“Just go to sleep, Kaidan.”
I chewed the inside of my lip, confused. Why couldn’t I stay mad at him? Thinking about what he’d just been doing filled me with a range of dreadful emotions, but anger was not one of them. I had no right to be angry. It’d been stupid to assume he wouldn’t work while we were on this trip together.
I was relieved to have him back in the room. He sighed, and after a while it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything else. The tension dissolved.
That night I tossed and turned, replaying my first kiss at least a thousand heavenly times.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A HEALTHY FEAR
Neither of us had thought to set the alarm, but the bright sunlight coming through the thin curtains worked fine. I stretched and kicked the tangled bedsheets away, turning to see whether Kaidan was awake. His eyes were blinking open, too. He yawned, causing me to yawn as well. I could have used another few hours of sleep, but this would have to do for now.
Kaidan leaned back against the headboard with his eyes closed. Each lean muscle was noticeable under his tanned skin. I got a decent tan in the summer, but nothing like him. It made me wonder about his heritage, which could have been anything from Italian to South American. He probably didn’t even know himself.
While his eyes were closed I stared unabashedly. His shoulders were rounded and his forearms tight. His entire torso was a sight to see—a toned chest angling downward to his abs with a slight ripple, but he wasn’t cut in a way that might make a girl feel self-conscious of her own imperfections. His waist went down in a vee at his hips, where it met the hotel blanket.
I tore my eyes away when he stirred. From the corner of my eye I saw him throw the blankets easily aside and scoot to the edge of the bed by the window. He stood up, facing away from me, and raised his arms for a glorious stretch. When I looked again my eyes landed on his bare behind.
Dear God!
I screamed and buried my face in my pillow.
“What?!” I heard him ask. “Did you see a roach?”
“Why are you naked?!” I did not dare lift my red face.
“Huh. Is that all?” he asked. “I always sleep in the buff. I don’t know how you can stand all that clothing.”
“Unbelievable,” I said. I pulled myself up and stomped to the bathroom.
We’d been on the road for over one hundred miles and had yet to speak. Kaidan rummaged forever through the local radio pickings. When we heard, “I’m bringing sexy back...” he gave a small chuckle and shake of his head before turning the station again and settling on an angsty female rocker.
I stared out the window at the edges of I-40 lined in green brush. We passed ranches and farms, some modern, some leaning and abandoned. We must have seen every breed of cattle known to man along the way.
“Hungry?” Kaidan asked. I shrugged, then nodded.
He pulled into the almost empty lot of a pancake restaurant. Inside, we seated ourselves in a booth with cracked cushions. A tired-looking waitress, not much older than us, approached. A heat of contentment rose from her womb to greet me.
“What can I get you to drink?” she asked, unfriendly.
“Coffee,” said Kaidan.
She looked to me.
“Hot chocolate, please.”
She walked away to get our beverages.
“She’s pregnant,” I whispered.
He looked at her and shook his head.
“Doesn’t look like it,” he said.
That didn’t mean anything, though. Sometimes people didn’t show until the middle of their pregnancies. A girl at school hid it from everyone until her sixth month.
“I can sense the baby, can’t you?”
“No.”
Maybe it was my imagination, but he seemed a little put out that I could do something he couldn’t. We both watched her from behind as she filled the mugs. She herself was not content, shrouded in gray.
She brought our drinks and took our orders. I tried to smile at her, but she avoided my eyes.
Kaidan drank his coffee black. I skimmed the whipped cream off my cocoa with a spoon and ate it all before speaking. I was already dreading what I had to say.
“Kaidan... do you think you could try to be a gentleman, at least while we’re traveling together, and maybe wear shorts to bed?”
“Ahh... I see.” He sat back. “The sight of my arse gave you quite a fright, did it?”
“I’m being serious,” I told him.
He took a drink of coffee. “For the record, I’m not a gentleman, but I’ll make an exception this once. No more sleeping nude while traveling together. Satisfied? Now you can stop with the evil eye. Look—here comes our food.”
My stomach growled at the sight of my pancakes with a big scoop of butter melting on top. But it was Kaidan’s meal that made my eyes bulge. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, grits, and toast! It took three plates to accommodate it all. He grinned at me and dug into it.