Page 63 of Forbid It

His chocolate eyes flick to mine, his tongue flicking against his bottom lip. “What?”

I swallow, unable to tear my gaze away from his lips.

“I just mean—” I blink, stepping away from him, his hand slowly dropping from mine. “You can sleep on the floor. I feel bad enough for taking you away from your bed, the least I can do is share some of that sweet, sweet cool air.”

His eyes stay locked on mine as he nods. The moment feels electric, adrenaline buzzing underneath my skin.

“Okay,” he says.

I turn and head back towards the stairs. Robbie ducks back into the sitting room, and I’m glad. I don’t know what I would have done if he followed me up the stairs, my ass in these tiny pajamas waving in his face with every step.

My skin is already flushed, sweat beading behind my neck and at the base of my spine, but the unmistakable wetness between my thighs is proof that this is a terrible idea. I should go back down and tell him I changed my mind, but I keep the door ajar as I climb back into bed. From my vantage point, I can just about make out his shadow in the hallway as he climbs the stairs. He pauses at the top for a few seconds, and I hold my breath. He’s going to turn around. He’ll realize this is a terrible idea, and we’ll forget it ever happened.

But then the door slowly opens, and Robbie stands there, a pillow under one arm and his sports shorts back on his hips.

I briefly mourn the loss of his tight boxers, but his shorts are so short they’re basically covering the same surface area, gently curving around his muscular thighs and dragging my gaze to the one place I should not be looking.

I sit up in bed and focus on angling the fan towards the floor where I assume he’ll be pitching up.

Silently, he drops to his knees at the foot of the bed, and I turn my attention to the thin sheet covering my body as I cross my legs, a wave of arousal pooling between my thighs.

I inhale a shaky breath between my parted lips, willing my body to cool down. I’m burning up and not just from the heat in the room.

“Goodnight,” Robbie says through the darkness. I can only just make out the line of his shoulders at the bottom of the bed, bathed in moonlight through the half-opened curtains.

“Goodnight,” I reply. I tug the sheet higher up my body, trying to ignore the man less than two feet away from me.

I close my eyes and try to quiet my mind. Think sleepy thoughts, Cassie. Sleepy thoughts, sleepy thoughts…Did he look at my boobs earlier? He must have. I accidentally flashed him. Why did he put his shorts on?

Stop thinking! Sleepy thoughts, sleepy thoughts.

Was that a creak? Is he getting up? Is he moving?

What if he climbs in beside me?

My heart leaps at the thought. He could slide the cover down, so, so slowly. Baring me to him. He could run his fingers across my flushed skin, drifting further and further down.

Another creak followed by a groan causes my eyes to snap open. Before I can think twice, I’ve raised onto my elbows. Robbie is shifting in place. The carpet in this room is thin, and all he has is a pillow and a thin sheet.

“Robbie,” I whisper.

“Hmm?” he replies, his voice thick and sleepy.

“Are you comfortable?”

A pause. “Yes,” he says in a tone that proves he’s anything but.

I shuffle to the right side of the bed. “Get in.”

I don’t dare look at him. I can’t bear the thought of him rejecting me again.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “I don’t move much in my sleep. You won’t even know I’m here.”

I can hear him as he slowly climbs to his feet. “That’s not what I’m worried about, trouble.”

I let my eyes flutter shut and take an even breath. It’s fine. I can lie here and not touch him.