Page 13 of Scarlett and the Big Bad Billionaire
That part wouldn’t be difficult—I was used to going without sleep. I’d stayed awake for stretches of seventy-two hours at a time during some missions and had remained lucid and alert the whole time. Life and death situations will do that for you.
Getting throughthisnight might actually takemorediscipline.
Holding the shirt out in front of me like a talisman, I approached the bed. “Okay, I’m just gonna put this on you so you don’t get… cold.”
I swallowed hard then coaxed Red to sit up again. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to get her head and arms through the appropriate openings in my t-shirt, then I scooped her up and moved her to the top of the bed so I could slide her under the covers.
As I lay her down, she wrapped her arms around my neck. “You’re so sweet,” she whispered. “Why are you so sweet?”
I was so shocked that for a second, I froze. Then I pried her hands from my shoulders. Quickly, I rolled her to her side, propped a folded pillow behind her back, and pulled the sheet and comforter up to cover her to her neck.
“You get some sleep now. You’re going to feel pretty lousy in the morning I’m afraid, but this bed is the best thing for you.”
“You come to bed, too,” she said then gave me a half-lidded dreamy smile.
She wiggled her arms out from beneath the covers and held them up to me. “It’s really cozy in here, and you’re really,reallynice. And cute.”
I chuckled at her tone of voice, which was a mix of adorable little girl and full-grown temptress. I wasn’t sure if in her altered state she thought I was her fiancé or if she really meant to invitemeto her bed.
It didn’t matter. As lovely as she was, there was nothing tempting about a nearly unconscious woman.
Her stark vulnerability made me feel protective. And while I was no altar boy, I’d never slept with a heavily intoxicated woman—or one whose name I didn’t know.
All of which meant I would be staying firmly onthisside of the blankets tonight.
I stroked the backs of my fingers down her impossibly soft cheek, allowing myself only that minimal contact.
“Maybe another time.”
She pouted. “You’re going to leave, aren’t you? Guys always leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised. “You’re safe. Sleep now. I’ll be right here.”
Settling into the incredibly uncomfortable chair in the corner, I watched her dream. Damn, she really was beautiful.
But what a mess.
If we’d met when she hadn’t just been left at the altar, I would have beenreallyinto this woman.
Oh well, maybe it was for the best. My squad and I had a few days off, but it wouldn’t be long before I’d be deployed on another mission, and with each one of them, there was always a chance I wouldn’t be coming back.
It was better, in my opinion, to have no one to come back to.
CHAPTERFOUR
YOU’VE GOT YOURSELF A DEAL
Scarlett
Someone was shining a flashlight into my eyes. A strong one.
The red glow boring through my eyelids hurt—everything hurt, actually. My head felt like it had a heartbeat, and each of my limbs weighed at least six hundred pounds.
Cracking my eyelids, I determined the source of the irritating light wasn’t a flashlight but an opening in the hotel room curtains. Hot morning sun streamed in, landing on my face and interrupting a heavy sleep marked by strange dreams of a wedding that never happened and a man whowasn’tmy groom spending the night.
I sat up abruptly, causing my brain to slosh in my oversensitive skull and turning my stomach.
It hadn’t been a dream.
