Page 90 of Match Me If You Can (Chicago Stars 6)

She started to perspire. She knew this was insane, but she couldn’t make herself walk away. Another floorboard creaked as she knelt at the side of the bed, the same floorboard that creaked every time she stepped on it, so she should have been more careful. Her heart was pounding. She pressed down on the mattress with one hand and slipped her finger through the loop of strap sticking out from under his hip with the other. She pulled hard.

One heavy eyelid drifted open, and his sleep-rusty voice made her jump. “Either get in here with me or go away.”

“This is”—she pulled a little harder—“my bed.”

“I know. I’m resting.”

He didn’t look like he was resting. He looked like he’d settled in for the night. With her underwear. Which refused to budge. “Could I…”

“I’m dead on my feet.” His eyes drifted shut. “You can have your bed back in the morning. Promise.” His voice faded on a slur.

“Okay, but…”

“Go ’way,” he muttered.

“I will. First, though, would you mind—”

He rolled to his back again, which should have freed the bra but didn’t. Instead, it wedged between his hip and hand.

“I, uh, need one little thing. Then I won’t bother you any—”

His fingers clamped her wrist, and this time when his lids opened, his eyes were completely focused. “What do you want?”

“My bra back.”

He lifted his head and glanced to his side, still holding her wrist. “Why?”

“I’m a neat freak. Messy rooms drive me crazy.” She yanked hard and jerked it free.

Heath gazed at the bra dangling from her fingers. “Are you going somewhere tonight?”

“No, I—” She’d awakened the sleeping lion for sure, and she wadded the bra in her hands, trying to make it invisible. “Go back to sleep. I’ll take Nana’s bed.”

“I’m awake now.” He propped himself on his elbows. “Usually I can see through your latest craziness, but I have to say, this time you’ve got me stumped.”

“Just forget it.”

“One thing I do know…” He nodded toward her hand. “This isn’t about a bra.”

“That’s what you think.” She scowled at him. “Until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes, don’t judge.”

“Judge what?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“I spend most of my life around football players. You’d be surprised how many weird things I understand.”

“Not this weird.”

“Try me.”

The stubborn set of his mouth told her he wasn’t going to let this go, and she had no explanation but the truth. “I can’t stand seeing…” She swallowed and licked her lips. “It’s hard for me to see…uh…female lingerie too near a man’s hand. That is…when the lingerie isn’t actually on a female body.”

He groaned and sank back into her pillows. “Oh, my God. Don’t tell me.”

“It upsets me.” Which was putting it mildly.

She knew he’d laugh, and he did, a big sound that bounced around the attic’s odd angles.

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