Page 74 of Unbelonging
I bit my lip. If only I knew what time it was. If it was too late in the morning, I'd need to leave as soon as possible. Chucky needed breakfast, not to mention his morning walk. And whether I was tempted by a beautiful guy or not, I wasn't going to make a little dog pay the price for my own pleasure.
With an effort, I pulled my gaze from Lawton's naked form and got to my feet. I tiptoed across the room and found my jeans, crumpled on the floor next to the sofa. I dug in the pocket and pulled out my cell phone to check the time.
There was only one problem. I wasn't quite sure how to check the time on the thing. On my old phone, the time displayed automatically. On this one, well, I had no idea. Again, I glanced at Lawton. This was silly. I should just wake him up and ask what time it was.
Except I couldn’t bring myself to actually do it. He looked so spectacular, and peaceful, just the way he was, with his eyes shut, his lips parted, and – as much as I blushed to dwell on it – a morning erection that probably had little to do with me.
Still, I'd like it to.
I was still fumbling absently with my phone when I heard a soft click. I looked down and felt my eyes widen. Oh God. I'd accidentally taken a picture of Lawton in all his naked glory.
Frantically, I searched for the delete function, but couldn’t find it, and honestly, I was afraid to mess with it too much. The last thing I needed was to accidentally text the picture to all my friends and relatives.
Granted, it was a small list, but given the nature of the image, one misdirected nakedgram was one too many. Cursing, I continued to fumble with the controls, and I never did find the delete function. I did, however, finally manage to check the time and wasn't happy with what I saw.
It was almost ten o'clock in the morning, at least an hour past the time I should've fed Chucky. Torn between guilt and the urge to crawl back into Lawton's arms, I scanned the room, spotting my panties somewhere behind the sofa and the rest of my missing clothes scattered nearby. I tugged on my undergarments and crept over to where Lawton slept.
I knelt down beside him. "Lawton?" I whispered.
"Hmmmm?"
"Sorry, but I've gotta go."
"No," he murmured, without opening his eyes. "C'mon, baby. Stay. Alright?"
I felt myself smile. Even if he wasn't awake, it was nice to be wanted. "I wish I could," I whispered. "But Chucky's waiting."
"Good dog," he murmured, and rolled onto his side with his eyes still shut and lips parted in a way that made me want to kiss him all over again.
If I had my way, that's exactly what I'd be doing later.
Still smiling, I got up, pulled on the rest of my clothes, and left quietly through the front door.
Chapter 42
The next couple weeks were absolutely crazy – and absolutely blissful. Chucky and I spent almost every day with Lawton, watching comedies and action movies in his massive media room, playing fetch on his manicured lawn, chasing each other from one end of the house to the other.
Honestly, I was worried about wearing out my welcome, but every time I mentioned spending more time away from him, Lawton found another way to entice us to stay. There was always a new movie that needed watching, a new hot tub that needed breaking in, or a new grill that needed to be inaugurated.
Technically, none of those things were new, not exactly, but they were new to me, and from what I could tell, Lawton enjoyed my reaction to all of it.
I still hadn't quite told him I was merely the house sitter, but he stopped pressing me about who I lived with, and I stopped worrying about pretending to be someone I wasn't.
When he joked that I was probably some surgeon's love-child, I only smiled and shrugged. Then, I distracted him the best way I knew how, and it didn't involve breaching my client's confidentiality. When the Parkers returned, I figured I could tell Lawton everything, but until then, it just seemed wrong, especially with Lawton's brother prone to entering places without permission.
When I told him about my waitressing job, he didn't take it the way I expected. For some reason, he assumed I was doing it more for the fun than for the money. I guess I could see why. The job did have a sort of celebrity status, but honestly, if Lawton had ever worked as a server, he'd know just how ridiculous that assumption was.
No one, and I mean no one, would work as a waitress if they didn't need the money. Funny too, because the job attracted more than its share of rich girls – girls who didn't need the money, but were drawn in by the glamorous idea that it didn't require actual work.
They never lasted. Then again, who was I to talk? I wasn't going to last either. Not much longer anyway.
Lucky for me, the volcanic flu was still making the rounds at the diner, so Keith couldn't fire me just yet. I was racking up some serious hours, working double-shifts whenever I could.
With the extra money, I paid for the broken car window, along with the new cell phone, and still I managed to stash away some cash for the day the job finally ended. In the meantime, I was looking for something new.
A couple weeks after first sleeping with Lawton, he made a strange announcement. "I'm being a total ass."
We were sitting in his hot tub, soaking up the steamy warmth while the cold November air kept our faces cool and then some.
