David smiled that Mona Lisa smile again.
Mati was trying to figure out what to do with that when she yawned so hard her jaw cracked.
“Are you all right?” David asked, again.
She blinked, her eyes bleary. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just tired. Been driving all night.”
“You can sleep right here on the couch,” David suggested. How he could make such an innocuous sentence sound like a loaded proposition, she had no idea. Maybe because he was taking up more than his fair share of said furniture, so lying down would mean lying on top of him.
Worse things could happen.
“That’s a good idea,” she said, pleased to see David’s eyebrows lift with surprise. She was way too tired to give a shit about propriety, and way too short to worry about having to put her ass in his lap.
With another yawn, she put her head on Reese’s thigh, reaching behind her to grab his hand and place it on her hair, and twisted around to drape her legs over David’s knees.
The moment she closed her eyes, she was out.
Reese refused to squirm. He stared down at Mati’s head in his lap and told himself that getting an erection right then would make him a very bad man.
“You’re supposed to be stroking her hair,” said David in a soft voice.
Reese looked up and was pinned in place by those dark brown eyes.
David was a remarkably handsome man. He had rich olive skin that contrasted warmly with his bright white shirt and the flash of his mischievous smile. His hair was so dark it could have been black, but shone mahogany where brighter light touched it. It was also thick. Reese could imagine what it would feel like to run his hands over where it was shaved short above the nape, like bristles on a brush. David had a great blade of a nose that somehow suited him perfectly. As did the knowing smirk, and the spark of humor in his eyes.
For all that Reese hated to admit it, Matiwasthe embodiment of every sexy librarian fantasy he’d ever harbored. But David…well, he looked like a cross between a Roman soldier and a stripper.
His body was magnificent. He obviously spent a great deal of time at the gym and wasn’t unaware of the results. Why else wear a shirt so tight it looked to be engaged in—and losing—a wrestling match to contain his pectoral muscles? Why else wear jeans that emphasized his butt like that?
Reese was no connoisseur of men, but his best friend’s ass was often cited by many for its perfection. David’s was, from what Reese had seen, on par. Less bubble and more cut, but equally prominent and noticeable.
Well, it had to be very noticeable ifReesetook notice.
Also, Reese had to be very, very tired to be sitting there thinking about another man’s butt.
Seriously.
“I’m afraid if I play with her hair, she’ll wake up,” Reese said to end the silence stretching between them.
He swallowed hard when David rested his big hand on Mati’s slim calf. His fingers curled around it protectively.
“If you pull on those pins right there,” David said, nodding at Mati’s head, “you could undo that knot and really run your fingers through it.”
Reese wondered if David had the ability to look into his mind and see all his fantasies.
“I’m her boss,” he said instead of telling David to fuck off. For some reason, he didn’t want David to fuck off. He wanted David to understand his predicament.
“Are you?”
“Yes,” Reese said firmly.
“Was it in her job description to drive all night from…”
Reese just stared at him. He was tired, not stupid.
David acknowledged Reese’s decision with a nod. “…from wherever you two have come from?”
“No,” Reese conceded. “But it was necessary. I have to keep her safe.”
