Theirs to Keep

“Hey…”

The voice was deep and strong, and nearly frightened me out of my skin! I jumped so abruptly my hand jarred the key loose. I palmed it quickly as I turned around… and came face to face with Roderick.

“What are you doing out here?”

I swallowed hard, slipping the key behind my back. I was still shaking from being so startled.

“Sorry if I scared you,” apologized Roderick.

“No no,” I forced a grin. “I was just—”

KA-VOOOM!

Another peal of thunder obliterated the rest of my sentence. Somewhere during the noise I dropped the key, then reflexively kicked it with my heel to one side of the hallway.

Holy shit!

The noise was loud and total. Still, I was grateful for it. It distracted Roderick from what I was doing, and gave me time to gather my wits.

“Can’t sleep, eh?” he smirked.

“Not in this.”

“Me neither,” he shook his head. “In fact—”

He stopped, staring at me intently. As his head cocked sideways, I stiffened.

“Have you been outside?”

I shook my head. “Hell no.”

“But you’re all wet.”

Relief flooded through me as I glanced down at myself. The whole right side of my nightshirt was practically sticking to my body.

“I fell asleep with the window open,” I explained sheepishly. “Bonehead move. The rain came in sideways. Soaked half the bed.”

Somewhere above us, the wind swirled. The constant patter of raindrops against the roof was growing heavier now, as the eye of the storm passed over us.

“I was… about to grab the couch or something,” I stammered. “The window’s closed now,” I added quickly. “I’ll clean it all up in the morning of course, and—”

“Do you want to sleep with me?”

Roderick’s offer fell in the dead silence between two lightning strikes. Both were loud and obnoxious. Both made the moment a thousand times more dramatic.

But it was already a pretty big moment.

“Really?”

“Sure,” he shrugged simply. “My bed’s dry, and that couch sucks. A lot.”

I hesitated, staring at my gorgeous brunette boss in his tight black T-shirt. For the first time I noticed he was wearing boxers, not shorts. Boxer briefs actually. The kind that hugged… all sorts of things.

“I… uh…”

He was usually clean-shaven but right now he hadn’t shaved in over a week. I had to admit, the beard coming in was sexy as hell. He’d trimmed it up nicely too.

“I know the rule,” he said in mock apology, “I’m not supposed to take you to bed with me until I guess your old profession.”