“Of course.” I wasn’t thinking. How could I think when he was standing so close? Sucking in all the air? “I’d be happy to take the couch.”
“You take the bedroom. I insist.”
He didn’t look like he wanted to be challenged so I nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”
He held out a hand and helped me up. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
Besides him lying next to me? I shook my head, outraged at the way my body seemed to crave the connection with his. Reluctantly, I let his hand go. “See you in the morning.”
“Good night.” He stood in the short hallway as I entered his bedroom...his bedroom... alone.
I pressed the door closed behind me and leaned against it, trying to catch my breath. The man knew how to kiss, that was for sure. My legs still wobbled, and I wasn’t sure when I might be capable of putting one steady foot in front of the other. Maybe never if Jasper Taylor was around.
He’d flipped the switch on a lamp sitting on the nightstand during the short tour. I hadn’t taken a good look at the bedroom though. Now that I was in his space, I soaked it in.
The rough log walls and dark green and navy quilt agreed with him. This was a man’s room. A flat-screen television sat on a dresser across from the bed. The nightstand and lamp were the only other furniture. The absence of a woman’s touch made my heart skip a beat.
I thumped my chest with my fist. It shouldn’t matter that there were no obvious signs that a woman had been there. Whatever heat had passed between Jasper and me had to end with that kiss.
That toe-curling, goose bump–producing, panty-melting kiss.
I flung myself down on the bed and pulled a pillow to my chest. What the heck did the man bathe in? One whiff of his pillow, and my hormones leapt to high alert. It was like he’d covered everything in his bedroom in pheromones.
The clock on his nightstand told me it was way too late to engage in my favorite game of what-if. What if Jasper and I had a fling while I was in town? What if he laid another one of those kisses on me? What if I went out into the living room and curled against him on the couch?
Groaning, I reached for the switch on the lamp and flicked it off. With the room shrouded in darkness, his scent grew even stronger. I inhaled, pretending the shirt I’d wrapped myself in was his embrace instead.
Light filtered in through a crack in the curtain. I woke to something warm and wet slathering my face. I tried to swat it away, but it kept coming back. I cracked my eyelid just in time to catch a slobbery swipe of tongue to my cheek.
“Buster!” Jasper’s voice came through the doorway and the dog stopped, cocked its head, and jumped onto the bed.
“Good morning, Buster.” I pulled the cotton blanket up to my chin, trying to protect myself from the onslaught of doggie love. His entire backside wagged back and forth with his tail. “Are you supposed to be in here?”
He turned a few circles on top of the quilt, then collapsed into a heap against my side. The door creaked open and I glanced over. Jasper peeked through the crack in the doorway.
“Buster, get out of there,” he whispered.
Buster looked at him, lifted his leg, and licked at his privates. I stifled a giggle.
“You awake?” Jasper asked, swinging the door wide.
“Your dog woke me.” I squinted at the clock. Eleven o’clock? Flinging the covers off, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Why in the world did you let me sleep so late?”
His gazed raked over my bare legs, reminding me of the events of the night before. My stomach clenched, my core warmed. I pulled the covers against my chest.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to be anywhere until this afternoon. I checked Lacey’s binder.”
That should have made me feel better. But all it did was made me think of obscene ways we could pass the time. I’d hoped a good night’s sleep would cure me of my attraction. But as I swept a finger across my lips, I could still feel the way his lips had pressed on mine the night before.
“If you want to get dressed, we can pick up breakfast on our way over to take care of the cricket situation.” His lips curved up.
“Sure. Just give me a few minutes?” He looked like he’d already showered and shaved. For a split second I let myself remember the way his whiskers had felt against my skin.
“Take as long as you need. Do you want me to get him out of here?” He gestured toward the dog, who’d spread out from his initial tight circle and now sprawled across half of the king-sized bed.
“He’s fine. I didn’t notice it last night, but what happened to his ear?”
Jasper tilted his head as his smile faded. “He’s a rescue. Zina thinks he might have been part of a dog-fighting ring at one point. A lot of the pit bulls she gets at the rescue come from that kind of background.”
