Taking a deep breath, I stepped away from him. “It’s been a long night. I should probably be heading home.”
He frowned. “I thought you said you wanted cuddles?”
“I do.”
“Then bring your ass in the house, get in the shower, throw on one of my t-shirts and let’s get in the bed.”
Making no effort to hide how giddy I was, I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered, “You definitely don’t have to tell me twice.”
“Oh, trust me, I know.” He chuckled as he grabbed my hand and led me inside.
As soon as our fingers intertwined, my heart started pounding a lot faster than I was used to.
I wanted to question what was happening, but after the night I’d had, I couldn’t afford to get any more worked up than I already was.
Just relax, Nova. Just fucking relax.
3
Don
“Good morning, son. I brought donuts for you and my grandbaby. Is she up yet?”
Surprised to see my mother barging into my space so early in the morning, I slid my hand down my face and groaned. “No, she’s not. In fact, not even the birds have managed to open their eyes yet. What are you doing here so early?”
“Early? Son, it’s almost nine o’clock. Everyone should be up…including Nova,” she said with a little smirk.
I eyed her in confusion. “How did you even know—”
“Her car is parked out front, and since you’re barely awake and still in your drawers, I’m pretty sure she’s been here since last night.”
I looked down for the first time since I’d rolled out of bed.
Damn, I really am in my drawers.
“Let me go get myself cleaned up. I’ll be back.”
“Mmhmm, I’ll be here.”
I shook my head as she took a seat on one of the tall chairs that sat in front of the kitchen island. Already, I knew exactly what this little popup visit was about. There wasn’t much my mother didn’t know about me, especially since I was her only child. She made it her business to keep up with what I was doing as much as she could, and I didn’t mind telling her. Whatever I needed, all it took was one phone call and she was on it, no questions asked.
Making sure to keep quiet, I tiptoed into my bedroom and grabbed some basketball shorts. As I slid them on, my eyes drifted over to Nova as she remained tucked under the covers clutching one of my pillows. I smiled, aware of her need to snuggle up against something that belonged to me after I’d left the bed. According to her, it was her way of holding on to my scent. A truth she mistakenly told me after we’d had one too many drinks one night.
Nova was the type of woman I knew I wanted in my life. Ambitious, beautiful, confident…and most importantly, she was good with Dakota. But with everything we’ve always had going on in our personal lives, acknowledging what could be between us never came up for discussion.
But without a doubt, I was feeling Nova, and it’s been that way since college. Aside from my family, she was the only other person in my life that made sense.
Taking one last glance as she stirred a little to make herself more comfortable, I smiled. Even in her sleep, she was the finest woman I’d ever seen. Just the sight of her made me want to crawl back into bed and pull her into me. But another second longer and my mother was going to start some shit that I was sure neither of us wanted to deal with.
Returning to the kitchen, I said, “Would you like something to wash down that donut you just shoved in your mouth?”
“As a matter of fact, I would. Orange juice, please.”
Laughing, I shook my head and opened the cabinet near the sink to grab a glass. “So, what brings you by so early in the morning? You’re not taking Dakota to the aquarium until later this afternoon.”
“Yeah, but I figured I would stop by and see how you were feeling this morning. I know you’re dealing with a lot.”
I took a deep breath, trying not to get too uncomfortable about the subject I knew she was trying to bring up. “I told you over the phone that I was good.”
