Wherever It Leads(110)

“Sleeping.”

“Obviously,” I shot as I hung a hand on my hip, trying to keep my eyes on his instead of his body. I wondered briefly if he was naked. My heartbeat ticked up a notch. “Why are you sleeping here?”

He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair, putting it in place elegantly. “Ever since Lily started sleeping over, I haven’t had a full night’s sleep. Three in the morning, every morning, like clockwork. First the moaning. Then the headboard banging. I’ve tried everything, Rose. You’ve gotta know this was the last resort. I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t desperate for sleep.”

I regretted the fact that he had a key to our place, along with regretting a hundred other things as I glared at that beautiful *, sitting on the floor of Lily’s room, wrapped in pretty, frilly bedding as he stared up at me with sad, intense eyes, eyes that begged me to understand. The pissed me off the most was that I did understand.

I felt that pull to him, in the moment. His eyes always did that to me—I swear if he looked hard enough, he could see straight through me.

I shoved my feelings on the matter back down into that dark corner of my heart and kicked its door closed.

My eyes narrowed, teeth clenching once. “How long have you been sleeping here?”

His face tightened in the smallest increment, but I saw it just the same. “Over a month.”

I ran a hand through my hair, not even sure what to say. “Jesus Christ, Tricky. You should have asked me.”

“Lily suggested it. I told her we should ask you, but she said you’d flip out.” He smirked a little, since she was right and all.

“That bitch,” I breathed, only like forty-two percent serious, but that forty-two percent was really serious.

He was still smirking just a little, that dick, even though he had those eyes of his on me like sexy lasers. “Come on, Rose. I mean, I’ve been here for a month and you didn’t even know. I’ll stay out of your way, I swear.”

My jaw was set, but I was torn. Everything pointed to picking him up my his scruff—naked or not—and tossing him out. I just wasn’t sure how much of that was irrational. So I put on my hardass, scowling a little for effect. “It’s way too early to have this discussion. I need coffee, or whiskey. Or both. You work today?”

“Yeah, until six.”

“I have jury duty, but meet me here after and give me the day to think about it.”

“Fair enough.” The shadow smirk bloomed into a full blown crooked smile. He picked up Philmore, turning it over to inspect it as his brow climbed. “You were going to assault me with a pink vibe?”

I shrugged. “It was the closest blunt object.”

He snuck a glance down at my legs. I’d forgotten I was nearly naked, and another little burst of adrenaline shot through me as I watched him look me over.

I was all of a sudden very glad I’d done laundry a couple of days ago and had my top-shelf undies on instead of the days of the week panties I reserved for periods and trips to the laundromat.

I turned for Lily’s dresser to rummage through her clothes with clumsy hands, hiding behind my dark hair to cover the flush in my cheeks. When I turned around, business casual in hand, he was still staring at my body. I ignored the shot of heat that ran through me and made a face somewhere between a scowl and a glare.

He looked up at me without the least bit of remorse.

The light streamed in through a crack between the curtains, a slice of sunshine across his angular face and curves of his shoulders, illuminating his blue eyes as tiny specks of dust danced in and out of the beam.

I realized I wasn’t breathing and clutched the clothes in my hands with sweaty palms, needing to get out of that room before I suffocated. “All right . . . well, I’ll see you tonight, Tricky.”

“Sure.” His voice was tight, the smile somehow gone from his face without me realizing when it had left.

I wondered if he was as affected by me as I was by him, just before walked away from him with only one other thought.

This cannot be good.