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Camden was next, likely woken up by Astrid's less than graceful exit of the bedroom down the same hall as his.
He almost rushed outward, pulling to a stop when he saw that one of his girls was just safely guzzling down her too hot coffee.
"Liv isn't up yet," I supplied to what seemed to be a questioning look in his eyes.
"She doesn't sleep well," Astrid supplied, the coffee seeming to help her shake off her grumpy mood. "She can't fall asleep some nights. Can't stay asleep others. She usually doesn't show her face before ten most days since she doesn't get to sleep until after four in the morning. This is good," she added, saluting me with her coffee. "Perfect level of kick-your-ass for the morning. I'm off to work," she added, grabbing her laptop, then making her way back to the couch.
Camden came over, making himself coffee, giving me a hard look, then moving back to the bathroom, coming out a few minutes later showered and dressed, grabbing his wallet and keys and heading out.
"You're going to want to wake her up," Astrid said a few minutes later. "If you want to make your meeting at ten," she added, making my head turn to the stove clock, seeing it was well past nine already.
"I think maybe you..."
"I'm all settled in here. You're standing up," she told me, and I'd swear she was trying to hide a smirk.
Figuring it couldn't do any real harm to knock on the woman's locked door, I went to do just that.
Knock.
Then call.
"Sometimes you need to like shake her leg or something," Astrid oh, so helpfully informed me from her position on the couch.
Feeling very much like I was not supposed to be doing such a thing, my hand reached for the knob, surprised when it turned in my hand, pushed soundlessly open.
Her room was much like the rest of the loft - not overly homey, somewhat cluttered, but not exactly unclean.
Her bed was the dominant feature, king-sized, stacked with blankets and pillows despite giving me two of hers to sleep on.
I knew they were hers because they smelled like her. Like lavender and vanilla.
It had been fucking distracting all night.
There was something undeniably intimate about bedding that smelled like a woman.
And if I were being completely honest, I wouldn't mind sharing more than just her pillows with her.
Attraction was such a simple thing - looks and chemistry.
So I didn't need to analyze it, obsess about it. We were simply two attractive people who would likely have a good time in bed. So of course that was on my mind occasionally.
"Livvy?" I called again, voice a bit tentative as I took a few steps in, nearly falling on my face over a pair of boots she'd left in the middle of her floor.
Fuck surveillance systems.
There was no better home protection than a woman and her scattered accessories. Any man who had ever gotten his ankle caught in the handle loops of a purse knew what I was saying. They felt like a goddamn snare, like it was impossible to get away.
"We have to get going soon," I added, taking a few steps closer to the bed where all I could see was a giant pile of blankets, no actual human being at all.
My hand reached up for a light cream blanket, the material faux fur, impossibly soft in my hand, dragging it down a bit to reveal the silky soft-looking strands of Liv's hair that was half covering her face.
Somehow knowing it wasn't my place, my hand still managed to rise, gently brushing it back behind her ear to reveal her face, lashes closed lightly onto the slightly purple circles under her eyes.
Eyes that blinked slowly open at my touch, softly fighting off sleep.
"Roderick? " Her voice was softer than usual.
"I knocked and called," I told her, dropping my hand to my side, having to curl my fingers into a fist. "Astrid suggested sometimes you have to be shaken awake."
"Did she now?" Liv asked, flipping onto her back, slowly dragging herself up to a sitting position, making the blankets pool at her waist
The room was cold. In fact, the whole loft was. And her top was doing nothing to hide that fact. It took more strength than it should have to keep my eyes on her face.
"It's nine-forty," I explained. "We have to get going soon. I made coffee."
Liv's hand rose, running through her hair, her face almost looking disappointed. Maybe it was just tired. Or maybe a mix of the two. Disappointed because she hadn't slept and was still tired.
"Alright. I will be ready in five. Then I can caffeinate, and we can get going. I have the distinct feeling that this is going to be a complete waste of time."
"You never know."
"Ugh."
"What?"
"Nothing worse than an optimist first thing in the morning," she grumbled, planting her head in a pillow for a long second before moving to untangle herself from what seemed like a dozen blankets.
