For a silent, heavy moment, we are at a stalemate, eyes locked on each other, neither wanting to be the first to move. Both of us refusing to be the one to acknowledge the thick tension.
She cracks first. “I can sleep in the chair.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I pat the other side of the bed. “This bed is huge. There’s room for both of us.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Nick.”
“Are you saying you don’t think you can control yourself in bed with me?” I arch an eyebrow, poking at her because it’s fun and because I want her to be as affected by me as I am by her.
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not falling for your games, Nick Matthews.”
“Ouch. Full naming me already.” I lean back against the pillows, tucking an arm behind my head, watching as her eyes catch on the bulge of my biceps. “It’s okay, I understand. I would be tempted by me too.”
Her eyes narrow, and she stalks over to her side of the bed. “I am many things, Nick, but tempted by you is not one of them.” She slips in between the sheets and turns her back to me.
And because she knows exactly what she’s doing, she wiggles a little bit, causing the bottom hem of my T-shirt to ride up over the curve of her ass.
I stare for a second longer than I should before I roll onto my side, giving her my back in return. Reaching over to turn out the light, I plunge the room into darkness knowing there’s not a chance in hell I’m going to be getting any sleep tonight.
“Good night, Jess.”
“Night.”
I must be imagining it, but her voice sounds a little breathy, like it always used to when she was getting turned on.
But that’s the last thing I need to be thinking about.
So I close my eyes, wipe the vision of Jess’s glorious ass from my mind, and pretend to fall asleep.
Chapter Nine
Jess
I am fully prepared to be met with a sleepless night, and so I’m pleasantly surprised when I feel myself drifting off, the exhaustion and the stress pulling me under. The bed is cozy, and the heat of Nick warms my back, providing a comfort I don’t want to acknowledge.
Exhausted plus warm and cozy equals a fabulously deep sleep.
And even better dreams.
Many peaceful hours after climbing into bed, I feel myself drifting into the land of in-between, that moment when you’re almost awake but not quite there yet, and I fight against it, keeping my eyes firmly closed and my breaths even and deep.
Because this dream is too damn good to leave behind.
A pair of strong arms encircles me, anchoring me against the hard plane of a chest. Fingers sweep over the bare expanse of my thigh, winding around, brushing against the exposed curve of my butt, teasing at the hem of my underwear for a hint of a second before they slide back up, under the fabric of my T-shirt, over my belly. The fingers skimmy hip bones, somehow knowing the place where my hip and thigh meets is one of my favorite places to be touched. But the touch doesn’t linger, tracing up to swipe the undersides of my breasts.
Dream me groans, my ass shifting back. The hard length of him presses against me, and dream me lets out a soft gasp.
I lean into it, lean into him, grinding my ass against his rock-hard cock.
My mystery man lets out a groan of his own, burying his face in the crook of my neck. I turn my head and my nose fills with the scent of pine and juniper.
Pine and juniper…
It’s the familiar scent that yanks me out of the dream, thrusting me into the harsh reality where there will be no more thrusting and—ohmygod, was there really thrusting just now?
Somewhere in the space of the night, Nick managed to twine himself around me. I tell myself it was him, when I quickly realize we’re actually in the middle of the bed and it’s highly possible I’m the one who gravitated toward his warmth, toward the shirtless expanse of his chiseled chest.
But I refuse to believe even dream me would be so stupid.
