AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We went to bed shortly after dinner. Leo’s parents claimed to be exhausted after their day of travel—though I figured traveling on a private jet wouldn’t be nearly as exhausting as trudging through an airport for hours to fly commercial like most people did. Still, Leo had been exhausted, too. He’d been awake most of the previous night to keep an eye on me and my concussion, after all.
Seeing his frame cover the dismal surface of the lounge chair only intensified the guilt I felt for taking his bed a second night. But despite our arrangement, we had no business sleeping in the same bed. Once this was all over and Leo gave me part-ownership of Larkspur, he would still be a professional partner for an undetermined amount of time, so we had no good reason to shove our bodies under the same blankets, even if it was just to sleep.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle just sleeping next to him, anyway—not after the night we’d shared together. The chemistry between us had been, quite frankly, too good. Like the brightest of fireworks exploding all around us kind of good. And despite the walls I’d constructed to protect myself, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep up if we got any closer than we’d already had to make this arrangement work.
Though, it had gotten easier and easier to feign affection last night through the course of dinner. The more his mother seemed bothered by my presence, the more attentive I became toward her son: taking a break from eating to hold Leo’s left hand with my right on top of the table’s surface, lovingly blotting at his mouth with my napkin to wipe away a trace of chutney despite his mildly bewildered expression, even pressing my lips against his cheek to thank him for such a wonderful meal. There hadn’t been much conversation between any of us, but the communication Christine and I were sharing across the table with our actions spoke volumes—and I had no qualms against playing petty-bitch-defense against a fellow petty bitch.
Quietly climbing out of Leo’s bed, I unplugged my phone from the charger on the nightstand before prying the bedroom door inch by inch to pad down the dark hallway toward the kitchen. I’d noticed a coffee machine on his counter while he cooked last night, and figured I would enjoy a quiet moment to myself while I had the chance. I found fresh grounds tucked away on a shelf inside the pantry and—after googling how to work his fancy, thousand-dollar machine—set the coffee to brew.
Turning my attention to the cupboards in search of a mug, I almost tripped over a large, orange cat. “Shit!” I shrieked, slapping my hand over my own mouth. Dolly peered her golden eyes up at me, looking like she was a mere three seconds away from eating my face off. “Shoo!” I whispered, waving my hands. Dolly didn’t budge. Letting out a resigned sigh, I resumed my search for a mug and, after locating one, set it on the counter as I waited for the coffee machine to finish.
“Is that coffee?” a deep voice rumbled from the opposite hallway, causing me to almost jump out of my skin. Dolly hissed before running to the living room to perch herself up on the back of the couch. Oh, so now you decide to leave me.
I scowled at her before turning to find Alaric standing in a plush black robe, his hands shoved inside the square pockets at the front. His hair was finger-combed to the side, the ends brushing along his temple, and his brown eyes lingered on the coffee machine. “Yes,” I responded, swiftly crossing my arms over my chest. I’d put on a bralette beneath the tattered Madonna sleep shirt I’d thrown on before bed last night, but I still felt exposed.
His gaze bounced to me. “Is there enough for two?”
“Oh, um . . . I only made enough for myself. I didn’t think anyone else would be up for a while.”
The right side of his mouth ticked up. “I’m afraid, because of my business, I’ve lost the ability to sleep much past four in the morning. Though I do find the early hours quite peaceful.”
I nodded, unsure of how to respond, considering I normally slept in until noon and didn’t actually go to bed until four. “Well, I can make more once mine has finished brewing—if you want.”
His eyes fell to my feet before slowly scanning up my body, taking in what felt like every minute detail. It felt . . . gross, and I was immediately set on edge. When his gaze finally reached my face again, he smiled. “That would be wonderful.”
“Sure,” I responded curtly, turning toward the machine.
“Thank you, darling,” he drawled before slipping back down the hallway toward the guest room he and Christine were staying in.
I let out a long exhale when I heard the click of his door. When the machine was done brewing, I poured the coffee into the mug before replacing the used grounds with fresh ones for another cup. But if that man thought I’d be serving it to him on a silver platter, he had another thing coming. He could find his own damn mug.
As soon as the machine started brewing again, I decided it was probably safer to keep myself tucked away in Leo’s bedroom for now—at least until he was awake and could act as a buffer between his parents and me. I knew we needed to pretend to be in love and all that, but that didn’t mean I had to build any sort of foundation with either Alaric or Christine. Nor did I want to. As far as they would know, we’d be broken up after this little family visit.
Armed with my cup full of hot coffee, I made my way back to the bedroom, Dolly following curiously behind me.
Leo woke up almost two hours later, just after sunrise. I’d spent the majority of that time back in bed, diving down social media rabbit holes on my phone and doing my best to shake the odd encounter I’d had with Alaric. But after a while, I’d grown bored, and decided if I was going to be stuck in this room, I might as well get my yoga practice in for the day. So I’d quietly changed into a sports bra and shorts set in the en suite bathroom and rolled out my mat on the floor next to the bed.
I’d just transitioned from a table-top position to downward dog when I heard rustling behind me. Catching an upside-down sight of Leo from the view between my legs, I watched as he sat up and looked over at me, his eyes immediately landing—and staying—on my ass. Shaking my head, I lowered myself down into a plank before lifting my shoulders and chest into a cobra pose.
Leo’s sleepy voice sounded from where he was more than likely still watching me. “Could you go back to that last one?” His words were raspy with a hint of teasing.
I scoffed in response. “No.”
He chuckled softly as he rose from his makeshift bed before suddenly sitting down again, pulling the blanket he’d slept with over his lap. “Shit,” he muttered quietly to himself.
I turned my head to look at him, feeling the muscles in my neck strain from the effort. “What?”
He looked embarrassed, his eyes wide as they lifted to mine. “Uh,” he started. “I’m just going to need a minute . . . before I can get up.”
I arched a brow and lowered my gaze to the blanket he clutched tightly in his lap. Oh! I snapped my head toward the wall in front of me, taking my attention away from Leo so he could deal with his . . . situation with some semblance of privacy. “Sorry for doing this in here,” I mumbled as I lifted my hips and shifted some weight back into my arms for another plank. “I just . . . thought it would be more appropriate than practicing out in the living room.”
I kept my eyes forward and brought my right leg forward for a lunge, breathing deeply through a warrior pose as I pretended to remain unaffected—though my skin prickled as visions of Leo moving his strong body over mine ricocheted around in my head. A heated stream of desire spread throughout my limbs, and I did what I could to will it away—even as I heard the low scratch of his voice sound again from behind me. “No need to apologize, Mara. I understand this probably isn’t the most comfortable of situations for you. I’ll . . . I’ll do whatever I can to try ease things, okay?”
I nodded, inhaling deeply through my nose before letting the breath back out between my lips. “Mm-hm.”
A happy meow sounded as Swift jumped off the lounge and bounded toward me. I was still deep in a lunge when she casually meandered to the top of my mat and sat, curiously looking up at me. When it was time to transition myself down into another plank, I bent over to plant both of my hands on either side of my ankle and brought my right foot back, lifting my hips into another downward dog to release some of the tension in them from the lunge.
Swift moved into her own downward stretch, her front paws reaching wide in front of her as her nails unsheathed and pierced my mat.
