Page 38 of Sweet Surrender
“What, these panties?” He held them out, she moved to grab them but he lifted them just out of her reach.
“Nah, I think I’ll hold onto them,” he said and tucked them into the back pocket of his jeans. She opened her mouth, about to unleash war like she normally would. But then she saw the warmth in his eyes, the way they crinkled in the corners. He wasteasingher. No malice, no snide curl of the lip. He was trying to keep things light between them so she rolled her lips inwards instead.
He turned back to the bathroom and pulled the cord for the light. Then she spotted it. The message scrawled on her mirror in her favorite red lipstick:
Who are you saving all your kisses for?
She stared at the scrawled, mocking words and she knew Dale realized she and Beau were faking it. They needed to step up their game.
Beau’s words last night flung themselves across her mind, his favor. A kiss. No, she couldn’t, shewouldn’t, they would just have to convince Dale another way.
“He’s watching us,” she said.
“What does he mean?” Beau asked.
Taylor squeezed past him and began scrubbing at the mirror. “How should I know?”
“Last night he said something similar.”
“Beau, please just drop it?”
He was silent as she scrubbed the lipstick off, when she turned around, he was sitting on the end of her bed, watching her.
“I’m moving in,” he said.
She snorted. “Hell no!”
“Taylor, be reasonable. He can get in here, he got into your bedroom!”
“And I’m changing the locks.”
“You don’t get a say in this.” He waved his phone at her. “Dean agrees it’s the right thing to do.”
“You ratted me out? To my own brother?”
“Yeah, get over it.” He shrugged, every inch the commanding alpha, and damn if her lady parts didn’t do a little cheer.
“It’s not a good idea, Beau,” she said, hoping he caught her drift. After their session with Justine, she didn’t think being shoved into close proximity was the right thing for them.
“It’s the best idea. It shows Dale that we’re a serious couple.” His features softened. “I get your worry, Taylor. But we’ve been through a lot, we’ll be fine. Trust me.”
She spluttered more protests, but he ignored every single one. When she was all out of excuses, she hung her shoulders in defeat.
“Fine, I’ll make some space for your clothes,” she grumbled.
“Really? You’d think your closet would be empty with how many clothes are on the floor,” he teased. Then his teasing tone was gone. “I’ll, uh, sleep on the floor in here. That way if he gets in again, I’m right here.”
She swallowed. “You don’t need to sleep on the floor, I have a king-sized bed.”For your king-sized body…“Plus he’s watching us, so it makes sense for you to be in the bed, um, with, um, with me.” She thought she saw something flare in his eyes but when he blinked it was gone.
He nodded. “I’ll grab my stuff and start moving in today. Will you be okay on shift?”
“Yeah, Kayleigh is with me all day.”
“Great, I’ll swing by at closing and walk you back.”
“Great.”
Things between them felt strangely polite and tense. She really didn’t know what to do with it.
