Page 72 of Bragg's Match

Damn. Is Brody the man I’m searching for? The one who won’t expect me to do everything for him? Am I – gulp – falling for him?

He nibbles on my ear. “What has you thinking so hard this early in the morning?”

I clear my throat. I don’t know where to begin.

He squeezes my hip. “It’s okay. I know this was a one night thing.”

“It was?”

“The bed for the spare bedroom should be arriving today. I’m going to pick it up in White Bridge.”

I roll to face him.

“Why are you going to White Bridge to pick up the bed?”

He chuckles. “When I phoned the furniture company to ask why the bed hadn’t been delivered, they said I rang to delay the delivery.”

My brow furrows. “You did?”

He tweaks my nose. “Nope. And I’m not an elderly woman either.” He must notice the confusion on my face because he explains. “When I asked who rang to delay the delivery, they said my grandmother did.”

I groan. “The gossip gals strike again.”

“Exactly. Which is why I’m having the bed delivered to a friend’s house in White Bridge where I’ll pick it up. I figure the gossip gals won’t be able to thwart the delivery this way.”

I fiddle with his chest hair. “What if you didn’t have the bed delivered?”

His body freezes. Oh no. Has he changed his mind about me? Am I making a mistake?

“Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

He grasps my chin and tilts my head up. “I’m not forgetting anything you say. What do you mean? Not have the bed delivered?”

“What if there’s no reason for you to sleep in the spare bedroom?”

“I’m not sleeping on the couch any longer than I have to. I still have the scar from when I fell. Plus, my brothers figured it out and now I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“There’s another place in the house you could sleep.”

“Soleil Hawk, are you messing with me?”

“I would never mess with you.”

He frowns. “Such a shame since I want to mess with you all the time. Get you all messy and dirty.”

I squirm at the image his words create. I want to be dirty with him as often as possible. I slink my hand down his chest but he captures my wrist.

“Nuh-uh. No getting dirty until you explain what you meant.”

“What I meant?” What were we talking about again? Were we not discussing getting down and dirty?

He palms my cheek with his free hand. “Are you serious? Do you want me to sleep in the same bed with you every night?”

“Who said anything about sleep?”

“Now you’re teasing me.”

“You tease me all the time.”

---