Page 64 of The One Who Won’t Get Away
I pulled the sheet over my chest, tucking it under my chin, drawing a line between us and willing myself not to act like a complete lunatic.I was seriously ruining the vibe here.
This was Nick, for crying out loud.We’d had sex before.We’d slept together before.
Yeah, and how well had that ended?He still had a black eye.
If I fell asleep now, would I wake up screaming?Would I try to fight him again?Or worse, he might leave the same way I had left him after that first night.
That last concern was a new one for me.I had let Nick get under my skin, and that couldn't end well.
Nick sat up slowly, the sheet falling to his waist.He looked at me, taking in the tension in my neck, the way my knuckles blanched white against the bedding, the fact that I couldn’t meet his gaze.
He raked a hand through his hair, made a show of yawning, then said, “You know, I think I’ll crash in the spare room tonight.You hog the whole bed.”
His tone was gentle, the joke lighter than air.I wanted to protest, to say it wasn’t necessary, but the words stuck in my throat.Instead, I nodded, grateful for the out.
He swung his legs off the bed and stood, stretching, his back crackling.I let my eyes drift over him for a second, memorizing the lean muscle, the scars, the way his shoulders bunched under his skin.
He picked up his boxers from the floor, pulling them on with a quiet efficiency, then started gathering the rest of his clothes.His face was unreadable, but his body language was pure Nick: calm, collected, unflappable.
At the door, he turned back.The hallway light illuminating his silhouette, broad and solid and somehow gentle all at once.
“Sleep well, Nadya,” he said, voice so soft it barely reached me.
He left the door open just enough to let the light from the hallway in.
I just lay there, clutching the sheets to my chest, my body still humming from his touch, my heart twisting with all the things I would never say out loud.
Chapter 27
Nick
SOMETHING WOKE ME UP, my body going on high alert in one second flat.Remaining perfectly still, I strained to hear or see anything out of place.
There.The scraping sound, then a pause, then the almost silent rattle aluminum.
The balcony.I’d known the balcony would be a problem.
