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“Took you long enough,” Matthew muttered.

Winnie snapped a look toward him, but he kept his eyes on the TV screen, his lips twitching with a smile.

Winnie pretended to pull her hand away, but he held steady. “No going back now,” he said. “And no crossing this line with anything but your hand, Miss Knox. Otherwise there will be the devil to pay.”

“As if I’m the one you need to be warning,” she said pointedly.

He looked down at her, their eyes catching, and the look that passed between them told her enough. He was warning himself.

And that knowledge was enough to keep her satisfied. At least for now.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Matthew was dreaming. It was a lovely dream—filled with wildflowers in a meadow, by the smell of it. Or maybe he was in the rose garden at home. Wherever he was, the sun was warm on his face and across his hand. It was soft. Comforting. Gripping.

But, then, the sun didn’t have fingers. So what was holding him in such a pleasant way? Was it his own hand? Or…

A vague memory trickled through his mind like a babbling brook, and his eyes fluttered open. He blinked as the sun’s light spilled out across his face, then he focused on what lay before him.

Instead of seeing his room, he was greeted by the sight of two closed eyes, brown hair falling gracefully over a brow, and perfect, pink lips just a few inches away from his.

Winnie.

How could he have forgotten? He was in bed with Winnie. They’d fallen asleep watching the movie, shifting as they slept throughout the night—always remaining on their respective side—but each time, their hands had found each other’s, as if unable to handle being apart.

Truthfully, it had been one of the best nights of Matthew’s life. Like a dream. The whole trip had been like a dream—especially now, waking up beside her.

He remained still, taking the opportunity to observe her for a moment without her being aware.

When she’d first walked into the room last night, sweatpants, sweatshirt, and hair down, just like the night she’d almost left Foxwood, his breath had been snatched promptly from his chest.

He honestly had no idea how he’d kept his hands off of her, especially after he’d read her proposal for the next festival. The changes she’d made, not only to the event, but in herself, had been staggering.

But then, perhaps she hadn’t changed. Perhaps she’d merely allowed the real Winnie Knox to be revealed. Would Winnie allow her to stay? Or would the New York Boss Lady return the second they made it back to Foxwood?

An unsettled feeling crept across him, but he managed to set it aside the very moment Winnie stirred.

She drew a deep breath, then sighed, her eyes still closed as she shifted to her back. As she did so, her hand slipped away from Matthew’s.

The loneliness that followed rushed over him like a raging river.

As her eyes fluttered open, he refrained from reaching out to her again, watching instead as she took in her surroundings, confusion in her eyes until she settled her gaze on Matthew.

To his utter delight, a bright smile stretched across her lips. “Good morning,” she said, her voice slightly husky.

How could she make even that attractive? “Good morning. Sleep well?”

She nodded, stretching her arms above her head, then covering her mouth as she yawned. “I think so. You?”

“Oh, yes.”

Their eyes met, and a look of understanding passed between them. She glanced away with a soft blush across her cheeks.

He wanted to say something more, cause that appealing blush of hers to deepen, but his phone buzzed beside him.

“That’s probably Char texting,” he said, moving to sit up in the bed as Winnie did the same.

Sure enough, her name popped up on the front screen of his phone.