Page 123 of The Savior

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Liam’s bedroom was cloaked in darkness. The shadows surprised Chelsea, and she blinked to focus in the dark, fumbling for a lamp. Instead, she knocked something off the nightstand, maybe a metal water bottle. The metallic clang hung in the air like a gong.

The bedroom door cracked open, and the hallway light fell over the bed. “You’re awake?”

She winced as the memory of her morning came back. “How long have I been asleep?”

“A while.”

She was still wearing her pantsuit but without the jacket, and the last she recalled, the couch had beckoned her to take a self-pitying nap. “When did I come in here?”

“I moved you.”

“Ah.” She’d called Liam to pick her up earlier than they’d planned and spent the entire ride back to his apartment volleying between righteous fury that made her want to scream and shock over her partner’s disloyalty. But now? Even though she’d slept much longer than she planned, she was spent.

“Feeling better?” He picked up the water bottle and offered it to her.

She uncapped the lid and took a long drink then a longer breath. “Yeah. I think so.”

He moved to the side of the bed and took the bottle, screwed the lid on, and returned it to the spot she’d knocked it from. “Can I sit?”

“Of course.” She scooted from the edge. “I can’t believe I slept the day away.”

“I can after that kind of shit show.”

She quietly snort-laughed.

“What would make it a better day? Chocolate? Booze? Vegging in front of the TV?”

She fell back onto the pillows and barely shook her head. Nothing could make the day any less ugly than it was. Her fingers found his, and he ran his thumb over each one, across her knuckles, then started the design again.

“You,” she answered.

“Me what?”

“You’d make my day better.”

His hand squeezed hers, and he held her eyes.

“You always do,” she whispered.

“I think I can manage to lay down with you.” He let her burrow against him then cocooned her in his arms.

Chelsea listened to his heart beat. She skimmed her hand over the soft hair on his forearm and the rigid cords of his muscles. His breathing deepened, and Liam rubbed her back in a hypnotic pattern.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For what?”

“Everything and then so much more.”

He quietly laughed. “Do you want to get up? Are you hungry?”

“Hmm.” Hungry maybe, but more than that, she didn’t want to let him go. “In a bit.”

“How about I distract you?” Liam unbuttoned the top of her blouse. With every button he undid, he teased and caressed as light as air for only the slightest breeze of a moment before he unfastened another button and then another. “How am I doing?”

She hummed. “I think it’s working.”

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