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“No, I mean, would you like to come sleep—in your bed—with me? I don’t mind sharing.”
Liam sat up and turned his face to her and nodded slowly. His heart skipped a beat. And another. “Yes, I would.”
“Okay.” That was easier to say than she’d expected. She motioned her head for him to follow her back to his room. “Which side do you sleep on?”
The top. No, he couldn’t say that, no matter how badly he wanted to. “The middle.” Which was exactly where he’d been sleeping for far too long. The nights weren’t so lonely when one slept in the middle.
She grunted a small laugh. “Me too. Why don’t you take the right and I’ll take the left?”
The two climbed under the covers on their respective sides and once both were comfortable, Liam turned out the bedside lamp.
Sophie laid on her back looking at the ceiling in the dim light filtered through the curtains and relaxed into the soft mattress. This was nice. You know, once she chilled out. He was her oldest friend after all. They had shared a bed hundreds of times. Granted, usually when they did they had sex but there was no reason two friends couldn’t simply sleep beside each other for a night. She turned her head toward Liam and found him on his side facing her, his eyes closed. “Good night, Liam,” she whispered.
Resisting the urge to reach for her, Liam opened his eyes and softly smiled. How many times had he laid beside her in the dark? How many times had he envisioned a moment just like this? Only not quite like this. If he had his way, she would be in his arms but this was a good beginning. “Goodnight, Sophie.”
Chapter10
Sophie woke to warmth,the kind that settled deep in her bones, cocooning her in soft heat. It was nice. Too nice. Her mattress had never felt this solid, her pillow had never breathed.
Her eyes fluttered open, and the realization hit her.
Liam.
They were tangled together like a pair of kittens, limbs entwined, his arm heavy across her waist, her face pressed into his chest, and her leg was hooked over his hip.
She laughed and gasped at the same time.
Liam stirred, his grip instinctively tightening for a moment before he blinked blearily at her. Then his own sleepy chuckle rumbled. “Well, good morning to you, too.”
Sophie wriggled, attempting to extricate herself. “We’re a disaster.”
“Aye, but a very comfortable one.”
Very comfortable indeed. Sophie remembered always sleeping well sharing a bed with Liam but now, being a woman of forty-two, she appreciated a good night’s sleep more than ever before. She yawned wide and stretched her limbs. “I don’t remember the last time I slept so hard. You could have blown Joshua’s trumpet and I wouldn’t have heard a thing.”
Liam smiled and decided not to mention that one of her new traits was snoring. A small price to pay to have her beside him in his bed. “I haven’t slept that well in a long while. You’re welcome to sleep over any time you like, love.”
She groaned, and playfully shoved at his chest. “Move, you big oaf.”
“You move,” he replied on the back of a lazy yawn. “You’re the one who stole the middle of the bed.”
Her mouth fell open. “I did not!” She smacked his arm, which only made him laugh. Then he shifted onto his back taking her with him like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Neither of them made any more effort to untangle until Sophie’s stomach growled, loud and demanding.
Liam smirked. Her appetite hadn’t changed. Sophie had always woken up starving each morning. “How about I cook us some breakfast? Full Irish sound good?”
Sophie huffed, finally pushing herself up and untangling their limbs. The funny thing? She already missed being wrapped up in him.
Sophie shoved the feeling aside. She couldn’t think with Liam this close. This was something to sort through later—when she was alone, had time to think, and didn’t have a wall of warm muscle beneath her.
“That would be the best.” She hadn’t eaten a full Irish in ages and her mouth watered thinking about it. “But don’t read anything into last night, okay?”
Liam stretched lazily, then rolled out of bed with a smirk. She could have remained tangled with him and he wouldn’t have complained for a moment. “Oh, don’t you worry, love. I won’t read a thing into it. If anyone asks, I’ll just say that I finally got you to have a drink and dinner with me. Then you asked me to go to bed with you, where you stayed until breakfast the next morning.”
Well, when you put it that way…
She threw a pillow at him as he ducked out of the room, still laughing, while she groaned and dragged herself up to follow.
