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I knew Martin was deliberately attempting to get under my skin. I would not bite. Icouldnot bite. But damned if I didn't want to knock that smug expression off my cousin's face.
Across the table, Martin's parents chatted amicably with Alex. And interestingly enough, not one of them commented on the fact that she wasn't the usual socialite blonde that they would've expected. Thank God for small favors. Although, my aunt and uncle did occasionally toss out some privileged comment about who would dare send their child to public school and how boarding school was really best for children. Alex just ignored their pretentiousness.
My other cousins, Jason and Mack, wouldn't be in town until tomorrow, so at least tonight's dinner was a small group. I didn't have to pretend for too many people.
I was so good at putting on the show, depending on what was needed for the time. In particular with my family, I deliberately put on that air that indicated I wasn’t fazed. I was good at that one. I'd been practicing it for years. And I was exactly who they needed me to be. The loser underdog.
Which was fine by me because my boutique hotel was already in the black. I was already proving them wrong. Just by existing. Just by having tried and not crumbling under the pressure.
After the dinner plates were cleared, Scotch was passed around along with the bread pudding, Alex yawned next to me and covered what she could, but my grandmother was quick to notice. "Alex, honey, you look exhausted. Given that you and Jensen were traveling from San Diego, then had to contend with the traffic and the ferry, why don't you two get up to bed. I'm headed in that direction myself. Doctor's orders and all that. Can you imagine she told me I need to be in bed by nine every night?" Grandma Lucy shook her head.
Alex laughed. "Yeah, with this gallery opening, I've been burning the candle at both ends. I need to do some hard-core relaxing.”
Martin was there with a comeback. "I can help you relax." And just when I was about to stand and knock him flat on his ass, he added, "There’s a lot of sightseeing to do on the island, all very chill. I can make sure you have the best tour of the city." He flashed me a grin. The jerk was doing it on purpose.
With our good nights said, I had no option but to follow Alex up the stairs. The staircase wound from the south around to the east in a gentle curve until we reached the top. With every step Alex took, her heels clacked against the granite. It was funny; I'd never imagined myself coming home, and never with Alex. But somehow we both looked like we belonged. Usually Alex was in something casual, but in her classic A-line dress and her stilettos, she looked the part.
More than you do.
I shoved that errant thought to the back of my head. I didn't have time for that right now. Right now, I needed to figure out how I was going to sleep in the same room as Alex for several daysandkeep my hands to myself.
This should all have been easy. But instead, we were facing the dilemma of,hey where can we sleep?If I didn't know better, I would've sworn my grandmother did this on purpose.
When we reached the threshold, Alex put her hand on my arm. "Look, before you start saying crazy things and offering to sleep sitting up on the chair or on the hard floor, we'll just share the bed, okay?”
My dick twitched as if to say,Hell yes, I'm so down with that plan.I cleared my throat. "I'm not sure that's the best idea."
Alex's brows furrowed. "Why not? We’ve passed out on the couch together a hundred times. This is no different. It's totally fine. Unless of course you sleep naked?"
Yes, that was one problem. I usually did sleep naked. But I could toss on pajama bottoms. Although, what if I couldn't resist giving into that crackle between us? "Why? Do you want me to sleep naked?"
Even under the soft brown of her skin, I saw her cheeks flush pink. "I— You can sleep how you like, but I'm sure me sleeping naked would only makeyouuncomfortable. So I’ll ask you not to do the same."
She was right. The idea of her sleeping naked made me all kinds of uncomfortable… in my jeans. "Relax, I'm teasing. You're right. We've done this dozens of times. This is no big deal. Get ready for bed and hit the sack. I swear, I am capable of being a perfect gentleman."
There was something in her eyes that told me she wanted to ask me something or tell me something maybe. But as quickly as it appeared it was gone again. As she was headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth, my stomach fisted then loosened and then fisted again. And heaven help me, my hands twitched a little.
I changed quickly for bed, shucking my clothes and tossing on some pajama bottoms. I was always too hot and liked to sleep with the window open, but I knew that Alex was almost always too cold. So the best I could compromise was to sleep with my shirt off, at least regulate my body temperature a little bit. When she came out of the bathroom she was humming, but she stopped short when she took one look at me. "Where's your T-shirt?"
"I get too hot, remember?"
Alex opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again. Then she tried one more time, but I got the same guppy routine.
"Something you want to say, Alex?" Even as the question rolled off my tongue, my dick stirred, and I ground my teeth to keep from groaning. I needed to get to the bathroom quickly before she noticed what was happening south of my waistband. "I'm just going to go brush my teeth."
"Yeah, you do that."
As I locked myself in the bathroom, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. How in the world was I going to make it through the night sleeping next to her? I was terrified my own inappropriate thoughts were going to soon turn into questionable actions. And Alex was too important to me for that.
Chapter10
ALEX
I sank deeperinto the warmth. When was the last time I'd slept like this? I was usually on the go so much that it wasn't uncommon for me to get about five maybe six hours of sleep a night. Especially when I was prepping for something like a gallery opening or showing.
I nuzzled further into the warmth then froze as one of my hands encountered something hard and hot. Oh no.Jensen. My first instinct was to jump back and pretend the breach hadn't happened. The thing was I knew my hand had encountered abs. Rock-hard abs. And yes, I'd seen him shirtless dozens of times. It never lost its impact though. He was beautiful. And he knew it.
Last night when we'd gone to bed, I picked a spot on the ceiling and focused on that, willing sleep to come. Because if I hadn't done that, I would've stared.
