Page 11 of Hold Me Until Morning

My heart swelled.

My sweet, sweet girl.

“I will,” I promised before I rose and crossed her room, flicked off her light, and crept back down the hall.

Lolly had already retreated to her room, the light glowing beneath the crack.

I edged toward mine that was on the other side of the house, through double doors on the opposite side of the kitchen.

I’d tried to give the primary to Lolly, but she’d insisted on taking the smaller room.

I stood in the doorway, taking it in. It had the same tile floors as the rest of the house, and the walls were painted a warm beige.

I had to have pulled ten muscles dragging the black fabric headboard in, but somehow, I’d managed, and now it was covered in a plush duvet that was a rich teal and embroidered with black lilies.

Unease wobbled through me, and I knew what had me trapped in that spot didn’t have a thing to do with the new room. It was the energy that swallowed me.

This feeling of compulsion.

Drawn to the window that looked out toward the side of the house.

Such a fool to give into it, but there I was, shuffling across the room as if I had a hook in my chest.

My breaths turned shallow as I pulled the drape back an inch to peer out, all covert and sneaky like some kind of creeper.

It was just as I’d suspected.

My window faced a matching one next door, the houses a mirror, though his curtains were open wide. A light burning from within illuminated his bedroom.

I somehow already knew he’d be there—on full display.

Still, a choked, strangled sound worked its way up my throat.

The man was fresh from a shower, everything bare, except for the towel that was wrapped low around his waist.

Hair damp and dark brown, longer than I’d realized, soft waves curling over his ears.

He moved to a dresser across the room, and his chiseled back was to me as he pulled something out.

Ink littered his flesh, though I was too far away to be able to discern any of the words or shapes. But I thought I would have been able to make out every carved, hewn muscle of his enormous body from a mile away.

Desire climbed out from the place where she’d been dormant, tugging at my belly in a way that made me feel sick.

And I wondered if he knew, if he could feel me, too, when he turned and waltzed all kinds of casual across his room, roughing a giant hand through the wet locks of his hair as he came, nonchalant even though each step felt profound.

An earthquake.

As powerful as the storm that continued to pound.

Because I swore, he smirked before he reached out and quickly dragged the curtains shut.

My teeth ground.

Cocky. Freaking. Cowboy.

I forced myself away from the window, climbed under the covers, and pulled them up to my chin. My eyes squeezed closed, and I whispered around the knot of sadness that suddenly pulsed in my chest, “Brooke…what am I supposed to do?”

THREE

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