Page 40 of Just a Taste
The last coherent thought I have before sleep takes its hold of me is,Eve is going to lose her mind.
CHAPTER TENAlex
December 23rd
Noelle is a deep sleeper.
Incredibly deep.
I’ve been awake for at least an hour, woken by the sound of the raging storm outside, but Noelle hasn’t so much as stirred.
I don’t think I want her to, anyway.
She turned around at some point in the night, and now she’s pressed up against me, one leg draped over my waist, her hand resting just above my heart. I watch as her chest rises and falls in rhythm with each calm breath, her long braids splayed out across my pillow.
I shift slightly, not wanting to wake her, and try to ignorethe flood of warmth that spreads through me as her soft breath tickles my neck.
This is most definitely not how I envisioned today starting.
She murmurs something nonsensical in her sleep before nuzzling closer to me, her hips bucking gently into mine. I freeze. I shouldn’t be enjoying this, but her body slots beside mine perfectly and, for a split second, I consider playing dead – just to prolong this unexpected comfort. But then the reality of the situation settles in and I shake my head roughly, well aware that my thoughts are quickly drifting into dangerous territory.
Iabsolutelyshouldn’t be enjoying this. Noelle is technically my employee and we agreed last night that this was a one-time thing.Strictlyfor warmth.
One time. As in, I’m going to need to fix the heater properly today unless we want a repeat of last night.
A treacherous, unfamiliar voice whispers in the back of my mind, ‘Maybe youdowant another night with Noelle’ but I swat the thought away as quickly as it came.
Carefully, I slide my arm out from beneath her and try to pull away. She stirs immediately – a frown pinching her thick brows, lips parting in silent protest – and I freeze again, holding my breath.
Her eyes flutter open, bleary and clouded with sleep, and meet mine. It feels like the storm outside has faded away into nothing but a whisper, and the only thing I can hear is therapid beating of my heart and that voice in the back of my mind telling me ‘Get up, idiot.’
But I don’t move.
Ican’t.
I’m frozen in place as she blinks the sleep away. I can practically see her brain catching up with her as her gaze focuses in on me and her mouth drops open.
‘Oh,’ she murmurs, brown eyes scanning the length of our bodies, still tightly wrapped around each other. ‘Oh.’
Everything seems to happen at once.
‘Shit. Sorry,’ Noelle says before trying to spin around and roll over to the other side of the bed. But our legs are still tangled up with each other and the movement only ends up pulling me with her. She yelps as she rolls onto her back, taking me with her.
I have to put my arm just above her head, caging her in, to stop my weight from crushing her. I’m hovering over her, our faces are only inches apart and up this close, I can see a faint pink blush spreading across the peak of her cheeks.
It would take nothing – absolutelynothing– for me to lean down right now, close the space between us, and press a kiss against her lips.
Which is definitelynota thought I should be having right now. Not with her underneath me like this, her soft curves pressing gently into me as she takes deep breath after deep breath.
I’m not sure how long we stay like that. Me, looking down into her deep brown eyes, watching as her tongue darts out every few seconds to lick at her full lips. It feels like an eternity but can’t be much longer than a few seconds before she swallows thickly and shoots me a nervous grin. ‘This is… um. Good morning.’
The sound of her voice pulls me back to reality. I’m in bed with Noelle. My personal chef. My head of HR will have a field day if she ever finds out.
I pull back, detangling myself from her, and try not to dwell too much on how I immediately miss the feel of her body pressed up against mine.
‘Morning.’ My voice is gruff and I’m not sure how much of that I can pin on lingering drowsiness. I slide over to my side of the bed, leaving more than an arm’s length of space between us. ‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Yep.’ Her voice is higher than usual and she’s also moved to the opposite end of the bed, obviously determined to put as much space between us as possible. ‘You?’
