“Flatterer,” Reese retorted, but he smiled and his eyes darted to the bed longingly.
God’s truth, David was aching to climb into the bed himself. It looked like a pile of meringue with soft linens and fluffy pillows piled high.
David took a step back to make sure he didn’t do anything crazy.
“Go ahead, lie down,” David said again, staving off his desire to hurl himself face-first into the bedding. When Reese didn’t budge, David smirked. “You hoping Mati will drag you into bed herself?”
Reese huffed, glowered at David, and climbed into the bed.
David didn’t tuck him in, though he was tempted. He watched Reese settle far to one side.
“Can I offer you an unsolicited opinion?”
Reese laughed. “Nowyou’re asking?”
David chuckled, too. He had a point.
“Go ahead,” Reese said.
“The signals seem clear to me.”
Reese stopped fussing with the covers and looked at David, his face filled with hope and questions, none of which he had a chance to voice before the bathroom door popped open.
Then Reese’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
David looked over his shoulder and froze. Because,damn.
As sleepwear went, Mati’s nightgown wasn’t what anyone would describe as titillating. No satin, no lace. Hell, barely any bare skin. But it was still sexy as hell. A column of dark blue cotton covered her from shoulders to calves and all the way down to her fingertips. It should have been plain, but the fabric was stretchy,clingy, and revealed every curve and dip in her luscious body. The scooped neckline highlighted her collarbones and long neck. The tight fabric emphasized her full breasts and tiny waist.
David was transfixed by the swell of her hips. The curve of her thighs. Her waist was tiny, more noticeable because her breasts were full and round, straining the cotton tasked with containing them.
She turned to drop her clothes into her suitcase and David’s breath caught in his lungs.
A long braid swung down her back, the tip skimming the top of her magnificent backside. Curls tried to escape in every direction, but she’d woven them tightly enough to keep them under control for the span of a nap. David’s fingers twitched with the desire to wrap the long rope around his fist, to unwind it and see how long her hair would be if it hung loose down her back. He could offer to redo the braid for her, to make it neater and less likely to cause her a headache later when she had to brush the knots out, but he held back.
When she turned toward the bed, Reese’s eyes snapped up to the ceiling. David smiled in sympathy. It was hard not to ogle, particularly as she got closer, stopping beside the bed and mere inches from David.
Fortunately, Lucia Zapetti hadn’t raised a total pig, so having indulged in his one long look, David’s eyes remained fixed on Mati’s face.
She glanced at the bed, then up at him. “I feel bad that we found you asleep on Chance’s couch, and now we’ve dragged you into all this. Are you tired?”
“Exhausted,” David admitted.
“Will you sleep if we do?”
David glanced at the door he’d bolted and pictured the keycard-secured elevator. There wasn’t, as far as they knew, an imminent threat, and even if there were, they were reasonably secure. That, plus the safe in the closet where he could store his gun, meant he could relax when they were inside these four walls.
“Yeah, I’ll probably rest.” The real question was how long would he be able to stay asleep.
Mati hesitated, glancing between the bed and David.
For one crazy moment, he thought she was going to invite him to sleep with them, but she climbed onto the mattress without saying anything else.
David told himself he wasn’t disappointed.
At least he got the pleasure of watching Reese’s totally-freaking-out-but-trying-to-hide-it face as Mati settled beside him.
She took off her glasses, snuggled into the pillows, and rolled toward Reese. As soon as she stopped wriggling to get comfortable, her eyes slid shut.
