He climbed out of bed and jumped in the shower first, then grabbed a pair of shorts and slid those on.
When he ventured downstairs, Evelyn was in the living room, in the same position she’d been in when he first walked in, when she’d jumped up and kissed him and he’d jerked her into his arms and taken her up to his bedroom and made love to her.
And that’s all he remembered.
He whisked his fingers through his still-damp hair. “I guess I passed out?”
She looked up and smiled at him. “Not surprising. You were tired.” She laid the laptop to the side. “Are you hungry now?”
“Starving.”
“I put the food away. Let me heat it up.”
“I can do that. Were you working?”
She nodded. “I’m behind and getting caught up.”
“Then you stay where you are and I’ll heat up the food. Did you eat?”
“Earlier. I was hungry.”
“Don’t blame you.” He fixed himself a plate and warmed it up in the microwave, then grabbed water and took a seat next to her on the sofa.
“Will it bother you if I turn on the TV?”
She looked over at him and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Not at all, but thank you for being considerate and asking.”
Damn, she was pretty in that dress. He could take her back to bed right now and go for round two, but his grumbling stomach won over thoughts of sex, so he left her alone. He turned to the race channel and watched interviews and recaps of the race while he shoveled in food. After he was full, he put the empty plate in the dishwasher, grabbed another water, and sat beside her. She looked to be concentrating, though on what he had no idea. Some social media stuff, he could tell, but she kept switching screens to her email, and then another document and a fancy spreadsheet, too. It made him dizzy, so he caught up on sports until she started yawning and put her laptop away.
She laid her head on his shoulder and placed her palm on his chest. “Get enough to eat?”
“Yeah. I feel a lot better now. Sorry about falling asleep on you earlier.”
She lifted up to look at him. “Don’t apologize for that. You must have been exhausted. It was so hot out there today. I could hardly stand it, and I was in the shade in the pit box. I can only imagine how sweltering it must have been in that car.”
“It was like a hot box in there. But nothing I’m not used to.”
“Still, it’s no wonder you fell asleep. I’m surprised you could even get it up.”
“Honey, I can always get it up for you.”
She laughed. “Good to know.” She stifled a yawn.
“Now I think it’s you who needs some sleep.”
She yawned again. “No, I’m fine.”
“Caught up on your work?”
“For the most part, yes. I posted photos from the Fourth of July party at the ranch, integrated the social media accounts, and I have some sound bites, both photographic and video, that need your approval before I post them.”
He nodded. “Send them to me and I’ll look them over. After you go to sleep.”
“I can stay up with you.”
“No. You go to bed. I’m good for another hour. Email me those files.”
She grabbed her laptop and addressed an email to him, explaining that she was attaching the files along with a short explanation of where she was going to send them once he approved them.
“Good enough.” He stood and took her hand, then pulled her up. “Now, bed for you.”
“Wow, you’re no fun.”
“I was fun earlier,” he said as he took her to the bedroom.
She laid her head on his shoulder. “Yes, you definitely were.”
Once in the bedroom, he drew the straps of her dress down, and when it dropped to the floor, she stepped out of it.
“Into bed with you.”
Without so much as a squeak of a protest, she climbed into bed and turned on her side to face him.
“I don’t like sleeping without you.”
That admission made his stomach clench. “I’ll be back soon.” He bent and brushed his lips across hers. She smiled, but her eyes were already closed. He turned off the light and shut the door.
He opened his laptop and retrieved the email from Evelyn, reviewed the photos and videos. She had a good understanding of how innocuous he wanted his association with his father to be. There were photos of him standing in the vicinity of his father, a few family shots of Gray with his mom and dad and Carolina, videos of Gray interacting with his family as a whole during the Fourth of July gathering, along with Gray talking about how happy he was to be back at the family ranch again. Nothing political, nothing of him directly endorsing his father. He shot her a “Good to go”
email and closed his laptop, then stared upstairs.
Yeah, he didn’t like sleeping without her either, but the day would come when they would each go their separate ways.
Then what?
He didn’t want to think about that day.
TWENTY-TWO