Page 50 of Give In

“It smells like you. What’re the chances you have a guest bedroom?”

“Very good, in fact.”

“What’re the chances I’m just resting here for a second before heading to sleep there?”

“Not very good.”

“What’re the chancesyou’regonna be sleeping there?”

“Even less.”

“That’s what I figured.” I sighed dramatically, though I wasn’t sure I minded.

I was almost asleep when the blanket was pulled from beneath me and the bed dipped. Professor Caine’s arm went under me and curled so I rolled to face him, my cheek landing on his chest.

Keeping his arm around me, he threw the blanket over us and pressed his lips to my forehead. “Goodnight, Eden.”

“Goodnight, asshole,” I muttered before falling into a deep sleep.

The best one I’d had in years.

*******

“Wake up, Eden,” someone rumbled before lips pressed against my collarbone.

“Don’t wanna.” I hid my head under a pillow before noticing the bed was much too soft to be mine. Unless Tonia’s voice had dropped, and she was getting much friendlier with me, it wasn’t her waking me.

You’re not in your own bed, Goldilocks.

A deep, male chuckle made my eyes shoot open. I tossed the pillow off, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. When I saw an already dressed Professor Caine standing next to the bed, I blinked a few more times, convinced I was dreaming. In slate gray jeans, a navy-blue V-neck sweater with the sleeves pushed up, and his damp hair in disarray, he looked like something out of a dream.

Or maybe a nightmare.

His smile was soft—tender even—which was at odds with the all-consuming way his gaze seared me as he scanned down my body. “Stay then. I don’t see you at school today, so knowing you’re in my bed is the next best thing.”

Shit.

School.

I bolted up and looked around for a clock. “What time is it?”

“Six-thirty.”

“Thank goodness.” I flopped back.

Putting his fists to the mattress on either side of me, he leaned down so his face was in mine. “I don’t get how you do this night after night. You slept for three hours, and it wasn’t even consecutive. Stay here and rest.”

“Are you encouraging me to play hooky?” I asked teasingly.

He dipped down and nipped my jaw. “Shocking, I know.”

I closed my eyes against the sweetly erotic gesture. “I have to go.”

Even if I didn’t, there was no way I could just hang around his house all day. I needed spacefromhim, not to be in his space.

“Figured,” he muttered, not hiding his disappointment. “Bathroom’s across the hall. Want a coffee for the ride?”

“Yes!” I calmed myself before adding, “Please.”

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