AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The next thing he knew, he woke to a loud ripping sound and a rush of escaping air as the mattress sank around him. While he was lying there encased in deflated plastic, the connecting door opened and Cloe rushed in.
“Rome? Are you okay? What was that sound?”
“I’m fine. But I don’t think my mattress is.” He reached over the lump of plastic and turned off the compressor just as the overhead light came on. He squinted until his eyes focused.
Cloe stood over him with her hand over her mouth and her eyes twinkling with suppressed laughter. Rome figured he looked damn silly lying in a puddle of deflated plastic. A giggle escaped through her fingers. More giggles followed until she was holding her sides. He couldn’t help smiling. She looked damn cute in those clover pajamas with her braid and her eyes dancing as she gasped for breath.
“It’s just—that—you look—like a—swaddled—baby.”
“A swaddled baby? I feel more like a hot dog in a bun.”
She continued to laugh. “Peas—in—a—pod.”
He fought his way out of the plastic and sat up. “How can I be peas when I’m only one person. Now if you were to get in here with me, then we’d be peas in a pod.” She stopped laughing and he realized what he’d just said. “Not that I’m inviting you into my bed.”
Her smile returned. “I wouldn’t call that a bed.”
He laughed. “Good point. I guess I’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight.”
“You can’t sleep on the couch or you really will have a crick in your neck. And what about your father? He’ll think we had a fight.” Rome started to tell her his father knew why they had gotten married, but before he could, she continued. “You can sleep with me. Your bed is huge and it’s not like we haven’t slept together before.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned and headed back through the bathroom.
He got up with every intention of following her and telling her he wasn’t going to share a bed with her. But when he got into the room and found her snuggled under the covers just like she’d been snuggled in the blanket in the hayloft, with her braid spilling over the pillow and her green eyes innocent and direct, all the words he’d been going to say died a quick death.
He realized he wanted to climb into bed with her much more than he wanted to go downstairs and sleep on the couch.
It wasn’t sexual—he was too damn tired to think about sex. It was a deeper need. A need he’d pushed way down deep after Emily left. A need to sleep next to someone and listen to their breathing and know that he wasn’t alone.
Without a word, he walked back into his office and switched off the light before he returned and climbed into bed. She waited until he was tucked under the covers before she turned off the lamp. Once the room was pitch black, awkwardness set in. Maybe he should put a pillow between them. Just to keep them on their sides of the bed. She must have been thinking the same thing because a moment later he felt a pillow brush his arm.
“I could sleep with Casey,” he said.
“No. It’s fine.”
“Good, because he snores worse than you do.”
“I snore?”
“Only softly.”
Her voice held a smile. “How very unchivalrous of you.”
“Unchivalrous? Is that even a word?”
“Are you questioning a speech therapist?”
“Never.”
She giggled. “Well, you’re right. It’s not a word.”
He chuckled. He liked this mischievous side of Cloe. “Do you miss working with kids?”
“I do. I love everything about my job. I know what it’s like to have difficulty communicating. Seeing the look on a child’s face when they overcome their speech impediments is the most amazing feeling in the world. I applied today at Wilder Elementary. They don’t have an opening now, but they will in the fall.”
He turned on his side, but regretted it when he realized she was lying on her side facing him. Even with the pillow between them, it was intimate. But there was no way to roll back over without looking like a fool. So he ignored the scent of warm woman and tried to keep his mind on their conversation. “You’re planning on staying here?”
“I think it’s the right thing to do. Even if I stayed in College Station, I’d be transferring schools in the fall. And if I stay here after the divorce, Mimi won’t be so upset and disappointed with me.”
“Mimi won’t be disappointed with you. I think I’ve proven I’m the one no woman can live with.”
