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“Yeah. Just tired. It’s been a long week,” she lied, because she was far from being anywhere close to okay. “C’mon, girls. It’s time for bed.”
As she rose from the sofa, Chace snagged her wrist. “You go on downstairs, and I’ll take care of the twins.”
She didn’t argue with him. What was the point? Besides, if she hurried, she could be in bed feigning sleep by the time he got Emme and Wren settled for the night. She needed time to think before answering the questions she knew he had.
Holly had just snapped off the bedside lamp and snuggled beneath the covers when Chace walked into the room. Laying perfectly still, she hardly dared to breathe as Chace removed his clothes and got into bed. From what she could tell without looking, he was lying on his back, probably staring at the ceiling and wondering what the hell had happened when all they’d done was watch a fricking movie.
She had no idea how long they lay there listening to each other breathe. Then again, maybe he had actually fallen asleep. No, Holly dismissed that idea as soon as it entered her mind. Chace slept better on his stomach, sometimes on his side, preferably with his body curled around hers.
Dammit! Holly figuratively thumped the pillow beneath her head. She didn’t need to think about Chace spooning her. The warmth of his breath tickling her neck. The musky, all-male, purely Chace scent teasing her nose. The prickly hair on his legs against hers. The weight of his arm around her waist, holding her close.
No, those memories playing on a continuous loop in her brain were the last thing she needed if she was ever going to fall asleep.
Yeah.Like that even has a remote possibility of happening while the heat from his big, strong, beautiful body lights an inferno in your soul.
The mattress shifted as he rolled onto his side. Was he facing her? Or the wall?
“How long are we just gonna lie here suffering in silence, Holly?”
She should have known he wouldn’t leave well enough alone. “Can’t we just try to go to sleep, Chace? Please.”
Again, the mattress shifted, and she suspected he was propped on his elbow, staring at her back. Willing her to turn around. “I don’t think I can do that.”
“Then maybe we should sleep in separate rooms tonight.”
“Or maybe you should just tell me what the fuck happened upstairs when all we were doing was eating some damned popcorn and watching a movie we’ve seen so many times we can recite the lines right along with the actors?”
Sighing, Holly adjusted her pillow unnecessarily. “I told you I was tired.”
“Then why aren’t you asleep?”
“Because you won’t let me.”
“Bullshit.” The mattress dipped as he moved again.
“What are you doing?” Holly rolled over to find out. She found him sitting with his back against the headboard, wearing only a T-shirt and boxer briefs. His legs were bent, his forearms resting atop his knees.
Holly lifted her gaze upward. His lips were pressed together in a flat line, his eyes shadowed and dark. A muscle ticked in his tightly clenched jaw. And his hair looked like he’d plowed his fingers through it about a million times.
He probably had.
For the next few moments, Chace just stared at her, his eyes never wavering. Holly couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking, but she wouldn’t ask.
Or maybe the better answer was that she couldn’t.
“Is it because Lyss and Sean will be coming home soon?”
“Somewhat.” There was no point denying it.
“What does that mean?”
Holly mirrored Chace’s position on her side of the bed. “Earlier, I realized we agreed to give ourselves a second chance in a world that doesn’t even exist. Not for us, anyway. In the real world, this is your sister’s home, not yours or mine. Emme and Wren are Sean and Lyss’s children, not ours. Basically, we’re playing house in a perfect world for a finite period of time. Even Hickory Ridge is playing dress-up for the next few weeks.
“But like inCinderella, the clock will strike midnight at some point. Lyss and Sean will come home. I’ll return to my townhouse; you’ll go back to your place. Decorations will be packed away, and trees will come down. The streets of Hickory Ridge will be restored to their non-holiday charm and quaint ambiance. I’ll get settled into the second semester at school. And you’ll get your next SSI assignment.”
“Essentially, what you’re saying is this all comes right back to my job and the dangers associated with it.”
Holly averted her gaze.
