For once, I wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere.
I tilted my head slightly and looked at the man sleeping beside me. Even asleep, Thane looked unfairly attractive. His hair was a little messy. One side of his face was pressed into the pillow. The sharp edges that usually appeared whenever cameras or reporters were involved had disappeared completely.
This version of him belonged to nobody except himself.
And for reasons I was still trying to understand, that felt like a gift.
As though sensing my attention, his eyes opened. For a second, he looked disoriented. Then his gaze found mine. A smile spread slowly across his face. "Mornin’."
His voice sounded rough with sleep. The sound did ridiculous things to my pulse.
"Mornin’."
The smile remained.
"So you're just going to stare at me?"
"I was conducting important research again."
He twisted slightly and glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. "At seven in the morning?"
"I needed to make sure you were real."
A laugh rumbled from his chest. The vibration traveled through both of us. "That's your scientific method?"
"Worked, didn't it?"
He rolled toward me and slipped an arm around my waist. A second later, I was tucked against his chest as though he had only moved away long enough to confirm the time.
"Much better," he murmured.
I smiled against his skin. "What is?"
"This."
The easy teasing settled over us as naturally as breathing. It should have felt awkward waking up in somebody else's bed after only knowing them for a few days. Instead, it felt strangely familiar, as though we'd skipped past several steps without either of us noticing.
"I like waking up with you."
The honesty of the statement stole my next breath.
Before I could think of a response, his mouth found mine. At some point, I ended up sprawled across Thane's chest, one of his arms wrapped securely around my waist while the other traced slow, absentminded paths along my back. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat pulsed beneath my cheek. The room remained quiet except for the occasional hum of traffic somewhere beyond the windows.
A buzzing sound drifted faintly through the condo. Neither of us moved.
Another buzz followed a few seconds later. Still, nobody moved.
Thane's thumb continued its lazy path across my back. I kissed him again.
The buzzing stopped.
Problem solved.
A few moments later, another vibration echoed faintly from somewhere beyond the bedroom. Then another. And another.
I pulled back just enough to grin. "Someone’s famous?"
Thane groaned. The sound vibrated through his chest beneath me. "Unfortunately."
