"Knox," I moaned. My center heated, pooling with moisture and tightening painfully. I needed him. I needed release. I was so pent up with worry and discomfort and anxiety.
Then he was licking my face, sloppy and wet and warm, and I cringed. "What—?"
Mini whined, and my eyes popped open. In the blue-black darkness, I blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of my surroundings. The bedroom wasnice. Too nice. Like a SpaceBnB I couldn't afford, and the linen and down comforter cocooned me securely in a room that my nose told me had grown icy cold. Then Mini whined again, and I turned to find my Doberman staring at me, licking her chops and pricking her ears back and forth.
Oh.
I was in Rook's apartment. I was in Rook'sbed, and I'd just been having… a wet dream about him? "Jesus, fuck," I muttered. I slid a hand down my face, wiping Mini slobber off my skin and giving her an irritated glower. "Do you know how long it took me to fall asleep in this man's bed? Of course, you do. You were here the whole time. Why are you waking me up?"
Mini made a growl-whine that told me she had to use the bathroom. My eyelids shuttered to half-mast. "You drank out of the toilet bowl while I was sleeping, didn't you?"
Mini cocked her head, ears twitching. That was a yes.
Groaning, and this time not from arousal—what the hell had I been thinking?—I sat up and scrubbed the top of Mini's head. "Alright," I sighed. "Alright. Midnight walk, it is." I glanced at my phone screen where it was charging on Rook's bedside table. "Make thattwo AMwalk."
Mini scampered away from me, doing her dainty Doberman trot in a circle before returning to me happily. I dragged myself to the bathroom to take care of my heavy period flow nonsense, throwing away the pad, replacing it, and adding a tampon forgood measure. Endometriosis was the actualworst. My cramps were ramping up again now that I was awake, so after washing my hands, I shakily sorted through Rook's medicine cabinet until I found the Ibuprofen. I needed something stronger than Ibuprofen. Like a lidocaine shot. Or meth.
Once I'd finished, I pulled a hoodie over my tank top and pajama pants set, and then I opened the bedroom door with as much stealth as I was capable of. Which wasn't much. I tiptoed out, but Mini scrambled over hardwood floors, her long nails clacking and scraping as she booked it for the elevator entrance. I hurried after her, but Rook had already sat up from where he'd been sleeping on the couch. There was plenty of light in the apartment, courtesy of the streetlamps outside and the enormous windows along the west side of the room.
Rook rotated a look around, his blond hair ruffled and his sleepy eyes blinking. "Gemma?"
Had he been having a wet dream about me? I shook my head. What an inane thought, of course, he hadn't. He was about as attracted to me as he would have been to a rodent infestation in his home, I imagined. I stopped at the back of the couch, looking down at Rook's confused features and resisting the urge to touch his overnight beard growth. He was such a beautiful man, with his sharp angles and hard features. Ridiculous. "Sorry," I whispered.
Rook glanced at Mini, then back at me, and then he checked his smartwatch. Peering up at me, he asked, "You're not going for a walk, are you?"
I motioned to Mini apologetically. "She has to pee. I think she drank the toilet bowl water."
Rook scratched his beard shadow, squinting one eye. "I told you not to do that by yourself after dark."
I bristled. "Okay,Mother." Ignoring him, I went to get the leash from its hook. At the same time, Rook unfolded himselffrom the couch, obviously intending to cut me off. Somehow, he managed to look unhurried butstillmoved far faster than my short legs could carry me. As I grabbed the leash, his fingers closed around it, too. He was standing close behind me, and I realized then that he was shirtless. And warm. Andfuck, why did I have to have a sexy dream about him?
"I'll go with you," he murmured low. He still had the grainy quality of sleep to his voice, and his body near mine was firm and so tempting. "But let me get dressed first."
I turned as he stepped away, pressing my back against the wall. The top of my head brushed the rack of hooks, and I stared at him, wide-eyed. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah," he replied, somewhat warily with an eye bounce. "Why?"
"Nothing," I said quickly. Who was this guy? First, he'd helped me with my cramps, and then he'd flirted with me in the kitchen—I was pretty sure that was where the disturbingly sexy dream had come from—and now he washelping me?Bizarre. Maybe Mercury was in retrograde. I glanced out the windows. It wasn't a full moon, either.
Knox took the leash with him, like he was worried—okay, like heknew—that I would go without him anyway. When he returned, he had on a zip-up hoodie, sweatpants, and sneakers. I'd slid my feet into my rubber clogs, and as I pressed the elevator button, he clipped the leash to Mini's collar. Knox gave me a sideways look. "I'm awake now. You can go back to bed if you want."
I lifted my chin, offended that he thought I was some lazy dog owner who didn't want to take care of her own puppy. "I can take care of Mini."
He gave me an up-down perusal as the doors slid open. "You're already bending over at the waist. You're in pain."
Well, fuck. I straightened. "Still."
"Still, you're in pain and you need to take care of yourself or you'll get burned out." Knox gave me an icy look like I'd yanked out a bunch of stitches he had personally sewn into my body. But he didn't argue with me anymore as I joined him in the elevator and we took it down to the next floor. He muttered something about "stubborn women," and I folded my arms, keeping my chin aloft.
As we stepped out into the building lobby, I heard something clank in the gym. I peered through the glass door to the workout room and found our downstairs neighbor, Dave, lifting iron. At two in the morning. My brow furrowed, but Knox didn't even hesitate, walking forward and out the front doors. "Dave has weird work hours. Don't worry about him."
Dave had dark hair dyed blond at the tips, muscles so large, I wondered if he could even touch his hands together, and headphones over his ears. He was lifting a shit ton of weight by himself, his back drenched in sweat, and his enormous, tree-trunk thighs bulged. Dave was clearly a bit of a roid-head.Good for Dave, I guess.
"Do you think he cares that you have another tenant in your apartment?" I asked, walking through the door Knox held open for me.
Knox shrugged, following me out. "Doubt it." Mini bounded and leaped around us, clearly thrilled to have a repeat of yesterday afternoon with both of us taking her for a walk.
The dark streets swallowed us whole as we left the bright floodlights outside the building, and even the occasional street lamps did little to add light. Knox turned on a flashlight on his smartwatch, which was surprisingly bright. I cocked my head, shoving my hands in my hoodie pocket and considering him thoughtfully. "How long have you lived here, then?"
