Page 31 of Fire

“Never? Even though you keep such late hours?”

“I don’t need much sleep.”

“I love sleep.”

He chuckled and the vibration from it ran down her back. “Then why aren’t you sleeping now?”

Good question. Usually on a Sunday morning, she lazed in bed until her bladder couldn’t stand it a second longer. And even then, she would crawl back in bed to read. But she was wide awake and full of energy. “What do you usually do Sunday mornings?”

“What I do every morning. Workout for a couple hours then head over to the club.”

“You workout every morning? At a gym?” She didn’t know why that surprised her when she could feel the proof of his efforts surrounding her.

“I have a home gym.”

“And you go to work every day?”

“Mm-hmm,” he mumbled into the back of her head.

“It must be hard running your own business.”

“Not so much hard as time-consuming. I could delegate, but I like to be in control of all aspects.”

Nowthatshe didn’t find surprising. “Are you going in today?”

“No, I want to spend the day with you. I’ll call my manager and have him fill in. I won’t go in until tonight.” His hand moved under the hem of her tee to land on the material of her pants that covered her lower stomach. “I was hoping you’d come with me. I’d have to work most of the time, but I’d still like you there.”

His fingers stroked the sensitive skin right above her waistband, and she’d never been more aware of a person’s hand before. “I’d like that.”

“Good.” He sounded pleased by her response, and she smiled, knowing she’d made him happy.

And then she thought of something. “Oh, can Allie come? She’d never forgive me if I didn’t invite her.”

“As long as she can fend for herself when I want you to myself, she’s welcome anytime.”

Gwen secretly smiled at his answer. “She’ll have no problem with that. Allie can be the life of her own party.”

“Good.” His hand pressed against her stomach, and she discovered something embarrassingly awkward. She had to pee.

“I need to get up.” She tried to scoot out of his hold.

Unfortunately, that had his hand pressing tighter. “I like you where you are.” His voice was still sleepy-gruff and sounded even better so close to her ear.

She lay there for a second but the more she thought about it, the more she had to go. “Ireallyneed to get up.”

He must have gotten the hint or sensed her urgency, because he raised his arm, freeing her. She rolled, catching a glimpse of his relaxed features.

And froze.

Holy crap, he looked sexy first thing in the morning. His hair, which was always combed back, fell over his forehead, giving him a slightly boyish unkempt appearance that was totally irresistible. The five o’clock shadow he usually sported had grown thicker overnight and surrounded lips that were… smirking.

Her eyes shot up to his. If they’d been closed before, they were now at half-mast, watching her. And even half closed, she saw his amusement. “I thought you needed to get up.”

“I did. I mean, I do.” She buried her face in the bed and groaned.

The jerk in the bed next to her chuckled.

Not wanting to embarrass herself further, she exited the bed as gracefully as possible with her legs tangled in the sheets and made a beeline for the bathroom. Shutting the door, she lifted the lid on the toilet when an even more embarrassing thought occurred. He would hear. She turned on the sink faucet full blast and took care of business.

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