Sleeping with the Enemy (An Enemies to Lovers Collection)

I could see that Carla was exhausted and was eyeing the dog biscuits in the cookie jar on the receptionist’s desk.

“Is there a takeout or restaurant that does takeout?” Carla asked Shaun.

“Hold on a minute,” Shaun took out his phone and went to make a call.

He came back a few minutes later with some really good news that nearly made me weep.

“My friend will have a meal waiting for you as well as some clean clothes,” he said. He was still feeling very apologetic over what happened as he should.

It was not long until the vet came to tell us that the calf was okay, as was the cow. As our car had been dropped off at one of the garages in town, Shaun drove us to the guest lodge. I saw Carla’s eyes widen when we turned into a valley with rolling tree-lined hills on the one side and cliffs on the other.

The guest lodge was nestled in the middle of all that beauty and offered rooms as well as cabins. Shaun’s friend was lovely and showed Carla and I to our two-bedroom cabin. Each room had its own bathroom, which both Carla and I were grateful for. Our hostess had also left us two fresh changes of clothes and some clean pajamas.

I stood looking around my room. Both bedrooms were upstairs and had large windows on all sides. Every way you looked, you were treated to a breathtaking scenery. I heard the bath running in Carla’s room when I walked through to the kitchen to get another bottle of water. I’d already drunk two but I was really thirsty from the long run I’d had.

I was still a bit shaken from finding Carla in an accident. I pulled out a chair at the small dining table and took out Carla’s phone from my pocket. I had absentmindedly switched it off at one point when it had kept ringing. I had more important things to concentrate on.

As soon as I switched it on, I got an incoming call.

It was Hayley.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Why did you switch off your phone?” Hayley shouted at me. And she was right to.

“I’m so sorry, Hayley,” I pinched the bridge of my nose as my temples started to ache. “It’s been a long day.”

I explained what happened and assured her that Carla was fine. She was exhausted and asleep and that I would get her to call when she was awake.

I hung up and wandered back upstairs to my room. I loved this wooden cabin. It was bright and airy, but at the same time, cozy. I went through to my room and switched on the shower. I smelt like a sweaty cow.

After my shower, I laid down on the extremely comfortable bed with a towel wrapped around my torso to relax for five minutes.

***

It was dark when I started to surface. I stretched and froze. A soft warm body was curled up next to me. Her soft hair ticked my chest where her head rested. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her. My heart swelled and I gently rubbed my cheek against her clean smelling hair. It felt so right to wake up with Carla curled up beside me.

She murmured something and snuggled closer. I put the soft bedside lamp on so I could find her phone to see what time it was. I picked up her phone and saw something sticking out from inside the cover of her phone. I pulled it out. It was some sort of note folded multiple times. I was about to put it back when I saw my name on it.

I opened it. It was a letter Carla had written to me. The paper looked pretty new. So, she must have written it somewhere along our trip. I knew that I should put it back and when she woke up, we could talk, but the letter was addressed to me...

***

Dear Damon,

I want to say it seems like lately whenever we try to talk to each other, one of us either explodes or misunderstands. And it’s way worse than before. But I have so much I want to tell you.

Looking back, we never really had a chance to just be friends without any sort of rivalry between us. I think it was mainly because of who our families are and that’s just how we were made to start out. But I always felt regrets over that because honestly, I have always secretly admired you. You were one of the only people who could ever really give me a run for my money. When I think back over the years, I was always trying to be one step ahead of you so that you would look at him, notice me.

But I also pushed down those feelings that was growing day by day and put it down as simple rivalry. And the night we had our first kiss was when I realized my real feelings for you and how attracted I was to you. I even ended up telling you that I was a virgin.