Page 10 of The Doctor's Irreplaceable Love

He squeezed his eyes shut and took a step back as he said, "No problem.Do you need to get anything from your car?"

"I don’t have anything in there.I wasn’t expecting to stay over, remember?"

"That’s okay.There are supplies in the guest bathroom—toothbrush, toothpaste, whatever you might need."

"Thanks."

"Not a problem."

Her lips seemed to quiver as she smiled."I don’t suppose there are any pajamas in there, are there?"

"No, but you can borrow some of mine if you need some."He gave her a puzzled smile.“Do you need some?”

"I will, if you don’t mind.It’s a habit I got into years ago."

She hesitated before continuing.

"We had an intruder in the house.Jeff told me to go outside while he dealt with them.I was so scared.My hands were shaking so much that it took meagesto pull some clothes on.I know it’s crazy, but ever since then, I like to sleep in pajamas.You know, just in case I need to get out in a hurry."

"Damn.What happened with the intruders?"

"They fled when they heard Jeff moving around.They didn’t even take anything."She shuddered."But the memory stayed with me.I had nightmares for months afterward about running around the streets naked because I had to get out of the house before I had a chance to get dressed."

He smiled."Well, you won’t need to worry about that here.Come on, we’ll find you some pajamas."

As he followed her up the stairs, Trip didn’t know whether to regret or be glad that he’d gestured for her to go ahead of him.He couldn’t take his eyes off her ass the whole way.

He hesitated when they reached the door to the guest bedroom she’d stayed in last time.

“Do you want to go in and I’ll bring you some PJs?Or would you rather come and choose?”

He loved that little smile that played on her lips again before she answered.

“I should probably wait here.I trust you to choose.And I’m not sure that I …” She didn’t finish the sentence, but the unspoken words hung in the air between them.Damn, he was tempted.

She finally dropped her gaze.“Ignore me.I’ll be in here digging out that spare toothbrush.Thanks.”

He went to his own room and found a pair of pajamas for her.He rarely wore the things himself.When he returned to the guest bedroom, the door was open, but he knocked anyway.

Shelley came out of the bathroom.“Come on in.”

He handed her the pajamas with a rueful smile.“Here you go.I’ll say goodnight now.”

She chuckled.“Don’t worry, I’m not going to pounce on you.”

He laughed with her.“Worried isn’t the word that comes to mind.”

She raised her eyebrows, but he shook his head.“I’ll see you in the morning.Sleep in if you can.I don’t have anything going on tomorrow.”

“Thanks.I might take you up on that.It’s been a while since I’ve slept in.”

He hesitated but decided to ask, “Do you have any plans for the weekend?”

She shrugged.“Nothing much.Just the usual.Grocery shopping and the joys of domesticity.How about you?”

“About the same,” he said, not wanting to remind her that he didn’t need to take care of his own domestic details.His housekeeper did that for him.

She hugged the pajamas to her chest.“Thanks for these.”

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