Page 59 of Sweet Betrayal

A shower would clear his head. He’d better make it a cold one.

CHAPTER 23

“I’ll take the floor,” he said when he got back. He’d gotten dressed in the bathroom after shaking the dust out of his clothes. Sleeping fully dressed meant he’d be ready to move if they needed to.

Hannah was curled up on the bed, but her eyes were open. He had the sense she’d been waiting for him to walk in so she could finally relax.

A rush of heat surged through him. So much for the cold shower.

“Don’t be silly,” she said. “You need sleep as much as I do.”

He couldn’t argue with that, but still he hesitated. Lying next to her, feeling the warmth of her body, her curves inches from his... He wasn’t sure he had the willpower for that.

“Please.”

It was that one word that undid him.

He nodded and walked to the mattress. Lowering himself down, he lay on his back, arms folded tightly across his chest. If he didn’t move, didn’t touch her, maybe he’d get some rest.

“Tom?”

“Yeah.”

“Will you hold me?”

Jesus.

“I don’t think that’s wise,” he said carefully, his voice lower than intended.

Her voice was a breathy whisper. “I’m scared. What if we don’t get through this? What if they find us before we reach the coast?” A sob caught in her throat.

Goddammit.

He turned on his side to face her. “Nothing’s going to happen. We’ll make it. I told you I’d get you out—and I will. We’ve come this far, haven’t we?”

She nodded, eyes shimmering in the dark.

“Fuck,” he muttered, opening his arms.

She moved into them, slipping hers around his waist. She was warm and soft, and fit against him like she belonged there.

Too damn well.

He drew in a ragged breath. God help him.

“Thank you, Tom,” she murmured against his chest.

His body reacted instinctively. Her scent, the brush of her hair, the curve of her hip pressing into him—it was driving him crazy.

Maybe she wouldn’t notice.

“You don’t have to thank me. I was just doing?—”

“I know,” she whispered, tilting her head to smile up at him. “You were just doing your job.”

He swallowed hard. He was on dangerous ground.

He knew better than to get romantically involved with the woman he was protecting. She was his responsibility, they were in a potential vipers’ next and here he was cradling her in his arms like there was nothing to worry about.

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