Page 55 of Play With Me

I frown. Jude was so excited about his idea before I left. Had he really just backed down when his agent steered him away? Would he have if I’d been there to support him?

“Well,” Jude says, in a tone that says he clearly wants to change the subject. “You should rest. There’s an hour still before we get to Zurich.” He stretches like he’s tired too.

Another attendant comes by then, with what looks like a pile of blankets. I yawn at the sight of them and take the two he hands me. I’ll try to bring up the tennis camp again later.

“Shoot,” I say, shaking out the blankets. It looked like two, but it’s only one enormous cashmere-like throw, meant for couples.

“We’ll survive sharing a blanket, Nora. It’s not like there’s only one bed.”

I open my mouth to argue, but there isn’t much point. I’m sleepy, the blanket’s here, and we have a whole hour before we’ll be in the back of a car for the rest of the ride.

“Fine,” I say, pulling the blanket up to my chin. “Just don’t hog it like you do the bed.”

Jude does the same on his side. “I would never!”

I laugh as I close my eyes, then lean against the window. But the rattling of the train is too jarring, so I lean back against the seat.

“Come here, Annie,” Jude says, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me against his body. “Maybe I should call you Annie Oakley? She didn’t wear the braids, did she?”

I like that nickname better than innocent Anne of Green Gables. “I don’t think so,” I smile, leaning into him and trying not to overthink it.

“How about Shotgun Annie?”

I laugh softly. “I like that.”

I didn’t know if it’s the champagne, or the familiar way Jude gently tucks my head under his chin, but for a moment, the last of the tightness inside of me seems to uncoil. That is, until I think about the risks of sleeping like this.

“Jude?” I ask.

“Mm-hmm?”

“Thanks for waking me up that time. You know, with the macaroni.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “What do you mean? Of course, I’d wake you up. Who wouldn’t?”

I look up at him, trying not to inhale his scent too deeply. “When I was a kid once, at a sleepover, they watched me when I thought I was chasing the dog. I only woke up with them laughing over me as I flailed, yelling ‘here boy!’ I never”—I yawned—“I never slept in front of anyone else after that.”

“Little shits! I promise to wake you up if I see you acting weird, okay?”

“Thanks.” I smile, but I can’t keep my eyes open. It’s fine. The champagne is my magic bullet. I won’t say or do anything weird. I’ll close my eyes, just for an hour. It’ll be fine.

But just as I’m drifting off, he says, “So wait, you never even let your boyfriends sleep over? Chad? Chip?”

I laugh sleepily. “I never had boyfriends with those names.” I yawn, big and long. “But yeah, you’re the first, Jude.”

Jude doesn’t say anything to that.

“I’m just going to sleep like this for now,” I murmur into his shirt. His heart beats softly under my ear.

“Just for now,” Jude whispers into my hair.

CHAPTER14

Jude

Nora grips my shoulders; her long red hair falling against my face. “Jude,” she whispers in my ear, sending a hot ripple of pleasure through me.

This isn’t real. I knew it the moment I felt her climb on top of me. It’s a dream.

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