Mia’s eyes widened as the true implications of that sunk in. She had slept the entire night here with Genevieve.

She had slept without nightmares.

That hardly ever happened. Maybe a couple of times a year. Was it a coincidence, or was it something to do with Genevieve? Mia remembered how safe and content she had felt falling asleep in Genevieve’s arms. It wouldn’t surprise her if that had something to do with it.

Mia would have to digest all that later. For now, she needed to think about more urgent issues—like what to do when Genevieve woke up.

Had Genevieve meant to fall asleep with her, or had it been a mistake on her part as well? How would she react when she woke up?

The last thing Mia wanted was to lose the once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity Genevieve was offering her. She didn’t know how Genevieve would feel waking up like this. What if it messed things up between them professionally?

Before Mia could go too far down that line of thought, Genevieve stirred. Mia felt her heartrate ratchet up. What was she going to do? Act cool and brush it off? Try to talk about it?

It was too late to come up with strategies now. Genevieve’s eyes fluttered open.

“Oh.” Her brow wrinkled adorably in confusion as she looked at Mia. “I guess we fell asleep.”

She didn’t seem upset, and the knot in Mia’s stomach loosened slightly. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”

Genevieve shrugged. “It’s understandable. Yesterday was… intense.” She grinned at Mia. “I’ve never had anything like that, to be honest.”

“Me neither,” Mia admitted. Her stomach rumbled. “Do you want some breakfast?”

“Sure.”

Mia was encouraged by how casually Genevieve was taking this. Perhaps all her panic earlier had been for nothing.

Genevieve followed her to the kitchen, and Mia started getting out stuff for French toast. She didn’t usually put this much effort into her breakfast, but she wanted to do something nice for Genevieve.

“So, how did you sleep?”

Mia hesitated but decided to be honest. “Really well, actually. Better than I’ve slept in a long time. I… I didn’t have any nightmares.”

“That’s great. Does that not happen often?”

“No, not often at all. It might have been a coincidence, but maybe not.”

“Well, we should try it again sometime.”

Mia ran these words through her head several times to be sure she was understanding right. “You mean the sleeping together, or…?” She trailed off. She couldn’t deny that the idea of being with Genevieve more—both for sex and for sleeping in each other’s arms—was enticing.

“Either. Both. Whatever you’d like.”

“Both,” Mia said at once. No way was she turning down an opportunity to get more nights without nightmares—and with steamy sex in the bargain? She’d be crazy to say no.

“Both, then,” Genevieve agreed.

Mia’s heart seemed to expand a little in her chest. She had a good feeling about this.

5

Genevieve

Genevieve had never meant to fall asleep with Mia, but she wasn’t exactly unhappy about it. More… antsy.

She liked the idea of taking this further with Mia, but she was also hesitant. Like Kate, Mia had past trauma, and Genevieve’s experiences with women who had past trauma were far from pleasant.

“Are you okay?”