Page 80 of Reputation (Tempt)

The bathroom door opened, and Emerson padded out, a fluffy white robe encasing her. I wondered what—if anything—she wore beneath it. I tried not to think about it. Tried not to think of the curve of her back or the way her ass had looked in the thong she’d been wearing at the hospital the other day.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, pausing beside the bed.

I swallowed hard. “Nothing. I’m just tired.” Physically, yes. But I was tired of fighting this. Fighting my feelings for her. And now that we were pretending to be engaged, pretending to be in love, it was even more difficult to switch off my desire for her when we were alone.

“You should get in bed, then,” she said. “You need your rest.”

“So do you,” I said, yanking my shirt over my head with a yawn.

“W-wh—” she stuttered. “What are you doing?”

“Getting ready for bed.” I folded back the covers and climbed beneath them, gratified by the way her eyes lingered on my bare chest. The room was warm, sure. But I typically slept in boxer briefs and nothing else, so this was a concession. “What areyoudoing?” She joined me, and I gave her robe a pointed look. “Why are you still wearing a robe? Are you cold?” I asked, thinking it impossible.

“I, um—” Her cheeks turned a beautiful pinkish hue. “No. The temperature is fine.”

“Then what is it?”

I was exhausted, but the second she joined me in bed, it was as if my brain switched on. She was so close. And she smelled so good.Fuck.

I clenched the sheets, fighting the urge to touch her. To pull her into my arms.

“Since you only told me to bring workout clothes, I didn’t pack any pajamas.”

I clenched the sheets, trying to hide my reaction to her words. “Didn’t Jay send any?” I’d asked him to send an entire wardrobe—clothes, shoes, accessories, undergarments, etc. I couldn’t imagine him forgetting something. He was always so meticulous.

She laughed, and the throaty sound went straight to my cock. “They would be perfect for someone newly engaged, but I wouldn’t exactly call them pajamas.”

I frowned, my curiosity piqued even as my concern overrode it. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” Especially not around me.

She huffed something that sounded like “Too late for that.”

I cast the covers aside and moved to the edge of the bed.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“It’s fine. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

I was the one who’d gotten us into this mess. And I was the one making her uncomfortable.

“No. I’m sorry. Wait.” Emerson grasped my wrist, and I froze at the heat of her touch. The gentle way her delicate fingers wrapped around me. I could imagine her hand wrapped around an entirely different part of me. “I appreciate your offer, but it’ll be fine.”

I turned to face her, needing to know the truth. “Emerson, doImake you uncomfortable?”

I’d never gotten that vibe from her. And she’d always stood up to me, but I had completely changed our circumstances without her consent. Sharing a bed together hadn’t been part of the plan; none of this had.

She stared up at the ceiling, saying nothing. I scrutinized her expression for clues, the collar of her white robe peeking out from beneath the covers.

“Emerson,” I said, trying to hold back the growl from my voice. “Talk to me.”

“Iamuncomfortable.” She swallowed hard. “But probably not in the way that you think.”

I arched my eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

“It means—” She inhaled deeply and then let it out slowly, but a flush of color painted her cheeks and neck. “It means nothing. We should get some sleep.” She turned and switched off the lamp on her nightstand. Then kept her back to me.

“It’s not nothing,” I said in the darkness. “Come on,” I teased. “You can tell your fiancé anything.”

“If you were my real fiancé,” she said through gritted teeth, “we wouldn’t be having this conversation because I wouldn’t be havingthisproblem.”

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