
Her first question in that official capacity was to ask if that Middle Eastern valley was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.Too bad she didn’t get the answer.Not because he didn’twantto answer, but because she dozed off before he could give it.So, she’d never know what he said as she lay in his arms, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.
“Itwas,” he said as he brushed a lock of hair off her forehead, tucking it behind her ear.“Until now…”
Chapter18
Hadley didn’t remember falling back to sleep.
One minute, she was chatting with Cole, listening intently to every detail he was willing to share with her about his life, feeling warm and comfortable and safe in his arms, and the next, she was unconscious, probably drooling into her pillow.
Shereallyhoped she was wrong about the drooling.
But she also had no idea what woke her up.It definitely wasn’t a nightmare.No pounding heart, sweaty skin, gasping for breath, or overwhelming sensation of impending doom.Nope.Nothing like that.
What shewasexperiencing, however, was the feeling of being flat on her back, pressed into the mattress by the weight of Cole’s body, his mouthveryclose to hers.
Definitelynot a nightmare, because holycrapdid he feel good.
“Stay calm,” he whispered, his warm breath feathering across her cheek.
Not fucking likely.She hadn’t had sex in a really long time, and never with a man as hot as Cole.Hyperventilating was possible.So were spontaneous orgasms.Either option would be mortifying.How was she supposed to stay calm under those circumstances?
“Someone’s in the house,” he added.
Well, that was a relief and terrifying all at the same time.He wasn’t making a move on her, so she wasn’t in danger of spontaneously coming all over the thigh he had shoved between hers.But also, who the hell was in the house?She grabbed his bicep and lifted her eyes to his, brow furrowed.
He tipped his ear toward the door.“One person.In the living room.Checking the drawers and vents.”
Fuck, he could hear all that?All she could hear was the pounding of her own heart.And…was that her stomach growling?Yikes.She should’ve eaten more of that cheeseboard earlier.
“This is a pro.It’s got to be our sleeper agent.Probably checking up on our cover.”
“How do you know?”she whispered.
“It’s what I’d do.”
She supposed it was a good thing she’d had that nightmare earlier.Otherwise, she had a sneaking suspicion Cole wouldn’t have gotten in bed with her and would still be lurking outside the bedroom door like a gargoyle when the sleeper agent came in.“Do we confront them?”
“No.All that’d do is run them out of town.Franklin would never leave us alone if we lost the guy.”
Which didn’t work for her at all because Franklinsuckedand she’d die happy if she never had to see his stupid, fat face ever again.“Pretend we’re asleep?”
He hesitated.She immediately knew why.If he was wrong, if this was someone here to harm them and he was next to her, pretending to sleep, it’d be harder for him to shield her with his body, which was…she wasn’t going to lie…unbearably hot.
“He’s coming up the steps,” Cole whispered, his entire body tightening above hers.
Her brain raced almost as fast as her heart.One ideadidcome to mind almost immediately.And not because she wanted to do borderline disrespectful things with this man.It was an idea that made sense in this particular circumstance, and it would allow him to guard her the way he wanted to.It was a win-win, really.
She could only hope Cole would agree with her, because she was about to take charge of this situation in abigway.
Hadley threw her leg around his hips, snaked a hand behind his neck, yanked him against her like she never intended to let him go…and crushed her lips against his.
(And, no, it wasn’t lost on her that this was thesecondtime her on-the-spot problem solving involved her mouth on his.Total coincidence.That was her story and she was sticking to it.)
