Page 44 of Hothead

CHAPTER TWELVE

Bella stared at theceiling. Her heart was racing. That couldn’t be normal.

Maybe I should see a doctor?

How could things already be this messy? She’d known this man a hot minute. And here she was, falling. Like she was in some sort of romantic comedy or some shit.

Nope. Not happening. I refuse to let that happen.

“Morning, angel.” Luke’s scratchy voice wasn’t helping. Nor was the feel of his fingers trailing up her stomach.

“Morning.” She turned to face him, readjusting her head against the fluffy pillow. “You sleep well?”

“I slept perfect, angel.” Reaching over, Luke laid a soft kiss on her lips. Only confusing her further. His forehead dropped to hers then, and she inhaled some more of the pure testosterone she’d spent the night drowning in. “Stay with me?”

That woke up some brain cells. “What?”

“Stay with me,” he repeated. “Here, at my place. While you’re in town.”

Drawing back slowly, she dared to look into deep brown. “You want me to stay here ... until I go back to San Francisco?”

Duh!

Whatever. She needed clarification. “Yeah, sweetheart, I do. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’ve been in my bed every night this week ... and I like it. Plus, it’s practical.”

“Practical?”

What, are you a parrot now?

“Yeah, I mean, you won’t need to keep going back and forth to pick up clothes and toiletries ... you can just keep everything here.”

Say no. You need boundaries. Like, you really, really need them. Especially after last night.

“Uh, I don’t know,” she rushed out. “I mean, my cabin is all paid for. And it’s nice to chill out there while you’re at work and ...”Think of something else. Quick!

She had nothing else. She went quiet as she wracked her brain. No. Nothing.

“And?” Luke prompted.

She realized then that he wasn’t hiding from her. His usual blank expression had been replaced by creases. Crinkles in his brow and wary lines framed his exposed brown eyes. His mask had dropped last night, but she had just assumed that it would come back with a vengeance the moment he wasn’t trying to get laid. But she was wrong. And that scared her more.

“And ... I don’t know if it’s such a good idea.” She settled on the truth.

“Why’s that?” He knew why. She saw it clear as day.

He just wants me to say it.

It was her turn to let her fingertips trail down his chest. She wanted to stay; she really did. There was no way in hell she had enough willpower to not spend every night in this bed. With him. And really, whether she stayed here or not, she was already in way over her head.

“You’re not worried?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m worried.” The air in the room started to become heavy as she held her breath. “But we’re beyond that now, don’t you think, angel? And it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still leaving in two weeks.”The man has a point.“If this is all we have, shouldn’t we make the most of it?”

Again with the points. Why did he have to go and make so much sense?

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