He already knew. But he prayed it wasn’t true. Because if she had to spend the night in this room with him, he wasn’t sure he could control the outcome.
She stared at him like he was a Neanderthal, thick-skulled and dense. Despite the formidable expression he thought he wore, she moved right around to the other side of his bed, kicking off her slippers and unfastening her robe. Making herself at home.
Turns out, underneath she had on a T-shirt that said KISS MY CUPCAKE.
He was doomed.
“I have to stay here tonight,” she announced as she crawled into his bed.
That made him look above his reading glasses at her. “Have to is strong language, Countess.”
“Juliet already suspects things,” Tessa said in her don’t-you-get-it voice. “She saw a bunch of my stuff in that bedroom downstairs, and I told her the house has no closet space so I commandeered that room for my clothes.”
“Did she believe you?”
“I think so, but she’d never believe it if she caught me sleeping on the couch. And there’s something else… She keeps asking me things. Like she knows something’s not right. So I couldn’t take a chance.” He must’ve still looked incredulous because she said, slowly and patiently, “Married people sleep together.”
“Oh, okay,” he said, starting to turn down the sheets. He made sure to toss her a wolfish grin. “Well, in that case, I’m happy to oblige.”
For that, he got a pillow tossed at him. It smelled like her shampoo.
“I said sleep,” she groaned. But he thought he saw her mouth turn up a little. “Do you have a sleeping bag?”
“Nope.”
“Extra blanket?”
“Nope.”
“I don’t suppose you’re feeling chivalrous?”
“As in, ‘No, no, please, let me take the floor’? Not at all. Chivalry is dead. I’m all about equality.”
“Okay, fine. I’m exhausted, and I won’t take up much space.”
“Don’t you think we need to talk about what happened in the garden?”
“No.”
“No as in, absolutely not?”
“No as in, never. Again. We just got…carried away by that ridiculous competition.”
“You mean the which-country-is-better competition? And here I thought Italy won.”
She waved her hand in the air. “Things like that are bound to happen when two adults live closely together like this. And I don’t do casual. We shouldn’t let the pretending get to us, you know?”
“Says the woman before she climbs into the man’s bed.”
She looked like she wished she had something else to throw at him. “Leo, I don’t know where else to go.”
“Okay, I get it. And I get how we’re both not seeing anyone else right now and we just…slipped.” He sighed and picked up his book. The words were insensible ink blots, and his heart was pounding so loudly he felt like his whole body was vibrating. What the hell was he doing? This was like letting a grenade into his bed.
She was about to pull back the covers and launch into his bed when she stopped and looked at him. “You’re wearing clothes, right?”
His grin spread despite himself. She was so much fun to tease.
“Leo. Be serious.”
“It’s really hot tonight,” he said, using the book to fan his face. “Enter at your own risk, Countess.”
She shook her head. “You know what? You can joke all you want. I’m so tired I don’t even care as long as you stay on your side.”
He flapped down the covers, revealing navy boxers. “Don’t get all hot and bothered. I’m decent.”
She slid into his bed, collapsing onto the pillow and lying with her back to him.
That gave him a great view of her excellent cupcakes.
It wasn’t like she was wearing anything revealing. But the sight of her in his bed, even turned away from him, made every nerve jump.
Her dark hair was splayed all over the pillow, her legs were toned and tan and looked like they’d be soft as silk, and her sweet curves were visible under the sheet. So close. Too close. And why was he having these thoughts? Because he was a man; that was it. With a very sexy woman inches from him. In his bed.
Not to mention the fact that just a little while ago, they’d had their tongues down each other’s throats.
Following her lead, he took off his reading glasses, set them on his book, and turned out the light. For a moment they both lay there, listening to the sounds of the summer night entering through the open windows—the crickets, a motorcycle revving in the distance, the intermittent squawk of an insomniac bird. The delicious smell of citrus—her soap or body wash or whatever it was—drifted up to him from across the bed.
She smelled good enough to eat.
He snuck a glance. Now she’d rolled over on her back, one hand draped across her forehead.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, and she turned to him. “Why are you looking at me?”
The motion made her hair spill over. A thick, silky mass. Enough for someone to get lost in.
“I don’t know,” he said, clearing his throat. “Maybe it’s because I’m still a little thrown that you’re in my bed.”
The moon shone on her face and reflected off her shiny hair. “I’m sorry, Leo. My sister was so distressed. You don’t mind that she’s staying over, do you?”
“Nah,” he said, pulling the sheet around him and turning to the other side. “We’ll make her pancakes in the morning.”
“Thanks. I—appreciate it. I’ve got to go into the bakery at six, then I’m meeting your sister for breakfast around ten. Juliet promised she’d be up and out pretty early.”
“No problem.” He paused a few beats. “Tessa, can I offer some advice?”
“That sounds a little scary, but sure.”
“Your sisters depend on you a lot. Which is sort of good. But…maybe you should try not picking them up off the ground all the time. Maybe they’ve gotten a little too used to you always being there for them over the years.”
She sat up, her anger flaring. “I couldn’t turn them away when they’re in trouble.”
“No. I wouldn’t expect you to. That’s not my point. But…I don’t know. Maybe treat them more like you’re their sister rather than their mother. Like, I’m just looking on from the outside, but it seems like maybe they rely on you for a lot.”