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He yawned hugely, apparently catching himself by surprise. “Sorry,” he said. “I don’t want to be rude.” He ran both hands through his hair. “I promise I’ll be better company tomorrow.”
It was a prosaic statement. He didn’t mean anything by it. But heat coiled in the pit of Laney’s stomach. “No worries. It’s getting late anyway.” She backed toward the door, still holding the dumb reindeer. “It’s good to see you,” she said quietly. She hadn’t intended to say that, but the words slipped out. She wouldn’t take them back, even if she could. Because they were true. “Good night, Brit.”
His stubbled jaw made him look rakish and dangerous. Just the thing for a movie hero, but not at all what a small-town woman needed.
He gave her a sweet smile that took the starch out of her knees. “Good night, Laney. Sweet dreams.”
Sweet dreams. Ha. Fat chance. Laney tossed and turned for an hour. Mid-March was that awkward season when it was warm enough not to need heat, but it felt too early to use the A/C. Consequently, the bedroom was stuffy.
Ordinarily, she never slept with her windows open because her bedroom was at street level. Blossom Branch was a safe town in general, but bad things still happened. Tonight, though, she had a big strong man to keep her from harm.
At 1:00 a.m., she gave up and raised the heavy sash. Crisp, cool air filtered in immediately, scented with hyacinths. When she climbed back into bed, she fell asleep almost instantly.
Sometime later—it was hard to say how much time had passed—she jerked awake, roused from deep sleep by a noise she couldn’t place. Adrenaline raced through her veins, making her weak and shaky. And then she recalled. Brit was here.
Surely, what she heard was not an intruder. Likely, her guest had gotten up for a drink of water or to use the facilities.
It felt decidedly odd to know that a man might be wandering around her small house. Not just any man, but an all-grown-up version of the boy she had loved as a girl. And if she were brutally honest, the one guy she still wanted.
She lay quiet and still for long minutes, listening. And then it came again. The loud creak of a floorboard. The sound of human movement.
Though she didn’t really think she had anything to worry about when it came to sinister activity in the middle of the night, she couldn’t go back to sleep without checking on Brit. Never mind that he was a grown man who had traveled the world and knew how to handle himself in all sorts of situations.
She had to know for sure.
Her sheer-white cotton nighty reached a respectable length above her knees. If she tossed a pink satin robe over it, her modesty would be assured.
Knotting the belt tightly, she eased open her door and peeked into the hall. Brit’s door was closed, but from the direction of the living room, she saw a light. She found him sprawled on her sofa, remote in hand, channel surfing with the sound on mute.
She nearly had a fit of the vapors when she saw he was nude from the waist up. Heather-gray sleep pants clung to his body in interesting ways. If she were smart, she would tiptoe backward into the hall and keep her distance. But she was tired of making boring choices.
Brit grimaced when he saw her. “Sorry, Laney. I slept for three hours and then was wide awake. It’s midafternoon in Singapore right now. With the long flight, I’m all jacked up. I was hoping I wouldn’t wake you.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I’m just glad you’re not a burglar.” She smiled when she said it, to let him know she was joking.
Brit frowned instead. He sat up, making his abs ripple in mesmerizing fashion. “You don’t have a security system?” His tone was incredulous.
Laney counted to ten. “Security systems are very expensive.”
To his credit, he backed down. “Sorry,” he muttered.
She sat in the chair closest to the sofa, unable to resist the urge to be near him. “What can I do to help you sleep?”
Two
Brit sucked in a breath before realizing that Laney wasn’t flirting. Good lord. Had he become so accustomed to women throwing themselves at him that he had forgotten the real world? He cleared his throat, hoping his boner was disguised.
“I don’t know that anything will help at this point. It usually takes me a few days to adjust. I’ll be fine.”
He took her in with a hungry gaze, feeling the best he had in months. Laney’s tousled hair was a silky, streaky blond mess around her shoulders. The layers of caramel and gold were natural. He knew, because the color had been that way since she was a kid.
They had known each other on and off since first or second grade, though he hadn’tnoticedher in a sexual way until they were juniors in high school. His dad had kept him involved in multiple sports, probably to sublimate the urges of a hormonal adolescent boy. But Brit had noticed plenty.
Laney was tall, though not skinny. Her curves matched the sensual gleam in her gray eyes. He used to think he could read her mood by those eyes. Stormy when she was pissed with him. Cloudy and serene when she melted into his arms.
No matter where he went in the world, the memory of Laney’s eyes stayed with him.
She had matured into a beautiful woman with a kick-ass body. Right now, her long legs were on display, no matter how much she tugged at the hem of her sexy robe.
