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He wasn’t sure how long he lay there, not breathing, not moving. Surely she was asleep by now. Just when he was about to slip his arm out from under her and make his escape, her arm around his waist tightened and she said, “You really are a great guy, you know that?”
Aww hell . . . “Yeah, well, don’t tell anyone else, okay?”
“Is it hard?”
Oh, man, it was so damn hard his balls ached. “Is what hard?” he asked, his voice rough as gravel.
“Pretending to be someone you’re not. I think it would be very tiring after a while, showing the world one thing when you’re really something else.”
His hand slipped into her hair, ru
“Well, I think it’s sad.”
“What’s sad, sweetheart?”
Her hand slid to his stomach and her fingers began tracing the path of muscles across his abs. Little jolts of electricity arrowed into the base of his cock, making the member strain toward her touch. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on his breathing. Thank God he’d decided to sleep in his jeans. The denim barrier wasn’t much, but it was better than his Hanes.
“That the world doesn’t really know you. Can I tell you a secret?”
“That depends. Are you still drunk and will you remember it in the morning?” he teased.
“I’m pretty sure I am and probably not.”
“Okay, then go ahead,” he chuckled.
“I think I’m falling for you.”
CHAPTER
22
Oh, God, Aiden, will you please stop that pounding?”
But he didn’t answer. It took Rya
“Aiden . . .” she called, curling in a ball and pulling the covers over her head. When seconds ticked by without a response, panic slammed into her, drowning out her hangover migraine. Rya
“Shit!” she hissed and lifted her hand, shielding her eyes as she shrank back from the light like some vampire in a B movie. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust. All the while panic ratcheted her pulse until she was sure she’d died of an aneurysm. Maybe she was just a sucker for punishment, because she knew what she was going to find when she looked out that window. Steeling her resolve, Rya
He’s gone . . . I can’t believe he left me.
Had that been his plan all along? Get her to trust him, to lower her guard, and then steal away in the middle of the night? She was such an idiot! Numbly, she staggered back to the bed, plopped down on the mattress, and put her head between her legs as she tried to take deep breaths into lungs that refused to cooperate. “I’m such an idiot,” she moaned miserably.
Through the veil of her hangover, the night came crashing back to her in flashes of bits and pieces. The di
“It’s over,” she said in defeat, shaking her head as the world of shit she was in slammed into her with the force of wrecking ball. “I can’t believe I fell for it. I fell for Aiden Kruze . . . and he left me.” Heartache warred with rage, both emotions rocking her already tumultuous stomach. Oh, God, she was going to puke. Dropping her head between her knees, she took a few slow deep breaths, trying to push back the nausea.
Rya
Before she could lift her pounding head, that familiar deep voice bit out a sharp curse. There was a rustle of a plastic bag and something heavy hit the ground. And then he was there, kneeling before her, her face gently framed in those strong, callused hands. He tipped her head up to meet his amber eyes, and he searched hers with concern and dare she hope something more . . .
Relief flooded her at the sight of him, the feel of those hands, that comforting strength. As a part of her rejoiced at discovering she’d overreacted, another part warned her she’d traveled into dangerous territory where this man was concerned. Her total lack of keep-your-shit-together proved it. Faced with the prospect that he might have left her, there was no more lying to herself or trying to deny it. She was hopelessly head over heels for this man. “I think I’m falling for you” . . . ? Shit, she had fallen and was down for the count. “The wi
“Hey, Rya
All right? Hell no, she wasn’t all right. She just realized she was in love with the big jerk! “Where were you?” she demanded, taking a page out of his lawyer playbook.
His brow arched in question, as if that clearly was not the response he was expecting. A measure of concern lifted from his handsome face and was replaced by . . . humor? Oh, no, he didn’t . . .
“Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
He brushed a chunk of hair away from her wet cheeks and tucked it behind her ear.
“Wrong side of the bed? Aiden, I thought you’d left me.”
His brows pulled tight into a scowl, all trace of humor fleeing his face. “You think I’d do that to you?”
“Well, what was I supposed to think when I wake up to find you gone? You didn’t leave a note, and after last night . . .” There was no way she was going to finish that sentence. But Aiden wasn’t going to let it rest—of course.
“What about last night?”
Shit. She could tell by the determination in that bold stare, he wasn’t going to let it rest. “After puking up my toenails and then telling you I was falling for you, I’m not sure I would have blamed you for ru
His top lip twitched into a crooked grin that, holy hell, had the power to make her instantly weak in the knees. “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I don’t scare that easily. We all say stuff we don’t mean when we’re wasted.”
What was that? Was Aiden giving her an out?—giving her the opportunity to save face and retain a scrap of dignity? Or was this his way of asking her if she meant what she’d said? Did he want to hear her admit it now that she was sober? And what if she did? How would that possibly be a good idea considering their situation? But something in the way he watched her, the subtle tension in his jaw, told her he was waiting for an answer.