"What are you doing?" I asked.
"You didn't like the setup, said it was distracting."
I actually saidhewas distracting.
But now was not the time to argue semantics.
Tolliver arched a brow. "How else do you expect me to turn the pages?"
The truth was I'd never considered the logistics. But I was certainly thinking about them now. Tolliver's breath ghosted against the side of my neck as he said, "All good?"
I fought back a shiver. "Yep."
But it wasn't all good. I was so aware of Tolliver it took me nearly double the time that it usually would to read those first couple pages.
"Turn," I said.
Tolliver's long fingers moved the paper with ease, and I couldn't help but notice how strong his hands looked.
Focusing back on the story, I forced myself to pay attention. It took me a second, but eventually, I got lost in the romance as I always did. Tolliver's distracting hands were still there, but the story was getting good. It wasn't until I said, "Page," and he said, "One sec. I'm not done," that I came back to myself.
Suddenly, I realized how close we were, how he was stretching his neck to scan the words. The position did not look comfortable. At all. In fact, if he kept trying to read like that, I knew he would pull something. Hoping to avoid injury, I said, "Hey, why don't you just sit behind me?"
Tolliver shrugged then flipped the page. "I'm good here."
Rolling my eyes, I got up and directed him, "You sit against the headboard. It will be more comfortable. Trust me, I do this a lot."
"You sure you're okay with that?"
"I suggested it, didn't I?" I said.
With a quiet laugh, Tolliver settled against the pillows then looked at me with a brow raised. "This better?"
"Much."
"Okay, but where are you going to sit?"
Without thinking about it, I took a deep breath and lowered myself so I was seated once more. Only this time, I was sitting between Tolliver's legs. I could see one long thigh on either side of me as I raised the book again, wondering,What the heck were you thinking? This is so much worse.
My back was ramrod straight, my voice all business, as I asked, "You okay?"
"Yeah," Tolliver said. "Areyou?"
I nodded.
I read a couple of paragraphs before Tolliver said, "You can't possibly be comfortable."
"What?" I scoffed. "Of course, I am."
"No offense, Freya. But you look stiff as a board."
Because I was.
"Your back will hurt if you keep sitting like that," he added.
"As much as I love hearing your unprofessional medical opinion, I'm trying to read here."
"Alright," he said, "but you can lean back. I won't bite, you know?"
