She pushed off her tennis shoes, nudged them beneath the bed with her foot, then dipped under his arm and crawled between the sheets. She kept crawling all the way to the other side. He went in after her. Sliding them back to the middle of the bed, he draped his arm across her stomach and buried his nose in her hair. Her blond strands caught on the stubble on his face, reminding him he needed to shave, and he breathed in her scent. Damn, she smelled good—felt good, too.
“Are you going to be able to sleep?” he asked, wondering if he could. He was getting harder and his mind teased him with thoughts of taking off that red sweater, of tasting every place he’d touched last night.
Obviously, some muscles in his body didn’t need sleep. He rose up on one elbow to see her face. And what a face.
She cut her gaze toward him. “I think so.”
He kissed her cheek and noticed the tension in his shoulders had already loosened. “Thank you for coming home with me.”
“You’re welcome.” She shifted and looked at the clock. “Should we set it so we’ll be up when Susan gets here?”
“Why?”
“Because I told her that we weren’t getting naked together. And this will be the second time that she’s caught me in bed with you.”
He chuckled. “When she gets here, I’ll tell her we’re now getting naked and having sex.” He winked. “She’ll be happy.”
Cali set her mouth in a firm line. “I don’t think so.
Brit gave in and set the clock. When Cali rolled over on her side, he followed her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her soft backside against him. Even too tired to think, he wasn’t too tired to feel. And he felt every sweet inch of her against him.
He had almost closed his eyes when he heard her mutter, “Shit.”
He pressed his face into her hair and grinned. “You’re a teacher, you’re not supposed to cuss.”
She rolled over and frowned. “I just remembered.”
“Remembered what?” From the look in her eyes, it appeared serious. His gut tightened, thinking it was about Humphrey. “What did you remember?”
“A reason why we can’t have sex.” And she blushed when she said the three-letter word. But he was more concerned with what she had to say than the blush this time.
“Why’s that?” He propped up on his elbow.
She frowned. “I’m afraid that your condoms went the way of your toothbrush.”
“Say what?”
“They went in the toilet.” Humor danced in her eyes, yet she bit her lip as if trying not to laugh.
“You threw my condoms in the toilet?” Laughing, he pulled her against his chest. Somewhere between the spurts of laughter, he assured her he had another stash of condoms. Right in the bedside table, waiting for when they woke up. Then, in spite of wanting her so badly he ached, the laughter and having her warm sweetness so close chased away the grief, he slept. His last thought was of how heavenly she felt against him and how he could get used to this.
Used to having her in his life.
Chapter Thirty-Two
When the alarm went off, he came out of a dead sleep—the kind of sleep that refueled the body. He blinked away the mental cobwebs and looked around. The other side of the bed was empty.
“Cali?” He slapped off the buzzing alarm, pushing a hand over his face. His palm met with the bristle of his two-day-old beard. He needed to shave. He needed a shower.
He needed to make love to Cali.
Desire tightened his boys and a smile brushed over his lips.
Tossing back the covers, he got up and heard laughter. He moved down the hall. Cali and Susan sat at his kitchen table, chuckling like old friends and digging through a box of photos on the table.
Mama Cat sat on the threshold to the laundry room watching them. Something about seeing the three of them—three women that all had gotten under his skin—all together in one room made the air in his lungs feel fresher. Another smile started inside his chest and fluttered up to his lips.
He leaned against the doorframe and enjoyed the strange emotions doing laps around his chest. “What’s so funny?”
They both swung around. Susan spoke, “I’m showing Cali all your naked baby pictures.”
“Hey, in my defense, it was cold when they were taken.”
Susan laughed. The cat meowed. Cali grinned and he saw her cheeks warm to a soft pink color. He also saw her gaze brush over him, slowly, as if gathering details to save to her memory. He liked the look in her eyes. He liked where that look could take them.
Hell, if Susan wasn’t here, he’d strip off his boxers and tell her to take a long and hard look. And he was going to get long and hard if he didn’t corral his thoughts.
Susan must have noted Cali’s red face because she clucked her tongue. “Men have no decency. Go get your clothes on and quit trying to impress Cali.”
Chuckling, he turned away before his sister saw just how much Cali impressed him. “I’m going to shower and shave.” A cold shower. Looked as if he wouldn’t get everything he needed until he put his sister on that plane. As his body tightened, he wondered if he could book her on an earlier flight.
~