Page 40 of Strictly the Worst

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she says. “I meant it’s your turn for the bed. I saw how achy you were again this morning.”

“It’s fine. I’m getting used to sleeping like I’m folded in two.” I take a sip of the cocktail to wash down the errant taco.

“No, I insist. You need to be on top form for dancing tomorrow night. I’ll take the sofa.”

“You’re not sleeping on the sofa,” I growl.

She tips her head to the side, the corner of her lip quirking. “Careful,” she says. “If you keep on like this I’m going to start thinking there’s a gentleman inside you.”

“I can categorically state there’s never been a gentleman inside me,” I tell her, lifting a brow.

“Is that a euphemism?” she asks.

I shrug. “Nope. And I’ll take the sofa.”

“We can share the bed.” She says it quickly. Enough for me to do a double take.

“What?” My brows pinch. I must have misheard her.

Her cheeks pink up adorably. “It’s a big bed. I tried to starfish in it last night but I still ended up almost falling out. I’m a compact sleeper.”

I pull my lip between my teeth, because I’m still not totally sure she’s serious. But I’m totally sure that sleeping in the same bed as Carmichael would be unwise.

Yes, I know she’s not into me. And at any other time I wouldn’t be into her either. But here, in Exuma, I feel like I’m finding out about the real her. You lose your inhibitions on vacation in a way you never do elsewhere.

And seeing Tessa without inhibitions is kind of enticing.

The thought of us being under the same covers, her warm body close to mine, makes my blood heat up.

“It’s not a good idea.”

“It’s that or I sleep on the sofa,” she tells me. “Take it or leave it.”

I run my finger around the rim of my cocktail glass. “It’s funny, because you’re more of a gentleman than I am.”

“I don’t think so,” she says, rolling her eyes. “I’m just sick of seeing you walking around like an old man every morning. We can build a pillow wall between us if you’d like.”

“A pillow wall?” I try not to smile. But she’s so fucking cute I’m not sure I can handle it. “You think that will keep me away from your side?”

“No. I trust you to stay on your side without a barrier,” she says, and it just about slays me. “The pillow wall would be there to make you feel better. Come on, let’s both get a couple of good nights sleep and then we can go home and pretend that none of this ever happened.

I pretend to muse her offer over. “It’s a deal,” I say.

“It is?”

I nod. “If you promise you’ll delete that fucking video, then yes.”

CHAPTER

TEN

TESSA

“Are you going to stand there all night?” I ask Linc. We’ve spent the evening working on the presentation, and I’m feeling so much more relaxed. He pretty much wrote the voiceover while I carried on editing the video and I’m starting to realize it’s not just his easy way of talking to people that’s made him get as far as he has in this business.

He’s astute. He understands people. He knows what makes them tick.

And in our world, that’s dynamite.

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