Cyrus shook his head against the pillow. I felt more than saw the movement from where I was cradled with my head in the crook of his neck. I was using his arm as a pillow, but the bottom of his actual pillow rested against the top of my head.
“Let’s do it in the morning. I’m really not in the mood to get up right now.” He burrowed deeper into his mattress and draped his dark charcoal sheets over our naked bodies.
I looked up at him, his strong profile illuminated only by the moonlight filtering in between his bamboo blinds. “Do you mean you want me to sleep here?”
“Sure. If you haven’t got any other plans, why not? I mean, I’ll take you home if you really want to go, but you need to tell me soon. I’m about to fall asleep.”
“No, it’s fine. Go to sleep. I’ll get the tour in the morning. Then I’ll go home.” I felt his breathing even out a minute later, but I didn’t fall asleep quite as fast.
Instead, I let my mind drift to the day we’d had together, to everything I’d learned about him and the events that had led us to sleeping in his bed together. I wasn’t entertaining any delusions about what this may mean or whether he’d changed his mind, though.
Cyrus was very vocal about what he wanted, and it wasn’t a relationship. What we had together was fun, and I wasn’t going to let his willingness to have a sleepover blur those lines for me.
Just because I was a romantic didn’t mean I was naïve. Cyrus was a good guy underneath all the asshole. It felt like he was becoming a friend and the benefits weren’t bad either. I couldn’t start thinking that he was going to become anything more than that, and besides, all that was more than enough for me.
For now anyway.
When it ever stopped being enough, that would be the day I walked away.
Chapter 18
Cyrus
Luna stirred in my arms, a slight smile on her lips even in sleep. God, she’s beautiful.
She lay on her side, facing me with her pitch-black hair spread out over the pillow and comforter behind her. Her legs were entwined with mine and one of her arms rested over my abdomen.
Not wanting to wake her and still too lazy to move anyway, I rested my head back on my pillow.
In between watching her sleep and relishing having her in my bed, I made mental notes of everything I had to get done today.
There were no meetings on my calendar, but I had several ventures to check in on and a few others who had sent proposals I needed to sift through. None of it was too pressing, though, so I also ran through my kitchen inventory and wondered what we could make for breakfast.
Before I reached a decision, Luna’s eyes blinked open. She stretched out like a cat, lazily pressing her breasts into the air and lifting one arm high above her head. For a beat, confusion marred her brow and then she remembered where she was.
“Good morning,” she said, her voice thick and scratchy from sleep. She slid a hand under her cheek and brought her eyes to mine. “Have you been awake for long? You should have just kicked me in the shin or something to wake me up.”
“I’ve only been awake a few minutes,” I assured her, dipping my head down to catch her lips in a soft kiss.
She kissed me back, obviously not minding morning breath so much either. “Good morning to you, too.”
Chuckling as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, she looked around the room. “What’s the time? I should probably get ready to leave.”
“Not yet.” I wound my arms around her waist and put my head down in her lap, facing up. “I owe you a tour of the place, right? I’m also pretty sure I can manage to rustle something up for breakfast.”
Looking down at me, her long lashes fanned out over her cheeks from this angle. “So you cuddle and you make breakfast? You’re terrible at this one-night-stand thing. Aren’t you supposed to kick me out before I’ve even had a chance to open my eyes properly?”
“One problem with that. It isn’t a one-night thing. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten our first time already?” I smirked and reached for the soft skin of her inner thigh. “I’d be happy to jog your memory.”
She squealed when my fingers tickled her, and wormed her way out from underneath me. “I may not know what the time is, but if you’re serious about breakfast and a tour, I don’t think we have time for memory jogging this morning. Sadly.”
“Okay then.” I shrugged one shoulder against the warm mattress before rolling over. “Your loss. Up and at ‘em it is.”
Luna grabbed my shirt from the floor, slipped it on, waited for me to grab a pair of pajama pants from my dresser, and motioned for me to lead the way. I paused at the door, eyes raking over her bare legs and my shirt covering up her curves. “You look sexy as fuck in that. It’s really not fair, considering you just told me we don’t have time for another round.”
Laughing as she ran her hands up and down the length of her torso, she batted her eyelashes. “What? This old thing? I guess I could go shower and cover up properly before breakfast if you insist.”
“Don’t you dare.” I grabbed her hand and led her out of the room before she could make good on her threat. “Stop talking crazy. I enjoy starting my Mondays with a case of blue balls.”
“In that case, remind me to shimmy later. Unless twerking is more your thing? Personally, I don’t think it’s super sexy, but I’m happy to help you start your week out right, however you prefer.”
I groaned. “Trust me. None of those extras are necessary.”
We stepped out of the hallway into the main room and she stopped dead in her tracks, pulling me to a halt as well.
“This is the billionaire’s version of a bachelor pad then, huh?” she asked as her eyes tracked around the room. “A TV half the size of my bed, couches, a bar and one rug.”
“It’s one hell of a rug,” I said, eyeing the navy blue and light gray monstrosity that covered a generous portion of my open-plan living area.
The bar, TV room, dining room, and kitchen were separated only by weight-bearing pillars placed evenly throughout the room. Jenny had insisted that I needed something to give the place some warmth and, when she saw the rug, had declared that it would be a great start.
“It is. I feel like the gray floors and white walls would have felt a bit stark without it.” Luna gave me a playful nudge with her foot. “Tell me, is there a Bachelors-are-us store somewhere that sells these dark leather couches and giant TVs?”
“Yeah, there’s one right around the corner actually. You should pop in sometime. They have great specials on hardwood bar counters and stools.”
She laughed, the light and melodic sound amplified by my high ceilings and lack of general decor.
Peter had helped me choose some artwork shortly after I’d moved in and there were mirrors with thick black frames that had been here when I bought the place, but other than that, the walls were bare.
One entire wall was made of stackable glass doors and opened up onto a large balcony. Luna headed toward it, trailing her fingers just about an inch away from the glass as she walked from one side to the other.
“Is that a hot tub out there?” She shot me a look over her shoulder, eyes lit with excitement and maybe a little bit of heat again. “Can we try it sometime?”