Page 47 of An Inconvenient Plan
Once she regained the use of her limbs, she went to check on Rose. She had to take the bone away and clean her up. Then she made a bed for her with a towel in the corner of Josh’s bedroom.
She slid under the covers, and Josh hauled her against his side. She wasn’t used to sleeping with anyone but Liam, who wasn’t a cuddler. She rolled to her side, giving Josh her back. He tucked himself behind her, spooning her. Rose scrambled up the comforter by the foot of the bed. Hailey kept quiet about it, impressed with Rose’s climbing skills.
Sleep eluded her. She shifted to her back. Then she flipped the pillow over. Then she rolled to her side, facing him. He tucked her head under his chin. A few minutes later, she rolled back to her other side and scooted a little farther from him. She shifted the pillow again.
He squeezed her shoulder. “Comfortable?”
“Almost.”
“What’re you doing?”
She flipped the pillow again. “Looking for the cool spot on the pillow.”
“The cool spot?”
“Yes. I like the cool spot, but you heated everything up. I can’t find the cool spot.” This was so frustrating. All she wanted to do was go to sleep.
Josh rolled her to her back and then he was on top of her, stroking her hair back from her face. “As long as you’re in my bed, princess, I’ll be heating everything up.”
“I noticed. Maybe I’ll bring my own pillow…” She trailed off as he ground against her, waking her up again. “Oh.”
“Shh…don’t wake Rose.”
“Careful not to kick her. She’s by my feet.”
“What?” Josh rose to his knees and pointed at Rose. “Back to bed.”
Rose approached, tail wagging. Josh scooped her up and got out of bed with her, putting her on the towel in the corner. Then he must’ve thought better of it because he lifted her with the towel and left the bedroom with her.
Hailey stretched out, finally relaxing with so much space to herself. She was nearly asleep when the mattress creaked and Josh whispered, “I put the TV on so she’d hear voices and think she had company. I had to pet her for a while to settle her down. Now where were we?”
Her heart swelled with affection. Look at how well he took care of her fur baby! She opened her arms to him, and when he pressed his big hard body against her, she held on tight.
Josh sat on his bed, fully dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, waiting for Hailey to finish up with her shower. He’d showered while she’d slept, took care of Rose—taking her out and feeding her some steak he’d set aside for her for breakfast—and slipped the shoebox money into Hailey’s purse. So far, everything was going according to plan. Well, he hadn’t planned to sleep with her so soon, but he knew she wanted it bad, and he was done denying them both. It was worth it, oh, man, so worth it.
As soon as she was ready, he planned on making omelets with fresh herbs for breakfast. Cooking was his big selling point, the one thing most men couldn’t be bothered to learn and he excelled at.
Her phone lit up with a text on the nightstand. Phillip:How’s my favorite wedding planner?Winky-face emoticon.
Josh glared at the phone, immediately on edge.The dude used emoticons like Josh’s little sister.
Another text from Phillip.You around? Need my Hailey fix.
He snatched the phone and turned it facedown on the nightstand.Hailey is mine.At least he hoped she was.Okay, take it easy. Just because Phillip sent a stupid flirty text didn’t mean Hailey reciprocated. He stared at the phone, seriously contemplating reading through their entire text message chain. More intel might help loosen the grip of jealousy. The phone was probably locked.
He blew out a breath. He’d asked Hailey before if she trusted him, but now he had to ask himself if he trusted her. Would she go behind his back with another guy?
He glanced toward the open bedroom doorway just as Hailey approached in nothing but his navy blue towel. Forget Phillip. He was the one alone with Hailey.
God, she was beautiful, even with no makeup and only a towel. Her long hair was up in a hair band, just a little damp, tendrils falling around her rosy cheeks and neck. He fought the urge to rip the towel off her. If he kept fucking her, she wouldn’t get the message that he had serious intentions.
His eyes went half-mast, hiding the lust there. “How you like the slow-burn courtship so far?” He wanted to remind her that was what he was going for.
She sat next to him, crossing her legs primly, all ladylike. “I don’t think we can technically call it a slow burn now that we had sex.”
“Does that bother you?”
“No.”
