Page 42 of Crushed

“What?” she replied, clearly confused by the change of subject.

“Coffee. Do you drink it?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have to have it. Generally, I save it for the days when I’m feeling particularly exhausted.”

With any luck, we’d eventually get to a place where I could keep her up most of the night and coffee would be necessary in the morning. I didn’t care if she had it either way, but I definitely liked the idea of her being tired from a night of fun.

“Would you like some this morning?” I offered as I sat up and pushed the blanket back from my body.

I watched as Sawyer struggled to keep her eyes focused on my face. “Yeah,” she rasped. “Yeah, some coffee this morning would be nice.”

“I’ll make you some. Meet me downstairs whenever you’re ready.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

With that, I walked to the door, stopped, and looked back at her. When I did, something moved through my chest. The sight of Sawyer sitting in the middle of my bed was one that I wanted to see repeatedly.

The problem was going to be convincing her that she wanted it, too.

TEN

Sawyer

The moment I heard the doorbell ring, I bolted up off the couch and ran toward the front door.

This was it.

Finally.

I’d been on edge all day, wondering if this package was going to show up on time. Suffice it to say that I hadn’t been waiting very patiently, either.

I’d already spent two nights at Jesse’s house. Two nights in his bed. That meant I had two mornings of waking up to find that I couldn’t manage to keep myself away from him in the middle of the night.

God, it was mortifying.

There was nothing quite like making a guy promise he wouldn’t lay a finger on you and then winding up in his arms anyway.

I couldn’t do it any longer. That wasn’t because I didn’t actually like the way it felt to have my body pressed against his as he held me close. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I loved it.

I loved it so much, I wanted it for the rest of my life.

But since I knew that would never be an option, I had to make a change. I had to do something to give me back just a shred of control. As it was, I already felt like I was spiraling, because I couldn’t do much of anything.

Not only did Jesse not want me going anywhere by myself, but even if he didn’t care, it wasn’t as though I had anywhere I could go that might be fun. I was convinced I’d gotten lucky the day he’d taken me out for dinner. Surely, it was just pure chance that someone hadn’t recognized me.

So, this package arriving this afternoon was precisely what I needed. There was no way I was going to risk waking up wrapped in his arms again.

If only teenaged Sawyer could see me now. She would have risked everything for that. Sadly, thirty-year-old Sawyer knew better than to take risks. Experience had taught her the harsh lessons of the real world, and playing it safe was the way to go.

The best part about this package arriving right now was that Jesse had left about fifteen minutes ago. He wasn’t keen on leaving me by myself, even though the security at his house resembled something akin to Fort Knox. Jesse had needed to make a quick stop into Harper Security Ops today, and he practically begged me to go with him.

Thinking back on it now, I was extremely proud of myself for the way I stood up to him and demanded that he go on his own and allow me to stay at his place. Other than the fact that it would have been nice to get out of the house for a bit, I had no real interest in going with him. It would only serve to make all of the sexual tension I was feeling even worse.

Though he wasn’t happy about it, Jesse finally acquiesced. He was certainly disgruntled about it, but he gave me all the information I needed to know about the security system, and he gave me his cell number as well as his direct line at Harper Security.

I opened the door, bent down to pick up the package, and waved at the delivery driver who was nearly back to his truck.

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