Eva didn't resist when I laid her on the mattress, but she did grab my shirt when I tried to straighten. "You stay too. This bed will hold us both, and I'm far and away from being a modest, maidenly virgin. Plus, I trust you."
The I-trust-you part won me over. Blood surged through my veins, hot and thick. My skin prickled, suddenly extra sensitive. I was going to sleep beside my Tinker Bell.
Oh, fuck. She was going to be right next to me, all night long.
My arousal thrummed painfully hard, but I nodded in agreement because no way was I turning this down. Then I held my breath, irrationally afraid she'd come to her senses if I breathed wrong. If she knew how much the very idea of lying beside her turned me on, she'd probably freak.
"Just . . . uh, just let me just change, and I'll be right back."
She was already fast asleep again by the time I returned, wearing a hole-ridden t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She'd scooted to the outside edge, probably so she could take the side closest to the kids, which meant I had to crawl over her to reach the inside of the bed that I had pressed against the wall.
"Night, Tink," I told her softly before kissing the crown of her head.
"Mmph," was her only reply.
I smiled, killed the lights and crawled in with her. The blonde silken tresses of her hair, illuminated by the nightlight that was plugged in by the crib, looked like spun gold. I wanted to reach out and touch it, run my fingers through it, and bring it to my nose to smell. But I was a good boy and kept my hands off the woman I'd been dreaming about for the past decade. She was inches away, safe and secure, and so damn beautiful. Our children were sleeping only a few feet from us. Life was pretty damn spectacular.
I fell asleep with a smile on my face. And again, I slept right through Julian waking up in the middle of the night.
***
The next night, Eva stayed over again, and she slept in my bed. Again. And once again, I crawled under the sheets with her after I got home from working at the club.
But unlike the two nights before, I woke to suckling sounds in the early hours.
"Julian?" I mumbled, rolling over to face her.
"He's already gone back to sleep," she answered. "I'm up with Skylar now."
Shit, she didn't need to get up this many times. "Need me to do anything?"
"Nope. Got it covered." And she did; she'd thrown a blanket over her shoulder, covering all the action.
My squinted eyes suddenly weren't so squinted with sleep anymore. "Are you breastfeeding?"
"Mm-hmm."
I sighed and reclosed my eyes. "That is so hot. Breastfeeding mothers kick ass. If I wasn't this tired, I'd be incredibly turned on right now."
Screw it; I was already growing wood.
She laughed softly. "Go back to bed, Patrick."
I smiled. "Call me that again."
"Patrick." She teased my hair with her fingers.
Damn. "Yep, I'm having a serious wet about this dream tonight."
Then I fell back asleep to her amazing laughter.
EVA
By the beginning of the fourth day of playing Nanny Mercer, I was exhausted, and yet strangely invigorated. I just felt good. Good about myself, about what I was doing for Pick and Julian, about how I was spending my days. Just plain good about everything.
The fatigue was beginning to get to me, though. Today, I was going to sleep whenever the kids did. That's all there was to it. Besides, I'd mostly caught up with all the housework, even though Pick kept insisting I didn't have to do so much. I felt better being in a cleaner place, plus I wanted to help him out since he worked himself like a dog. And I had to admit, I loved all the appreciation I saw in his eyes every time he came home to a hot meal or freshly washed sheets.
Oh, God. I sounded like June Cleaver.