Page 43 of Sparks Flying

“I know you don’t want anyone else to find out about us. I’ll try my best to respect that, but I have a feeling I’m going to need to see you.”

“I have to report back to work first thing in the morning.”

“I know. I have things I have to do, too.”

“I don’t want to think about that right now,” I admitted.

“Maybe we should try getting to know each other better. Tell me about this friend of yours.”

“Oscar? He’s the best. . .”

For the next few hours, we stayed up talking about anything and everything, until I could no longer keep my eyes open and I drifted off to sleep.

Dean

Chapter 11

As I awoke, it took me a few minutes to get my bearings straight.

When I opened my eyes and saw Bailey sleeping peacefully in bed, it all came crashing back to me.

I took a quick physical check. My head wasn’t hurting, but I had a terrible crick in my neck from sleeping on the chair in her motel room.

My mate,I thought as I stared at her.

She was young and inexperienced. She’d even confessed as much to me. But she was gorgeous, smart, and far more mature than her eighteen years would suggest.

A few of the things she’d mentioned as we talked sent up red flags. Not the sort to push me I away, more like the kind that made me want to protect her all the more.

I gathered her family life hadn’t been the best, though she didn’t go into detail about it. It was just a gut feeling, but it made me hesitant to even let her out of my sight.

How the hell was I going to survive the day without her?

This was bad, very bad.

I wasn’t the guy who had ever allowed myself to get close to someone. To her, sex was probably as close as it got, an intimate experience I’d never had. To me, sex was fun and a way to blow off steam, nothing more.

Kissing her last night made me think there could be a lot more to it. If I were being honest, I was glad she needed things to go slowly because I needed time to prepare myself for being withher, too. I knew it wasn’t going to be the same. In a lot of ways, it would be like my first time too.

That was a comical thought, but I didn’t think I could just be physical with Bailey and I’d never emotionally connected with anyone in this way before. She equally excited and terrified me at the same time.

“Good morning,” I said in a husky voice, steeped in sleep.

She screamed and jumped out of bed, ready to fight.

When it registered that it was just me, she placed her hand over her heart and took a deep breath.

“You scared the shit out of me. I didn’t know you were staying over.”

“I guess I just fell asleep.”

She stretched, showing off her toned abs, and I wanted to reach out and touch her.

A knock at the door startled us both.

“Bailey, are you okay in there?” a man yelled.

She rolled her eyes.

---