Page 56 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

“Mhm,” I mumbled back, already falling back asleep.

* * *

“Another package came for you.”

An hour later, Holden set a box down on my bed as I sipped the coffee he had brought me. He wore a knowing, smug expression.

“Might help you feel better,” he added before he walked down the hall, where he was working on one of the bathrooms while hollering at me to get dressed.

I gave him a strange look as he left before I ripped the box open.

Oh. The company had sent a replacement vibrator. The box had the same red heart pattern as the previous box, so he must have put two and two together.

A wicked idea entered my head of me using the vibe while Holden worked in the bathroom a few rooms away. Heat coursed through me and I squeezed my thighs together.

I shook my head. Wow. We weren’t going there. Not today, Sadie. Not today.

Would be fun to see his face as I announced to him I wasn’t to be disturbed, though. I snorted.

“You better be getting ready in there,” I heard him call from the other room.

I rolled my eyes and headed to the shower.

An hour later, Holden and I entered the forest beside the inn. I sipped the coffee he had brought me.

“Thanks for doing this,” I told him with a small smile. “I know you wanted to do renos today. I’m just feeling blah.”

He nodded. “I know. It’s okay.”

He watched me for a moment. His hair was damp. He must have run home to take a shower. I pictured him under the spray, water rolling down his abs. I didn’tknowhe had abs, but I felt his chest that night we kissed. His body was incredible.

Internally, I sighed at the memory of the kiss. What a waste of a kiss. So hot and yet it was going nowhere. It was like a little tease from the universe, so fleeting and unfair.

He led me deeper into the forest along the trail and I stared up at the looming trees, craning my neck to see way up. I inhaled the humid, clean forest and let the breath out as a sigh. Even along the trail, I could still hear the ocean from the other side of the inn.

“Where are we going?” I asked him.

He tucked his hands into the pockets of his black parka. “This trail goes into the forest and loops around. Figured we’d do the whole loop or turn back if we got tired.”

“How long is the loop?”

The corner of his mouth moved and his eyes glinted. “If I told you, you wouldn’t want to do it.”

I groaned.

“If you get tired, I’ll carry you.” The corner of his mouth twitched more, and I watched, fascinated.

What would it take to get a full smile out of him? I bet Holden’s smile was blinding. The laugh he had let out when he saw my panting of him was more in disbelief. I wanted the real thing.

I breathed in another breath of fresh air. It was like the forest air was giving my energy back. “It’s nice in here.”

Holden made a noise of acknowledgement in his throat.

We passed a cluster of trees and an idea formed in my head. I grinned.

“What’s that look?” Holden asked and I grinned wider.

“Just daydreaming.”

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