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“Which side of the bed do you sleep on?” he asked.
“All sides, but I start out on the left side. I’m kind of a crazy sleeper. At least that’s what I’ve been told. You can give me your opinion in the morning.”
“Am I going to wake up in a headlock?” he laughed and it broke the tension a little.
“I won’t say it’s not a possibility, at least according to my family.”
He began removing the throw pillows from my bed. “You might have mentioned that in the disclaimer.”
“You still would have agreed.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I stood frozen by my bathroom door, not because I was scared of Jessie, but because I was in awe of his beautiful body. It begged me to touch it and I wondered what he would say if I went back on my promise to be a good girl.
I shook my head, trying to clear those thoughts from it. “Did you find everything you needed in Ryan’s bathroom?”
“I did, thank you.”
When I didn’t make a move toward the bed, he looked concerned and questioned me. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
I looked at him and nodded because I was speechless from the anticipation of sharing a bed with this beautiful man tonight. I walked to my side of the bed and we turned back the linens, then climbed in together.
I turned onto my side and propped my head up to look at Jessie. My bedside lamp gave off a dim glow, but it was enough to allow me a good look at him. I studied his tattoo first because it was the first time I had seen it in it’s entirety. It extended further up his shoulder than I guessed and I reached out to trace the intricate detail with my fingertips.
He smiled when I touched it and asked, “Why are you so fascinated by my tattoo?”
“I’m not fascinated. I just really like it a lot. I like what it says about you,” I admitted.
“And what does it say about me?” he asked curiously.
I ran my finger along one of the curves. “It says that you don’t care what anyone thinks. You’re living for you, not everyone else or what they want for you.”
“I think you’re reading more into it. I really got it so the ladies would think I was hot.”
I felt a pang of jealousy when I thought of another girl being with Jessie like this.
“Just how many girls have seen your whole tattoo?” I asked, but we both knew I was asking an entirely different question.
“Do you really want to go there? I doubt you’ll like the answer because most of the girls at Collinsville aren’t like you. They’re more like Gretchen.”
It was his way of warning me I might not be able to handle the truth, and while I debated pushing the issue, he put his arm out and said, “Come here.”
I scooted closer to him and put my head on his shoulder as he tried to put my mind at rest. “You’re the only one for me. Every other girl is in the past.”
I put my hand on his chest, but couldn’t resist the urge to run my palm back and forth across his muscular chest. He closed his eyes and I wondered if I was pushing too hard again. “Is it okay for me to touch you like this?”
“Yeah, I like it. It’s very relaxing.”
I stroked his chest until his breathing became deep and steady, then I rolled away to turn off the light, but he caught me with his arm. “Don’t go, Princess.”
“I didn’t mean to wake you. I was only turning off the lamp. I’m not going anywhere.”
After turning off the lamp switch, I nestled against Jessie and went back to running my palm over his smooth chest. I wanted to be close to him and explore his body, but I was unclear about what his limits were for me.
I felt his chest rising and falling deep and evenly, confirming he was asleep and ending any potential exploring I had on my mind.
“Sweet Dreams,” I whispered, hoping any he had would only include me.
24 Kiss Me Good
Jessie
I woke up the next morning with Claire blissfully burrowed into me and it was a gift I didn’t think could be real. I put my nose against her hair and breathed deeply, taking in her smell. I hadn’t noticed last night because I was too exhausted, but her bed smelled just like she did-sweet and floral with a hint of peach and cherry.
As I laid half under her, I recalled how she stroked her hand over my chest rhythmically until I fell asleep and I couldn’t think of a time in my life that made me feel more relaxed and happy.
I lifted my head slightly and looked down to see our legs intertwined with one of her arms thrown across my lower abdomen, dangerously close to the waist of my borrowed pajama pants. I dropped my head back down on the pillow and closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on anything other than the position we were in.
Claire woke up a few minutes later and only aggravated the situation by wiggling against me as she stretched and got situated. She rolled off of me onto her back, then turned to look at me. The sunlight beamed in through her bedroom windows on her hair making it look even redder and I stared at her face, thinking she was breathtakingly gorgeous.
I reached out to touch her face. “You are so beautiful.”
She smiled and asked, “Can you stay with me every night because I’d love to wake up to you every morning?”
“I somehow doubt your parents would go for that.” She didn’t disagree and I decided to tackle the topic I would probably regret. “The things Forbes said about me were true, so what do you think your parents will think of me?”
“The things he said are not true,” she argued.
“If you were being honest with me and yourself, you’d have to admit that most of it is true. I don’t fit in. I’m not like all of you. I don’t have money or come from a family like yours.”
She sighed and said, “It doesn’t matter to me and it won’t matter to my parents either. It’s true that we are well off and they are friends with wealthy people, but they are kind and fair. They won’t judge or dislike you because you don’t come from a wealthy family.”
The thoughts of sitting down to talk with Claire’s parents made me nervous. “I’ve told you that I don’t do the parent thing well.”
She firmly informed me, “I know, but if I’m going to be with you, then you have to meet them because we’re a close family. No exceptions.”
I accepted my fate and asked, “Do I have a deadline?”
“I’ll give you a little time to get use to the idea. What about next weekend? My dad won’t be on call, so they should be free. Could you come on Saturday night?”
