Page 68 of The Ruse

I mean, they did this kind of thing in the movies all the time. A guy and a girl who didn’t know each other very well would get stranded somewhere together overnight. They would search and search for a place to sleep, only to find a run-down hotel to shelter in for the night.

They would request a room with two beds, of course, since they were basically strangers and most definitely didn’t have romantic feelings for each other whatsoever. But when they got to their room—the very last room that the hotel had available—they would find that it only had one bed.

They’d stare awkwardly at the small bed for a moment, look at each other, then back at the bed, which would seem to get smaller and smaller the more that they stared at it.

And then the guy would graciously offer to sleep on the floor. Because even though there was an undercurrent of sparks flying between the two, deep down under his rough exterior, the guy was a gentleman. And offering to sleep on the floor was what gentlemen did.

Sure, we were in a cabin, and there were about fifteen other beds to choose from, but I figured the same rules would apply.

So while Asher shut the bedroom door and turned the lock as a safety precaution, I pulled the covers back on the left side of the bed and climbed in.

“That’s the side you’re taking?” Asher asked after turning around.

“Yes,” I said with a frown, wondering why he was asking. “But you’re sleeping on the floor, right?”

He scrunched up his nose. “Why would I want to sleep on the cold, hard floor when there’s a perfectly good bed in front of me?”

“Well, because…” I started, trying to figure out how to say it.

“Because that’s what they do in the movies?” He arched a dark eyebrow.

“Well, yes,” I said, somewhat embarrassed since that was exactly what I’d been thinking about earlier.

He walked around to the other side of the bed and pulled the covers back. “Sorry to burst your bubble. But I’m notthatmuch of a gentleman.”

My eyes widened as he started to sit down like he was actually planning to share the bed with me.

“Are you really going to sleep in the same bed as me?” I gulped.

He swiveled to face me. “Unless you want me to go back downstairs.”

“No!” I shrieked. I didn’t want him to go back downstairs. “I, um, it’s okay. Yeah, you can sleep in here, I guess.”

I trusted him. Even if I’d waffled back and forth a lot on whether I should feel safe around him, deep down I believed he was a good guy.

He simply wanted to be comfortable while he slept.

“Good.” He climbed under the covers.

After hesitating for a second, I reached for the light switch on the wall beside the headboard, plunging the room in darkness.

We each shifted around in the dark to get comfortable. And I was ready to bolt if he tried to move onto my side of the bed. But even if he’d said he wasn’t that much of a gentleman, he didn’t move to cross the invisible barrier going down the center of the bed.

This would be fine.

We both would have enough space, and he would be close by if any danger came knocking on the door.

It was actually kind of nice in here. The room wasn’t super big—it barely fit the king-sized bed, two nightstands, and a dresser—but it was a calming space. And the moonlight streaming through a break in the curtains was pretty. The sky was brighter tonight, thanks to the blanket of clouds hovering above us.

I lowered my hands from where they’d been crossed over my chest like a mummy and let them drop to my sides. Asher must have been moving at the same time, though, because as my left hand touched the mattress, my fingers accidentally brushed against his.

“Sorry!” I said at the same time Asher said, “Uh, my bad.”

And we both yanked our hands away from the center of the bed.

He cleared his throat. “I take it this is your first time sharing a bed with a guy.”

Is it that obvious?“Umm…”

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