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My dog whined and gave me the most pitiful look.
I sighed. “Fine. Lay.” I gestured to the bottom of the bed near our feet.
Pongo panted and curled into a ball at the foot of the bed.
I kissed the top of Sophia’s head and burrowed back into my pillows, happy and content.
* * *
I was crazy hot. Like inferno hot.
I kicked at the duvet cover binding my legs then jerked to a stop when someone murmured something and curled into me.
Sophia.
She’d fallen asleep on me.
I smiled. Instead of feeling frustrated over my still blue balls, I felt…content. I mean, my balls were still blue and uncomfortable. But holding Sophia in my arms, being able to wake up with her was everything.
And so fucking confusing.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d clicked like this with a woman. Everything was just so mellow and easy. Where was the drama? The fight over attention? Was I getting the real Sophia or was this all just a show?
I stared down at the innocent sleeping woman currently playing the small spoon role. Sophia hadn’t really asked for anything. Hell, I hadn’t even gotten around to fulfilling any part of my end of our bargain yet. I hadn’t introduced her to a single agent or writer or insider. And she hadn’t hassled me about any of it. When did I turn into such a suspicious asshole?
I slipped out of bed, despite the gorgeous woman snuggled under my sheets. I needed to get my head on straight before she woke up, and I said something that firmly planted my size eleven in my mouth.
After two hours of torture with Kevin—I swore he somehow knew about my late-night burger and was doing everything he could to make me regret it—I dragged my aching body inside to grab a second breakfast before showering. But I froze at the scene in front of me.
Jeff and Sophia sat at the kitchen island, that damn black ring box on the counter in front of them.
Son of a bitch.
I’d never got around to texting Jeff that I’d changed my mind about the engagement.
“Uh…” My brain froze. I couldn’t think of a single word to say.
“Oh hey.” Jeff grinned at me, cheerful despite the early hour and the almost visible tension swirling around the room. “I was just filling Sophia in on your little plan. You wanted her wearing the ring when we show up to the lot today, right?”
“I-I-I…” I closed my eyes with a hiss. More than anything, I wanted to lash out at Jeff for putting me in this fucking position. But that wouldn’t be right. This was all my own fault. Dammit. “You mind giving us a minute, Jeff?”
“Uh, sure. No problem.” Jeff’s eyes darted between me and Sophia’s pale profile as she was avoiding looking at both of us. “I’ll just go see if Kevin needs any help packing up. But we gotta leave for the studio in forty-five minutes.”
I waited for the click of the door behind him before I turned and faced Sophia. Just in time to watch a tear trail down her cheek.
She swiped it away without looking at me still.
I felt like the biggest asshole in the world. “I didn’t have a chance to tell Jeff that I changed my mind about the ring.”
Sophia made this sound halfway between a laugh and a sob that just about broke my heart. “Considering he told me you bought this ring yesterdayafterwe’d already slept together, I’m gonna have to call bullshit on that one.”
She shoved at the ring box in front of her, sending it tumbling across the counter toward me, but I was already rounding the island to her.
“No. You’re right. I did buy the ring yesterday, but I swear I wasn’t—I’m not—going forward with the plan.” I picked up the box and tossed it somewhere over my shoulder. “It’s not fucking important. It was a rash decision made when I was just so damn frustrated. Jeff showed me the headlines from the fallout from the funeral, and I was trying to come up with something to help King out. But I was wrong. We’re not doing it. Fuck the ring and the press and the whole plan.”
“Really?” Sophia finally looked up at me and the pain in her eyes almost broke me.
“Yes.” I stepped between her knees and cupped her face in my hands. “I still can’t get what you said after we slept together out of my head—that you felt dirty. I did that. I blurred the lines between us with the agreement, and I can’t keep blowing your world up to take the heat off King. He’s a grown man who’s been doing this a lot longer than me. He can take care of himself.”
