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“That doesn’t seem right.”
“It’s fine.” Still, he didn’t much like the thought of her on the sofa either, which was okay for sitting, but too small and narrow for sleep.
He studied the loft, then dragged a chair over to where the ladder had been. He climbed onto the chair, braced his foot on a V-shaped support, and hauled himself upward.
“Sam!” Alarm heightened her voice, and she hurried toward him. “What are you doing?”
“I’ll toss the mattress and your stuff down.” He grasped the railing and pulled himself onto the platform. The bed was piled high with enough blankets and pillows, all shades of purple, pink, and blue, for five beds. He had a sudden, strikingly hot image of Brooke spread out naked over all those pillows, her long hair loose and her—
“Everything okay up there?” she called.
He cleared his throat. “What’s with all this crap?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Last time I was here, there were two plain white pillows and a blanket.”
“I brought my own bedding.” She sounded slightly defensive. “I like nesting.”
He had no idea whatnestingwas. “I’ll drop all this down.”
“I’ll catch the pillows.”
One by one, he tossed the pillows—many of them in various animal shapes—and blankets over the railing. She caught them and piled them onto the sofa. He dropped her travel bag down to her.
Brooke moved the coffee-table out of the way and backed up as he pushed the mattress over the edge. The queen-sized bed fell with a thud in front of the fireplace.
“Be careful.” She hurried over when he started to climb down from the loft, as if she were ready to return the favor by catching him if he fell.
It was kind of a cute instinct. Useless, but cute.
Then again, was there anything about Brooke Castle that wasn’tcute?
And was there anything about him that didn’t respond to her cuteness like a damned compass spinning north?
Which was irritating as all hell because he didn’t docute.
He swung himself to the floor, landing heavily on his feet.Get through the night. Then get out. Away from temptation.
He set up her mattress next to the sofa—far enough away from the fire to be safe, but close enough to feel the warmth.
“Thanks.” She hurried over to spread her multitude of blankets across the bed. “I should apologize for being cranky earlier.”
Thatwas her version of cranky?
“I just wasn’t expecting you, obviously,” she continued, “but I don’t know what I’d have done if you weren’t here.”
He frowned. She’d probably have gotten hurt. And with no cell signal—
Smothering a surge of unease, he retreated to the sofa and tried not to look at her as she bent over the bed, fluffing pillows and smoothing out the blankets. Too bad the image of her fuzzy pink pajamas stretching over her perfect ass was already etched on his mind with indelible ink.
After Brooke used the bathroom, she came back and tossed the covers aside. With all her pillows and blankets, it took her forever to get settled. The firelight glistened against her smooth, bare shoulders as she jostled around, plumping up animal-shaped pillows, arranging blankets over her legs, and wiggling into the mattress as if she were making a…well, anest.
“Here, you need some pillows, too.” She tossed him a couple of large pillows. “Feel free to use that purple blanket. It’s really warm.”
So was he.
“Good night.” Flipping her hair back, she turned and nestled her head against a fluffy blue cushion while hugging a bear-shaped pillow to her chest.
