Page 63 of Unbuttoning Her Brooding Boss

She’d fallen asleep. He hadn’t. But now it didn’t bother him and he refused to rouse her again. His body was replete, his soul soothed, just by holding her.

She’d given him something no one else ever had. He’d never felt as close to another person as he had in those moments with her. As if she understood the worry, the fear. She’d absorbed them and somehow they’d disappeared.

None of it mattered any more. Not now. He felt peace.

His eyelids lowered as finally sleep caught him in its clutches. On the very brink, he tightened his arms instinctively, holding her close.

And, like a talisman, she kept the nightmares at bay.

NINE

‘Jack.’Stephanie leanedover him. ‘Jack, I think we need to get up.’

The sun was streaming through the window and, as reluctant as she was to wake him, she knew there was no way he’d want to miss his meeting.

His eyes flashed open and an expression of shock shot into the vivid blue depths.

‘Hell, I fell asleep.’ He rubbed a hand over his face. ‘Ireallyfell asleep.

She nodded and sat up, reluctantly taking her hand off his chest. ‘We need to get going if we’re going to get back to town in time...’

‘Yeah.’ He frowned and pulled himself up into a sitting position beside her. He rubbed his face again. ‘Thanks.’

Stephanie slipped from the bed. ‘I’ll just take a shower.’

‘Sure.’ He didn’t demur, didn’t try to pull her back into an embrace, didn’t try to follow her.

From the distracted look on his face she knew he’d mentally checked out of their fling already. It was all over. Time to get home and get on with it.

But her heart was struggling to catch up with that concept. It ached to be back in bed with Jack.

For so many reasons that couldn’t happen.

She stood under a cold shower and tried to snap herself out of it. It was just sex. Nothing more. Last night had been a one-off. He’d needed contact. She’d given him everything she had.

But she realised now that honesty was super-important to him. And she hadn’t been honest. It wasn’t that she’d lied. She just hadn’t told him everything.

Just as his parents hadn’t for all those years.

But Stephanie’s omission didn’t matter, right? Dan wasn’t relevant to the blog deal—to what Jack needed to know about her in the next few hours. And it was nothing on the intensely personal information he was seeking now. Not for him at least.

It didn’t matter.

She had to remember that any connection she felt for him was just temporary. Just physical. An interlude.

She dressed quickly so he could have the bathroom.

Ten minutes later she looked up from her contemplation of the trees as he walked out to the deck. He was back in his suit. Like her green dress, it had been attended to by the invisible hotel fairies. His shirt was pressed and spotless, his trousers immaculate. He’d shaved—lost that sexy two-day relaxed traveller stubble.

It was like winding the clock back to the moment she’d first seen him. He was all imposing, intimidating businessman. And so out of her league.

‘Let’s go,’ he said starkly.

She just nodded.

On the long drive back to Melbourne he was silent, his thoughts no doubt consumed with his upcoming meeting. There was nothing she could do to ease that stress for him. Coming over all ‘Steffi Leigh’ chirpy wasn’t going to help. Her own anxiety was rising anyway. There’d been no message from Tara this morning, and still nothing at all from Dan.

She felt terrible for going two days without talking to her brother. She’d always promised herself that she wouldn’t be like her mum. Wouldn’t let her feelings for a guy get in the way of what was really important. She would never forget her family.

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