Page 29 of Midnight Dissonance

Wake me in the morning.

And if you don’t, you will break what’s left of my heart.

Wake you like you need me. Wake me with a promise. That I never have to sleep alone again.

Just wake me in the morning.

She’d watched him the entire time. And it felt like they were the only two people on the planet. And that somehow this song was for him.

“Aye, lass, you’ve got a talent.”

“Thank you. Now I think we should get you to bed.” She stored her guitar back in its case, thinking she would tuck him into bed. And then get an Uber to take her home. Internally, she winced at spending the money on an Uber. But unless she wanted to stay here tonight, she didn’t have another option.

“Come with me.” He gripped her hand, leading her from the living room up a flight of stairs to his bedroom.

His massive bedroom had the same view as his living room. There was a platform king bed against the wall opposite the window, piled with pillows. On the other side of the room was a small sitting area with a gas fireplace. He had thick rugs spaced through the room, covering the hardwood floors.

“Doesn’t it bother you that anyone could see inside?”

“Nope. Watch.” He trod over to the bed and picked up a remote from the nightstand. He pressed a button. And from the ceiling, thick shades descended over the windows, sealing them inside like they were the only two people in the world.

“Nice. Why don’t you brush your teeth and get into bed?”

“Follow me.”

And because she worried he might harm himself in his inebriated state, she trailed after him. His bathroom was huge. It might even be bigger than the room she rented from her sister. There was a gorgeous tiled shower with multiple water spouts. And a tub she could practically swim in. He’d gone with more of the ivory theme in here too.

He handed her a spare toothbrush. And after the onions, she figured she had dragon breath. It wouldn’t hurt her to brush her teeth. It would appease him too and make it easier for her to get him into bed without any fuss.

Except it was far more intimate than she bargained for. Brushing their teeth together was a homey activity. It was an activity that couples who had been together for a while did. Not two people who barely knew one another and hadn’t even slept together.

But the thing was, it didn’t feel weird or out of place.

Although she blushed when he headed into the enclosed partition for the toilet and heard him taking a piss. She tried to busy herself with the toothbrush and the water in the faucet to drown out the sound of him peeing.

“Come on. Let’s go to bed.”

“I’ll be out in just a minute.” It was her turn to hit the toilet. She wasn’t ready for him to hear her pee yet. Call her crazy, but that was a line in the sand at this venture.

The moment she stepped into the bedroom, she almost bolted. Heaven help her, she should have stayed in the bathroom a minute longer until he was under the covers.

Because Josh had stripped down. Every last stitch of clothing was gone from his body. Because he apparently slept in the nude.

And wowzers!

With clothes on, he was handsome. Without them, he was smoking hot. The guy was ripped. Impossibly broad shoulders tapered down to a lean waist. Every muscular line and visible ridge made her mouth water. His chest was dusted with inky hair over his pecs and then picked up again at his navel, trailing down. She knew she shouldn’t look, but she couldn’t help it. Her gaze automatically went there.

And by god, was he large all over, especially where it counted. She licked her lips at the thought of all those inches, and he wasn’t hard.

“Aye, it’ll have to wait until morning. Come to bed, lass.” He held out his arm and waved her over to the bed.

“I’m not sleeping with you.” She’d be too tempted to touch him.

“If you don’t want to sleep, we can do other things.” He eyed her up and down with hunger burning in his eyes, promising a world of ecstasy if she was brave enough to reach out and take it.

But she wasn’t ready. She didn’t know if she would ever be ready for him. But god, she wanted him. And therein lay her problem.

“Fine. We can go to sleep.” She really didn’t want to pay for an Uber anyway. It was late, and it wouldn’t hurt her to stay with him.

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