Page 55 of Sassy Love
The moment winds down to a beat, as if pausing somehow. Where the woman sitting beside me can see right into my weary heart, my head that can never figure out what it wants even at my age. And blood hammers through my head as heat rises and tightness twinges in my chest.
This right here is my vulnerability laid bare.
No wonder she fled the room.
This part is utter shit.
I refuse to let it bother me, holding my nerve. One of us has to bend. One of us has to bendfirst. Let it be me, since Carlie’s had to fight for every inch over the last decade.
“Same,” she finally breathes.
And just like that, we are on the same page.
About one thing, at least.
Manuel claps, and we both startle, looking at him. The biggest smile stretches his face as he tilts his head. “I think we had a breakthrough, my lovelies.”
Carlie smiles at him, but it fades when she looks back at me. “I think I’m going to call it a night.”
“Be there in a few,” I say, and she returns her mug to the tray as she walks out.
The door clicks shut and Manuel beams at me. “That wasincredible.”
“Yeah, it felt pretty good.”
“I think you both offered up a piece of yourself today. It’s only the first bit of progress. Onward and upward, Mr. Lawson.”
“Hopefully. We both need this to work.”
“I understand. Was there something else you needed to talk about?”
“Actually, I think there is . . .”
An hour later, I open the door to the bungalow to find all the lights out, bar the bedside lamp on the right. Setting my keys down gently, I toe off my shoes. I mill about, trying to find my throw blanket. Not seeing it, I move closer to the bed. Carlie is sound asleep. The blanket is pulled up over her shoulder asshe sleeps on her side, her back to the middle, where the covers are folded back to reveal one side of the bed.
Turned down, ready for someone to slide in. My throw lies over the corner of that side. A note stands against the lamp. I sit on the edge of the mattress and pick up the card.
This bed is too big for one person ~ the floor too hard. Use that information as you will.
C
I glance over my shoulder. She’s still fast asleep. Setting the card back on the nightstand, I release the clasp on my watch and set it beside the card gently. Tugging my shirt off, I lie in the bed.
Good god, it’s so damn soft.
Fucking heaven compared to the hard-ass floor.
I breathe deep, relaxing into the mattress.
Goddamn bliss.
The second the air hits my senses, her scent takes hold. That rich floral. This close, with only inches between us, it takes everything I have to rein in the way my body responds to the mere proximity of her.
Chapter 15
CARLIE
Iopen my eyes to the muscular chest of Lawson Rawlins.
