Page 43 of Edge of Heaven

I take a quick shower too, and I’ve just pulled on jeans when there’s a knock on the door.

“Good morning,” I say when I open it.

“Good morning.”

She looks refreshed; the circles beneath her eyes are gone, and she has a twinkle in them that I haven’t seen in a long time.

“I ordered us the deluxe continental breakfast,” she says, coming into the room. “There were too many choices otherwise. This way, we’ll get a big pot of coffee and two baskets of different pastries and such. Carb overload, but I don’t care. I can cheat one day.”

“Absolutely,” I agree.

“You should have woken me,” she says, sinking into a chair. “I would have gone to the gym with you.”

“I think you needed the sleep more than thirty minutes on the treadmill.”

She hesitates but then sighs. “You’re probably right. I don’t sleep well most nights.”

“Did you last night?” I ask softly.

“I slept like the dead,” she admits. “Thank you.”

“What did I do?” I ask in surprise.

“Champagne. Conversation. Letting me sleep beside you with no demands.

I scowl. “There will never be any demands in that department. No is fucking no.”

“That’s the problem,” she whispers. “I don’t know if I would have said no.”

“You gave me a boundary,” I say firmly. “Unless and until we have another conversation about that, it’s a firm no. You said you don’t want to cheat, so we’re not going to do that.”

“It won’t be no forever.” Her eyes meet mine.

“I know.” I lean over and brush my lips across her forehead. “Let me finish packing up my stuff. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” She nods and just as I go back into the bathroom, I hear the knock indicating that our breakfast arrived.

“Looks like Hettie took care of the bill,” Taryn calls out to me. “Including last night’s dinner and breakfast. She just texted me not to worry about any incidentals—she’s covering it all.”

“That’s nice,” I say, coming out of the bathroom with my toiletry bag and dropping it into my carryon.

“She’s really great,” Taryn says, pouring us each a cup of coffee.

“I’m looking forward to working with her. I just hope the band is on board.”

“I’m sure she’ll offer fair compensation,” she says. “Her deal with us is different, but if she’s going to use your music and stuff, she has to know it won’t be cheap.”

“It could potentially give us great exposure,” I say, pulling a raspberry Danish out of the basket and taking a bite. “Damn, this is good. Thank fuck I have a good metabolism.”

“Can I have a little bite? That’s the only raspberry one.” She leans over and opens her mouth.

Jesus.

I swallow as I put the pastry close enough for her to bite it. She takes her time, nibbling a little bit on the edge before slowly closing her lips around a piece and tugging it free. Her eyes meet mine as she chews, and she giggles playfully.

Fuck.

It’s going to be a long four months.

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