And all those things were true. But it was so much more than that. At least for her.
Jess loved the stubborn, overprotective, bald motherfucker. And she’d willingly made an agreement that they’d pretend that nothing had happened—and that it wouldn’t change a thing between them.
In the morning, it’ll all have been a fevered dream. And we’ll be the same friends we were yesterday.
She was such an idiot.
A screwed, screwed idiot.
Upstairs, a cell phone buzzed a few times. “Yeah?” Ike answered, his voice rough.
Oh, shit. He’s awake. Butterflies whipped through her belly.
Because it was show time. She had to make good on what she’d told him because there was no freaking way she was letting last night harm their friendship, no matter how difficult it was to bury her more-than-friendly feelings.
While Ike was still on the call, Jess hopped off the couch and checked on the frozen lasagna she’d put in the oven over an hour before. She wasn’t sure if Ike would be up for real food yet, but she’d made it just in case, and she could always reheat it for him later.
Plus, after a whole night of incredible sex, Jess had been ravenous all damn day.
Her ears listening for the sounds that revealed Ike was making his way downstairs, Jess set the table and sliced up part of a loaf of Italian bread he’d bought. She needed to be ready to act normal. Annnd even thinking that almost guaranteed that she would fail, didn’t it?
She sighed.
Footsteps on the stairs.
Jess turned to find Ike stepping down into the living room wearing jeans and a ratty gray Van Halen T-shirt. At least most of that delicious inked skin and hard muscle was covered. That helped.
“Hey,” she said. “How ya feeling?”
For a split second, she felt him analyzing her, like he was wondering if things were truly going to be normal between them. It made her think of that look he’d given her in the bathroom mirror this morning—after he’d carried her downstairs and washed her freaking hair. How she was supposed to keep her stupid heart out of things when a guy did that for her after giving her a crazy number of mind-blowing orgasms, she didn’t know.
“Better, actually.” His gaze slid from her to the oven to the table. “Smells good.”
“Think you can eat? I made the lasagna.”
He nodded. “I’m actually kinda starving.”
“That’s how I was, too.” She waved him closer. “Let’s feel that forehead.”
He eyeballed her like he was suspicious of her intentions. Soooo glad things were totally normal. Jess just barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Finally, he closed the distance between them.
She pressed her hand to his face. Much cooler than it had been. Relief flooded through her, easing some of the tension in her shoulders. “I think it’s gone. At least for now.”
“Yeah,” he said, taking a step back. Away—from her. “Good news, huh?”
“Yup.” She turned and peeked in the oven. The cheese was bubbling and brown. Perfect. Look at her being all domestic. She lowered the door and grabbed two hand towels, and then she lifted the pan with the lasagna out of the oven and rested it on top the stove’s burners. “Aw, look at that.”
He came up next to her, but not so close that they were touching. “I’m going to demolish that.”
Jess chuckled. “Good.”
“Lemme go get cleaned up while it cools,” he said, already heading to the bathroom.
“Okay,” she said, grabbing a diet Coke from the fridge.
The minute he closed himself in the bathroom, Jess sagged against the kitchen counter. Was that awkward or was that awkward? Or did it just feel awkward to her because she felt all different around him now?
Jess wanted to bang her head against a wall.
Instead, she finished taking everything to the table, grabbed a drink for Ike, and then sat her butt down to try to chill the fuck out.
He came out seconds later and joined her at the table. “Thanks for doing all this.”
“No worries. Neither of us have eaten much this week so I thought we could use a real meal.”
Nodding, he scooped her a big portion, then gave himself an even bigger one.
“I don’t mean to be nosy, but was your call news from back home?” she asked.
He cut a piece of lasagna with his fork. “Yeah. The team confirmed that their former base commanding officer lied about why he was in Baltimore, and a tracking device they put on his car showed that he went to a location known to be part of their enemy’s business. They also found a tracking device in Becca’s purse after she met with the guy, and the Ravens had to provide a diversion to keep her from being followed.”
“Oh, my God,” Jess said. “Is everyone okay?”
He nodded. “The team also got their hands on some new incriminating documents, so things are coming to a head.”