Page 33 of Dating the Boss
Daniel was quiet, and when I chanced a look in his direction, I found him staring at the crackling fire. Wide-awake just like me.
“What’s your sister’s name?” I asked, not ready to stop talking to him.
“Regina.” Maybe Daniel wasn’t ready to stop talking to me either. “She’s three years younger than me.”
“You’re a scary, overprotective big brother, aren’t you?”
He blessed me with another smile. Fuck if I didn’t want to see him smile more often. He was just too handsome when he let his guard down.
“When we were in high school, I threatened to beat up a boy in her class because he made her cry,” Daniel said. “I also told all my buddies not to even think about touching her or else I’d bash their heads in, because I knew what kind of pigs they were. So, yeah, I might’ve been a bit protective, sure.”
I snorted. “Wow, I didn’t take you for the violent type.”
“I never actually did any of it. The threat was enough.” He cracked another smile. “Do you have any siblings?”
“Nope. It’s just me.” No sense in telling him about my less than idealistic childhood. Better to keep things light. “Probably for the best. I prefer the spotlight.”
“You? I would’ve never guessed.”
I cocked my head at him. “Was that a joke, Mr. Sawyer?”
“You can call me Daniel if you want. At least when we’re not at the office.”
“Okay,” I said, hiding my smile with the blanket. “Cool.”
I finally turned off the bedside lamp, and the fire lit up the room in a golden glow. As the wood crackled and popped in the fireplace, I closed my eyes. The sound was enough to soothe my easily distracted mind. My body got heavy like it did when I was falling asleep.
“Reed?”
“Hmm?” I asked, fighting to stay awake.
“The night you accidentally texted me…” Daniel paused. “Are you still seeing the man you meant to send the text to?”
I cracked open my eyelids and focused on him. Why did he care? “Not really. He’s just a guy I occasionally see. It’s nothing serious.”
I waited for him to respond, but instead, he turned away from me and faced the window again, saying nothing. My eyes fell shut, and I drifted to sleep… only to be woken around three o’clock in the morning to the chattering of my teeth. The fire had gone out, and it was so cold that I felt miserable. Achy.
That’s when I looked at Daniel. He was curled up on the cot, his big body hanging off it, and the softest of whimpers left him as he shook.
Goddammit! I knew he was cold.
I didn’t even think about it. I threw the covers off me and rushed over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Chills covered his arms, and though he was fast asleep, his brow was scrunched as if he was in pain.
“Daniel?” I gently shook him.
He sharply breathed in and opened his eyes. “W-What’s wrong?”
“You’re freezing to death. That’s what’s wrong. Come on.” I tugged the thin blanket off him and held out a hand to help him up. “You’re sleeping with me.”
“We can’t s-sleep in the s-same bed, R-Reed. It’s inap—”
“Inappropriate, I know.” I grabbed his arm when he didn’t take my hand and dragged him to a sitting position, which was no easy feat. He was like a wall of muscle. “You can yell at me later. But if you don’t get warmed up, you’re gonna catch a cold. Hell, you might even die.”
“I w-won’t die.”
“We can argue about it in the morning.” When I tugged on his arm, he didn’t fight me and let me guide him to the other side of the bed. I tried to ignore how amazing his skin felt on mine as I helped him get situated.
Daniel was strong, yet his skin was soft. And he smelled way too fucking good.
