I have no idea what that will entail, but I have a week to figure it out.
After everything she’s done for me, for my dad, for my whole family, I’ll be damned if a woman like Leah Levee doesn’t deserve to be celebrated.
Joey’s breaths grow soft and even, and when it’s apparent she’s fallen asleep, Leah carefully checks her temperature one more time with a digital thermometer. She gently presses the device to her forehead and waits for the beep.
She glances down at the number and smiles up at me. “She’s officially broken her fever.”
“Glad to hear it,” I say and stand up, motioning for Leah to follow.
Once we’re both in the living room, she says, “I think it’s best if she stays here for the night.”
“I agree.”
“And, you know, you can stay here, too…if you want…of course…only if you want…”
I smirk and step toward her, closing off the distance between us. “I definitely want, but what do you want?”
“I want you to stay,” she whispers, her eyes looking up into mine.
“And if I stay, where do you want me to sleep?”
Without another word, Leah takes my hand and quietly leads me back into the hallway and into her bedroom. “Would you sleep in my bed tonight?” she asks and quickly adds, “But not for anything other than just…lying with each other.” Her eyes flit down to her bare feet like she’s too nervous to wait for my answer.
I lift up her chin so her gaze locks with mine again. “You askin’ me to hold you tonight, darlin’?”
“Maybe?”
“Well then, maybe I’d love nothin’ more than to do just that.”
My words urge an amused smile to her lips, and I tilt my head to the side in confusion. “What’s so funny?”
“Well…I think you and I both know that we’d maybe…much rather do other things than just lie in bed together tonight, but the current circumstances of a sick little girl make that impossible.”
“Darlin’, you and I both know there’s no maybe about that,” I answer and proceed to take off my T-shirt. “It’s a fuckin’ fact.”
She watches me with wide eyes, but once I take off my boots and slide beneath her covers, she finds the nerve to follow my lead.
With her body turned away from me, Leah removes her shirt, then her jeans, and my eyes take in every inch of the bare skin of her legs and her back and her elongated neck. Damn. She’s beautiful. Too soon for my liking, she lifts a nightdress over her head, and the material falls down her body, covering all the parts I’d much prefer to keep bare.
When she turns around, I realize the damn thing is flimsy as hell, showing the curves of her breasts and hips in a way that threatens to make my head spin.
And when she gets under the covers and presses her body against mine, she feels so good, so soft, so fucking tempting, that I realize just lying together in bed might be far more challenging than I originally thought.
Fuck me.
I grip her hips and pull her back firmly against my chest, and I don’t hesitate to skate my hands down her arms and across her belly. “Darlin’, just so we’re clear, you’re drivin’ me fucking crazy right now.”
She lets out a harsh breath. “Ditto, cowboy.”
I groan and reach up to grip both of her full breasts in my hands. “Fuck. You feel so good.”
A soft moan escapes her lips, and it only urges me on further. My thumbs flick at her nipples and my cock grows hard against her ass, and those soft moans keep falling from her lips.
“It’s takin’ everything inside me not to slide this nightdress up your thighs and yank my cock out of my pants.”
She lets out a whimper, and I groan.
Both of us know tonight is not the night, but that doesn’t make it any less tempting.
Any less painful not to give in to the temptation.
“Fuckin’ hell, Leah,” I mutter and let my head fall back against the pillows. “This is startin’ to feel a lot like torture.”
A half giggle, half whimper emerges from her lungs. “Tell me about it.”
Fuck.
I shut my eyes and try to keep control, but my willpower feels like it’s hanging by a damn thread. And when I attempt to inhale a deep, cleansing breath in through my nose, the floral scent of her hair does nothing to dampen how turned on I am by her.
Everything about this woman has become a temptation. Her smile. Her laugh. Her smart mouth. Her feisty humor. Her fucking gorgeous body and mind-blowing curves. And all of it is right here, in this bed, with me.
This is going to be a long fucking night.
“Yeah. This is…I don’t know…Shit…” She pauses, glances over her shoulder at me, and then climbs back out of bed and to her feet.