She pinched his hip. “Awfully sure of yourself.”
“I don’t hear you complaining.”
Point Leo. “You go first. Use anything you need in the bathroom.”
While he was in there, she put on an oversized Bruisers T-shirt, then spent thirty seconds wishing she had sexy nightgowns like Becca’s. But she wasn’t a sexy nightgown kind of girl, and there was really no use pretending she was.
Leo shuffled back into the room a minute later, naked, and climbed into her bed. When she joined him after brushing her teeth, his eyes were closed. But he reached for her anyway, folding his arm around her body, pulling her close. His hand snaked up under the shirt, and he made a sound of approval. “I like this,” he said with sleepy lips. “Good access to the tatas. Night,” he said, giving her left a gentle squeeze. “Night,” he repeated, cupping the other.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face. And she would have stayed that way, except some time later her phone began to vibrate beside the bed. She opened one eye. It was pitch dark in her bedroom except for the phone’s glow. She closed it again, deciding that the phone was unimportant. Not only was she sleepy, she was warmer and more comfortable than usual. Leo’s big body was stretched out beside her.
Heaven.
The damned phone buzzed again. Nobody called her in the night. In fact, she was pretty sure she’d set it to be silent after eleven PM, except for a couple of crucial phone numbers.
Crap.
Georgia woke up all the way now. If her phone was making noise, that meant it was important. She reached for it when the apartment’s buzzer rang. Maybe Becca was locked out?
She swung her legs out of bed, grabbed the phone, and padded into the living room. The phone’s screen said Missed Call: Dad. She tapped redial. While she waited for the call to connect, she noted that Becca’s door was closed. So her roommate was home . . .
“Honey?” her father said into her ear. “Can I come up?”
“What? Why? It’s . . .” She couldn’t see any clocks. “Late,” she guessed.
He chuckled. “I know, and I’m sorry. But I went out drinking and missed the last train to Huntington.”
“Where’s your car?” Georgia asked.
“Can’t drive it,” her father muttered. “For a skinny guy, Nate sure can drink. I don’t know where he puts it.”
“You’re at the front door?” she asked, finally catching on. Her father intended to crash in her apartment. Where Leo was currently sleeping naked in the bedroom. Holy hell.
“Yeah, honey. I promise not to make a habit of this.” He gave a drunken chuckle.
Georgia leaned on the button which opened the door downstairs. “Tell me when you’re in.”
“I’m in.”
She disconnected the call and then scurried into her bedroom for the extra set of sheets and the blanket she kept for visitors.
“Wha’s the matter?” Leo asked sleepily.
“Nothing,” she hissed. “Can you do me a favor? Be absolutely silent? My dad is on his way up.”
“’Kay,” Leo said sleepily.
She left her bedroom, pulling the door partially shut, then scrutinizing it, hoping it looked like it was casually half closed. When a tap came on the apartment door, she opened it to admit her father.
“Hi, Princess,” he said, with a little slur. “Never drink with people half your age.”
“I’ll try to remember that.” She moved over to the world’s ugliest couch and dropped the folded sheet onto it. Holy hell. There were clothes all over the floor. Thank God it was pretty dark in here. Panicking, she kicked Leo’s big shoes under the couch. “Why don’t you use the bathroom? There’s, uh, an extra toothbrush in the medicine cabinet. In the package. You can’t miss it.”
“Thanks,” her father mumbled. “Dental hygiene isn’t my biggest issue right now. You got any Advil?”
“Help yourself.”
As soon as he lumbered into the little bathroom, Georgia dove for Leo’s belt and their shirts. She scooped them into her arms and carried them into her bedroom, depositing them on the chair in the corner. How had she turned into someone’s misbehaving teenage daughter again? This was ridiculous.
Back in the living room, she shook out the sheets and the blanket and put a pillowcase onto one of her throw pillows. It wasn’t the Plaza Hotel, but her father could just deal with it.
“Thanks, honey,” he said when he emerged from the bathroom. “Sorry to wake you. I really appreciate the favor. We were right in the neighborhood . . .”
“I get it.” She sighed. “Sleep tight.”
“I’ll take you out for brunch tomorrow as a thank-you.”
“Uh, thanks. Good night.”
Damn it. There went her lazy morning in bed with Leo. Her heart thumping guiltily, Georgia tiptoed back into her own room and shut the door all the way. She slipped into bed again.
Leo rolled onto his side and pulled her in. “Hey. You okay?”
“Shh!” she whispered into his ear. “He’s right on the other side of that door!”
He was quiet, but she could feel his belly shake with laughter. Then he put his lips right up to her ear, his voice a low growl. “Ours is the love that dares not speak its name. Does this mean there won’t be any morning nookie?”
“Leo,” she warned in the lowest voice she was capable of using. “Please. He can’t know.”
He licked her earlobe. “Are you ashamed of me?”
“No!”
Still chuckling, he pressed his face against her cheek. “Is it awful that I just want to be outed? You’re mine, Gigi. I don’t care who knows.”
“Just a little while longer,” she mouthed. “The trade deadline is soon. I don’t want to lose you.”
Leo rolled on top of her. “Okay,” he whispered. “But I’d sure like to make a whole lot of noise right now.” He kissed her neck.
She wrapped her arms around him and sighed. It really was such a pity.
* * *
When Georgia woke up next, there was plenty of sunlight in her room. And she was alone in the bed.
Shit!
She sat up fast, listening. She heard her father snoring on the sofa. And then the flush of the toilet. There was the creak of the bathroom door, followed by someone moving carefully through the apartment.
A moment later Leo slipped into the bedroom again, wearing his boxers and nothing else except a grin. It was a fine sight, but it still made Georgia anxious. He closed the door behind him, then crawled onto the bed, pushing Georgia down into the mattress.