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Exhaustion was starting to weigh on him too. Caden pulled her back into his arms, and her head came to rest on his chest. He pulled the sheet up over her back while pushing the blanket aside. His body heat would keep her warm enough without it. “Yeah,” he confirmed, when she was settled against him and he had his arms wrapped around her. “I’ve wanted you since the first minute I met you.”
“You should probably know then, I’m really bad at sex,” she said sleepily.
Caden almost laughed out loud until the severity of those words hit him like a brick of ice. There was no way this soft and beautiful woman was bad at anything, and definitely not sex. She might not have had good sex, or perhaps, she hadn’t been with someone who could show her how great sex could be, but those words coming out of her mouth made absolutely no sense. And it pissed him off that someone had gone out of their way to make her feel like that.
Chapter 20
Hallie couldn’t believe she’d let that admission slip out, but she didn’t want Caden expecting something amazing she’d never be able to deliver.
“That’s not possible,” Caden said, his voice low and tempered.
“It’s true.”
Caden’s arm tightened around her, and she didn’t miss the way his breathing slightly changed. Was he angry? Did he regret coming home with her?
“Who told you that?”
When Hallie didn’t answer right away, he turned until his steel gray eyes bore into her with a perfect mix of concern and annoyance. “Hallie?” Caden pressed. “Who told you that?”
“Finn,” she whispered. “He always told me how bad I was at it.”
“The zinger guy?” Caden asked, his fingers gently brushing up and down her back over the sheet. “And you believed him?”
Hallie shrugged. “He was only the second guy I’ve ever been with and I never -”
“You never came or got any pleasure from it, and of course he blamed you. What a jackass.” He waited a long moment, then said, “Okay. Not tonight. Not like this. Give me a little time.”
“To do what?” She asked.
“To date you. To do it right. To show you just how good you are. How desirable you are. And how pleasurable and amazing sex can be.” He kissed her temple. “Now, please, sleep.”
Hallie smiled. How did Caden always know the exact right words to say? She had no idea, but if he kept it up, she’d be a puddle at his feet. Heck, who was she kidding? She already was. Her thoughts made her fidgety as heat pooled in her core.
“Sleep.” He ordered. He was so bossy sometimes, but even that made her smile. She fell asleep soon after, thinking about what sex with Caden would be like, the stupid glimpse of the fire all but forgotten.
***
Hallie woke to blinding sunlight and with a huge smile, but when she rolled over, the bed beside her was empty. Her heart sank and she pulled the covers over her head. Caden had left, or maybe last night had all just been a dream.
“None of that now, rise and shine, sleepy head. I made pancakes.”
Hallie threw the covers off and sat up at the sound of Caden’s voice. He stood at the foot of her bed, wearing her apron over his sweats and t-shirt, holding a spatula, and looking like he’d just come off a show called Hot Chef.
“Pancakes?” She asked, with all the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning.
“Yes. You like pancakes, right?”
“Are you kidding? They’re my favorite.” She leaped out of bed and flew into his arms. He caught her with an ‘oomph’ and held her there for a long moment. “I can never get them just right. They always come out either too greasy or burnt.”
“It’s your pan,” he said. “It heats up too fast, but I think I figured it out.”
“Awesome. I’ll make us some coffee.” Hallie quickly went into the bathroom to put her hair up in a messy bun and brush her teeth before heading back into the kitchen. “I just got this new vanilla caramel creamer. It’s so good, and it makes almost any coffee grounds taste amazing.”
“Sounds good.” He pulled her in for a kiss, then nuzzled her neck before letting go. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Yeah, no glimpses or anything. It was great. I mean except for that one last night, but it doesn’t matter. All I saw were the flames. Not even the structure or anything really. Let’s not talk about it, okay?”
Caden nodded and kissed her forehead before returning to tend to the pancakes. “So, what did you want to do today? I mean it is Saturday, and we can spend as much of the day together as you want.”
