Page 37 of Heartbeats & Highways

Savage grabbed the plate of brownies and headed toward the bedroom.

“What are you doing?” I asked, turning off the light and following him.

“When I wake up in the middle of the night, I’m going to need a snack. Don’t want to risk waking you, ergo, the plate of brownies is going next to the bed.”

“Ergo, huh?” I asked with a smile.

The bed was already mussed, and I made a move to straighten it up. Savage placed the plate on the nightstand and then sat down to take off his boots. After he did, he stood again and then hung up his leather cut and stripped out of his jeans and shirt.

That left him in nothing but a pair of boxers with his bare chest exposed.

My eyes widened. “Oh my.”

He smirked. “Oh my? Is that your version of a swear word? If so you gotta put a dollar in the jar.”

I bit my lip to stifle my grin. “Not even close. You will be the only one contributing to the swear jar.”

“What are you going to do with all the money I end up shelling out?”

“Not sure. Maybe I’ll buy myself a present.” My gaze wandered back over his body. I stared at his thigh.

His muscular thigh. The thigh I wanted to bite.

Good lord.

“Eyes up here, babe. I’m not a piece of meat.”

My head shot up and he grinned.

I gestured to the bathroom, flustered at being caught staring at him. “I don’t have a spare toothbrush, but feel free to finger brush with toothpaste.”

“A woman concerned about oral hygiene. I like that.” He winked and then sauntered to the bathroom.

Yeah, I’m in so much trouble.

The admission about my past hadn’t tripped him up. And my show of emotion hadn’t terrified him either.

Savage returned to the bedroom, and I went to brush my teeth. I looked in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed and the shadows beneath my eyes were disappearing.

Maybe I was slowly coming back to the land of the living. Maybe my husband hadn’t beaten the spirit out of me.

I rinsed my mouth and dried my face with the hand towel. After shutting off the light, I went back to the bedroom.

Savage had already climbed into bed and made himself comfortable. The lamp next to the bed was turned on so I hit the main light, and the room went mostly dark. I crawled into bed and flipped over onto my back, pulling the covers up to my chin.

“That’s not really going to work for me,” Savage said.

I looked at him. “What do you mean?”

Without a word, he lifted his arm and patted his chest. “Let me turn off the lamp.”

The room was suddenly bathed in total darkness as I scooted closer to him and settled in the crook of his body. My hand went to his pec, and he covered it with his own.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

“For what?”

“For letting me stay the night . . .”

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