Page 39 of Not As Advertised

I hadn’t left it unlocked tonight because I would have lost my mind if he had walked in on me in the shower. We weren’tthatcomfortable with each other. Plus, getting the crap scared out of you with a surprise shower visitor definitely said “horror movie” rather than “hot off-limits hookup with your boss.”

It still felt surreal to me that I was doing this. I was about fifty-fifty on whether this whole thing was a lust/stressed-induced dream after being alone with Aiden for so many days. But it was happening, and I was going to approach it with the same abandon I had the night before.

I never got to be carefree and let go of my responsibilities. Aiden’s discretion was trustworthy since he had as much to lose as I did.

Unlocking the dead bolt, I let Aiden in. He appeared in the doorway wearing a black T-shirt and thin gray pajama bottoms. God, I couldn’t look at his pants for too long, or I might burst into flames. They were indecently enticing.

I could practically see the full outline of his… Nope!

I looked up to see that he’d caught me staring at his “assets.” His bright expression suggested he was highly amused.

“Hi.” My tone was rife with embarrassment.

“Hi.” In contrast, his voice showed his confidence.

I remained frozen with my hand on the door, trying to recover my senses until he arched a brow at me.

“Can I come in?” The humor in his tone had the opposite effect on the inner calm I was scrambling to achieve.

“Oh! Yes, sorry. I’m not sure what’s going on with me tonight.” So much for seducing him with my charm.

Not that I had any idea about the seduction part. I hoped to avoid making a fool of myself, especially since I was so attracted to him. His handsome face vaporized half my vocabulary on a regular day.

I moved back as he entered my room and sat casually on the end of the bed.

After shutting the door, I seemed to glitch again, not knowing if I should sit beside him or invite him further onto the bed. Should we order dinner first? Should I get the room service menu?

“Hey, Abbie. Come sit down. There’s no pressure here.” He held out his hand to me.

Accepting that I was doomed to spend most of the evening embarrassed, I closed the distance between us, letting him guide me down to the bed.

He kept my hand in his as he seemed to want to settle my nerves.

“Look, nothing has to happen tonight. Let’s just have dinner and relax, okay? It’s been a busy week.”

Rather than pretend I felt a calm that I didn’t feel, I gave him a small smile.

“Good. Have you looked at the room service menu at all?”

“I haven’t. Let me grab it.”

Eager for something to do, I rummaged through the desk drawer for the hotel’s information binder. Bringing it back to the bed, I felt more comfortable than before taking a seat beside him. Resuming my spot, he let his arm come around my waist and hold my hip lightly as he shifted over to see the menu pages more clearly.

I could smell the clean scent of his skin after his shower. Now that some of my powers of observation had returned to me, Icould see his hair was still slightly damp and curled up at the ends.

After deciding what to order, he moved to the head of the bed to use the phone to call down to reception. I crawled up the bed to lean back against the multitude of pillows in front of the headboard and scooted under the comforter, feeling immediately better with the extra fabric surrounding me.

Aiden hung up the phone and turned back to me, taking my lead and pulling back the covers to get under himself.

“They said it was going to be about forty-five minutes for our order.”

“That’s fine. I’m not super hungry yet anyway.” The nervous energy running through my system had zapped my appetite.

He shifted closer so that our sides were touching from hip to shoulder and lifted his arm to wrap it back around me. I leaned forward to let him, then settled back into the warmth of his body with my head now on his shoulder.

Aiden took a deep breath, his body reclining further into the pillows.

“God, what a week. I think we did well, though. One signed deal and more to come.”

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