After a few games and a nightcap, Rhys and Sara left the Drakes’s before their infant son’s bedtime and headed to the hotel, Sara snuggled against his side for the short ride.
Everett’s words resonated in Rhys’s mind as they quietly discussed their dinner hosts. Rhys escorted Sara through a side entrance and used a service elevator to avoid being seen.
Inside his suite, he left the lights dimmed low so that the tree was the main focus, sparkling from the corner. “You and Isabel seemed to be fast friends.”
Sara smiled and nodded as he settled in beside her on the couch to pull her close for the Christmas movie she’d chosen.
“She’s amazing. She showed me her art studio and her current work, and even invited me to her upcoming show in January.”
He’d received an invitation for the private showcase as well and made a mental note to accept. “I’d be happy to escort you.”
Something in her expression darkened, like the light went out of her gaze before she averted her eyes. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Sara. What is it?”
“It’s nothing. Really. I just—don’t know where I’ll be in January.” She shook her head and gave him a sad smile. “I’m…enjoying our time together. Let’s not burst the bubble until we have to, okay? Can we just…”
She waved a hand toward the television and the tree, and he understood her meaning clear as day.
She thought this was temporary. That they were merely passing time as two lonely people by themselves near the holidays. And while he wanted to protest her thinking and shower her with reassurances, he also knew coming on too strong wouldn’t serve him because she’d balk and say he wasn’t sincere.
His sweet Sara was complicated in that way.
But since actions were more powerful than words, he drew her to him and covered them with a cozy blanket, pressed Play and silently promised her the future he intended to create for them.
Sara opened her eyes with a lazy blink and pressed her nose to the deliciousness beneath her. So good. Like whiskey and salt and?—
“Good morning, sweet Sara.”
She swallowed. How could anyone sound andsmellso good in the morning? And it was morning, given the way the sunlight streamed into the suite.
She didn’t want to move, and when she tried, she found herself trapped between the back cushions of the couch and Rhys’s long, hard body.
“We fell asleep.” She croaked like a thirsty frog and cringed. No sexy, throaty morning voice for her.
“We did. Best night’s sleep I’ve had in a very long time.”
His fingers tightened in her hair before relaxing and rubbing softly, the move making her eyes close in pleasure.
“Mmm. Keep looking like that and I’ll never let you leave.”
His lips suddenly pressed to hers in a kiss that was soft and heady and all things tantalizing. So much so she forgot about morning breath and the slight headache from lack of coffee.
“What do you want for breakfast? Or lunch? We slept in, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
The realization that it was lunch time jolted through her. That and the fact he’d apparently been lying there trapped by her and watching her sleep. Who did that? “What time is it? I have to get to the lot. Buck was supposed to be there by ten.”
“It’s nearly eleven.”
“Oh, no. I can’t believe I slept so late. Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You obviously needed the rest, sweetheart. We’ve had some busy days, and you’ve been writing and designing instead of resting.”
She tried to scramble up and struggled, given the way she was pinned between him and the couch, the two forming a steady, warm, heavy blanket of safety. No wonder she’d slept so well.
Rhys got up and then helped steady her as she finally swung off the couch to her feet. She flushed when he gently patted down her bedhead and gently ran his thumbs under her eyes.
