“You could, but why bother?” I said.
At the bottom of the stairs, I held her precariously with one arm for a second to sling her duffel bag over my shoulder while she giggled.
Then I carried her up to the spare bedroom with an en suite washroom. The two rooms together were about th
e same size as her entire apartment.
“Wow,” she said as I sat her gently on the bed.
I waited while she looked around. My decorator had chosen a blue and warm gray palette, which was soothing, if not very interesting.
“It’s like a fancy hotel,” she said with a grin. “Just as nice as the ones in our magazines.”
“Unfortunately, your only option for room service is me,” I said. “My room is the last door in this hallway. Feel free to come in and wake me up if you need anything, okay?”
Hayden nodded. “I’m fine. Thank you so much.” Her lips turned up in that special soft smile that turned my insides to pudding. “I had a wonderful night. Thank you.”
I knelt down beside the high bed so her face was just a bit above mine, then reached out to skim my thumb along her cheek bone. “It’s decision time, Hayden.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whether or not you want a kiss good night.”
She automatically licked her lips as her eyes smiled down at me.
“Now, we’ve got plenty of options here,” I said in my best cheesy used car salesman voice. “We’ve got the fake boyfriend kiss on the top of the head. That’s been a crowd favorite in the past.”
Hayden giggled adorably.
“We’ve got the real kiss, that tells the poor sap that he might actually have a chance with the gorgeous girl someday, if he plays his cards right.”
I paused, waiting for her saucier smile.
“Then of course, we’ve got the good old-fashioned slap across the face that means ‘get the hell out of my room because I need to sleep’. That’s always been an option right from the start, I hope you realize that.”
I loved that she raised her hand teasingly before leaning down. Her kiss was gentle. Tentative. Slipping my arms around her waist, I pulled her closer.
I had chosen this position very carefully so that she was above me. She could feel like she had the upper hand this way. It would be very easy for her to back away when she had enough.
To my absolute delight she leaned in, her lips parting for mine, allowing us both to deepen the kiss until we were breathless.
Her soft lips on mine made me painfully hard, but that was not going to be her concern for a while. It was crucial that I took my time with my sweet girl.
Reaching up to wind my fingers through the back of her hair, I pulled her closer, kissing her harder until she moaned against my lips.
Her hands moved along the backs of my shoulders, holding me close. I could feel the shift within both of us, as we clearly needed more. But since she was already sitting on a bed, I didn’t want her to think for one second that I was getting any ideas.
We pulled back at the same time, then I darted in to kiss her chin, making her giggle again. “Help yourself to everything. Wake me up if you need anything else. Sleep well, beautiful.”
Standing, I ran my hand over her glossy hair as she stared up at me. I was already enchanted every time I saw that sweet smile. I closed the door behind me. I wanted her to feel like she had her own private space.
Down the hall, I went into my office, which was next to my bedroom, leaving the door open in case she came this way.
I was hardly ever away from my computers for such a long stretch of time, so I had to catch up on lots of emails, messages, and notes from my team.
There were several high profile private clients that required constant security, but all of my people were reporting that things were running smoothly. More importantly, Toby, my most resourceful private investigator, had dug up some more information on Craig Landers.
He wasn’t even close to his father. He’d been raised by his mother, and she was the one who was paying to send him to university in California in September. It turned out that she had to pull a lot of strings, and probably greased some palms, to get him in. Craig was a lousy student, and was not liked by his peers, or his teachers.