Page 48 of Puck You Very Much

Chapter 15

Lucy crossed her legs, leaned back in the chair, and took a sip of her coffee while staring at the back of Dax’s head. His hair was sticking out in all directions, his face pressed into the pillow. The sheet was low around his waist.

Her gaze wandered over his muscular back, over the peaks and valleys of each cord under his skin to the white sheet that, to her annoyance, hid the rest from her sight.

She never allowed herself to look at him so closely when he was awake. Now that he was sleeping, she could stare in peace. It didn’t matter then that she was once again angry with him — all that faded behind his form: quite simply a work of art. Broad shoulders, strong neck, and the curve of his tanned biceps against the white sheet…

With a sigh, she set the coffee cup on the side table next to her. When asleep, Dax was more angel than devil.

She glanced at her watch and observed it as the second hand crept forward and finally passing twelve. It was almost a shame that she had to interrupt his slumber so rudely, but the photo shoot was due to start at that moment and Dax was very obviously not on site.

Thank God she had postponed it by two hours last night. After Matt announced that they would be “team-building” at Austin Fox’s that night, she suspected Dax would concoct some flimsy excuse why he couldn’t make it on time.

Shaking her head, she stood and strolled over to the bed. It felt strange to simply gain access to his loft like this, without him knowing — but, hey, she had told him she had a key and would do whatever was necessary to improve his image. It was truly his own fault. Besides, he wanted her to behave normally. This was her version of normal.

She stopped next to the bed and leaned down, ignoring her fluttering heart. Then she held her phone next to his ear and pressed the middle of the screen.

A ship’s horn sounded as loud as a kindergarten group on a sugar rush. Dax jerked up so abruptly, he almost knocked the phone out of her hand. She took a few rapid steps back. Maybe it was better not to be within reach.

Sitting bolt upright in bed, he let his gaze slide around the room, disorientated, before finally settling on her as she returned to the chair.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” he exclaimed in shock and slumped against the backboard.

She smiled broadly. “Good morning, Cinderella,” she piped cheerfully. “I hope your head feels like a thick pumpkin, because you stayed at the ball past twelve and lost not one but both of your shoes.”

“What are you doing here?” he snapped, pulling the blanket up around his torso. What a shame. “And how the hell did you get into my apartment?”

“Yes,hellis the right word,” she said. “Because my life has been hell these past few weeks. But we don’t have time to exchange pleasantries. You have to get up and shower. You have an hour to get to makeup for the photo shoot.”

Cursing, Dax pulled his cell phone from the nightstand and glanced at the display before returning his eyes to her. “No, I don’t. It’s too late already – they’ve started without me.”

“It’s not too late,” she said briefly, trying to keep her eyes on his face and not let them wander, in a most unprofessional manner, down his muscular chest, where fine, dark hair fanned out. “I postponed the shoot. I wanted to make sure you actually showed up.”

“Oh, fuck,” he muttered, grimacing as a ray of light hit his face from behind the drawn curtains. He rubbed his eyes. “Seriously, Lucy. Didn’t we talk about how you’ve got to quit taking things too far like this?” His voice was still rough from sleep. She could feel it and his gaze deep in her belly.

She cleared her throat and raised her chin.

Normal. She wanted to be normal.

“I didn’t go too far. I’m sitting a respectable distance from your bed,” she replied, wide-eyed and overly innocent.

“Smartass. You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Oh, come on. You’re an athlete. Your heart can take more than most anyone else’s.”

He guffawed a low note. “Lucy, you can’t just break into my apartment and then act like everything’s fine!”

“First, nothing is fine because you should have been at the arena by now. And, second, I didn’t break in. I have a key. Besides, I knocked and then rang the doorbell, but you didn’t open up. I was worried.” She sipped her to-go coffee as though butter wouldn’t melt on her tongue. “I mean, you could have been lying unconscious in the bathtub, close to drowning, unable to get to the door. I had to make sure.”

“How noble of you,” he growled.

“Yeah, I think so too. So up and at ‘em. I’m guessing you’re rather hungover, so you’ll need longer than usual in the shower. There’s no time to waste.”

Dax didn’t make a move to rise. Instead, he leaned forward and peered at her, his eyes pinched with suspicion. “How did you know I’d be hungover this morning and oversleeping?”

“Oh, I had a feeling.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Is your feeling called Matt Payne?”

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