Page 73 of No Rings Attached
The hurt and longing in her words ripped at my heart. “Not at all.”
She was quiet for a beat.
I slid my hand onto the pillow wall. For a long second, nothing happened. Then her smaller hand reached across, clasping mine. She held it tight, squeezing hard, like I was her anchor in an unfriendly port.
After a while, her grip loosened, her breathing slowed, and soft snores filled the room.
I didn’t let go. Not even as sleep crept up on me.
My last thought was how much I wanted to do this every night—her hand in mine, her laugh in my ear, her stubbornness filling my bed.
Chapter Seventeen
ELLLIE
Isnuggled deeper into the pillow beneath me. Why did it feel so … lumpy? Slowly, my brain woke up enough to recognize that the pillow was warm, smelled like cedar and soap, and had a steady thump-thump heartbeat.
Not a pillow.
Drew.
With my face smushed up against his chest, and judging by the damp patch my cheek was stuck to, I had drooled on him.
Fabulous.
“Morning,” he rumbled, his husky tone skipping across my skin and causing goosebumps to appear.
I jerked my head up.
Yup. Drool confirmed.
Yuck.
And worse, my thighs were straddling a situation that was very muchnota pillow, either. His voice may have sounded like he just woke up, but his hooded eyes were devouring me, and the steel pipe pressed against my core told another story.
“How long have you been awake?” I whispered, trying to slide off him gracefully. Instead, I ended up grinding against him like a malfunctioning Roomba.
He groaned. “Ellie … ”
Flames raced across my face. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to—” I bit my lip.
It would be so easy right now to take this further. My brain went rogue.What if I just … shifted my panties and rode him until he forgot his own name?
Nope. Bad Eleanor. Very bad.
That would change things, and right now I couldn’t handle one more change in my life. I liked Drew. A lot. And when this fake relationship ended, we wouldn’t have any reason to continue the physical side with me living so far away.
“Don’t move.” His arm tightened around me, caging me in. “Seriously. Not. Helping. I, uh … damn, this is awkward.”
“I know, this is morning wood,” I babbled. “It’s, uh, totally natural. Happens to every guy. I’m not taking it personally.”
“It’s not that.” He clenched his jaw, looking like he was bargaining with a higher power. I shuddered. His ‘just woke up’ voice was so damn hot. I kind of wanted to make a secret recording and play it when I was sadorhorny.
“Not what?” I propped my hands on his chest to look at him while we talked. Which unintentionally pushed our hips further together. I was personally not complaining about this predicament but even I knew we couldn’t go any further.
He hissed out a breath. “Taking it the wrong way. It’s you.”
“Oh.” My eyes went wide. “Like … me-me?”
