Page 49 of Knockout (Whiskey Dolls 2)

At some point between the last earth-shaking orgasm and Jude going to the bathroom to deal with the condom, I’d passed the hell out, and apparently slept like the dead the whole night through. Also apparently, Jude had decided to tuck me into his bed and curl himself around me instead of waking me up and kicking me out, because at that very moment, the man was breathing against the back of my neck, his arm like a steel band around my waist.

My brain was still muddled from the night before, and the questions swirling around in my skull just then only made it that much worse. The fact that Jude was currently holding me tenderly, almost lovingly, in his sleep certainly wasn’t helping to straighten things out.

It felt good lying there, wrapped up in him. Really good.Toogood. I wasn’t going to be able to clear my head as long as I was snuggled in, all nice and cozy like this. I needed a little bit of space between us.

I tried carefully lifting his arm so I could slip out from beneath him, but his deadweight was damn near impossible to move. Attempting a different tactic, I gently rolled to my back and started worming my way down the mattress, wriggling until I was free enough before twisting and throwing my legs over the side of the bed. And that was when I realized my mistake. I was now bent in a funky shaped L with my knees bent and my feet dangling off the bed, with Jude’s arm now draped across my chest, one of his large hands cupping my breast.

Well this isn’t ideal.

I squirmed a little farther down the bed, but instead of escaping, his arm stretched with me, still holding firm to my boob.

“You know, you’re making it really hard to cop an early morning feel.” Jude’s sleep-gruff voice startled a yelp out of me, causing me to jerk and slide right off the side of the bed onto my ass.

“Ow,” I winced, falling to my side and rubbing my sore tailbone.

“You okay?” His muffled voice came from the bed, sounding like he’d partially burrowed back into his pillow, and when I poked my head up over the mattress, I saw that was precisely the case. The jerk’s eyes were even closed.

“You were awake the whole time, weren’t you?” I asked with a glare.

A smirk pulled at his lips, those eyes still firmly closed. “Maybe,” he said teasingly. I was experiencing a whole new side of Jude, that was for sure. I’d never seen him this soft...almost playful. “Now get your ass back up here. I’m not ready to wake up yet.”

I had to admit, that was unexpected.

“Um. Well...” Grabbing the sheet, I gave it a tug, trying to free it so I could wrap it around me to cover my nakedness. “Maybe—” My sentence died on a yelp when Jude’s arms shot out and caught me under my armpits, yanking me back up on the bed. He tucked me partially beneath him, blinking his sleepy eyes before smiling down at me. I realized right then that his eyes were slighter lighter first thing in the morning, the blue standing out a bit more in the darkness. It was areallygood look on him.

“There. That’s better,” he mumbled, before lowering his face to mine and easing my lips apart with his own in a gentle kiss that felt incredibly intimate andinsanelyhot. He hummed in a way that made yummy tingles shoot up my spine as he pulled back. “Morning.”

A giddy, ridiculous smile stretched across my face. “Good morning. You’re in a really good mood.”

“For good reason,” he said with a teasing growl, leaning in to give my bottom lip a little tug with his teeth. “Had afantasticnight last night.”

A giggle worked its way up my throat. “Yeah. My night was pretty good too.”

His lifted his dark eyebrows in mock offense. “Good? That’s all you can say about it, that it wasgood?” He began to tickle me in retaliation until I was laughing and crying out hysterically.

“Okay, okay!” I cried as I laughed uncontrollably while trying to catch my breath. “It was great. Fabulous. Earthshaking. You rendered me temporarily blind! Happy now?”

He let off on his attack, reaching up to brush the hair out of my face as he grinned at me. I had to admit, I hadn’t expected Jude Kingsley to be such a...tactile person, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the shit out of it. Talk about being pleasantly surprised. “Tremendously. Now, about round two...”

His head started to lower back to mine just as I felt a delightful swoop deep, deep in my belly, but as much as I wanted a round two—and Idefinitelywanted it—there was something a little more pressing on my mind just then.

I lifted my hand before his lips could reach mine, smooshing his mouth against my palm as I pressed my head deeper into the pillows to maintain some space. “Speaking of...” I started hesitantly. “What the hell are we doing?”

I dropped my hand when he raised back up, his brow dipping into a deep, confused V. “If you don’t know what’s about to happen, I’m afraid I’m off my game, princess.”

I laughed out a snort and shook my head. “No, not that. I know what you’re building up to, and believe me, I’m totally on board. But, well...is that all we are? Are we like, hooking up? Is this a friends with benefits situation?” My stomach revolted at the thought of that being the case. Sure, sex with Jude was out of this world, and I was pretty sure he’d ruined me for all other men after justone time, but I’d been crushing on the guy. I wanted what happened last night to mean more than that.

I could have tiptoed around the subject, minding my p’s and q’s so I didn’t come off too eager and risk scaring him off, but I hated that women felt they had to do that. I valued honesty, and I believed that being forthright wasalwaysthe best option. A woman shouldn’t have to temper who she really was just to keep a man. If he was someone worth having, he’d respect her no matter what, and honestly, I didn’t want to waste my time playing trivial games that would lead me nowhere in the long run.

“If that’s what you want, I should tell you now, I’m not sure we’re on the same page. I know it might sound weird, given that we hated each other like, five minutes ago, but I really like you, and I just want to make sure—”

He cut me off with a kiss that, while quick, was still potent enough to silence me. “That’s not what this is,” he stated, his gravelly, velvet voice heating the blood in my veins. “We aren’t friends with benefits, Layla, and this isn’t just some hookup where I call whenever I’m in the mood to get laid. I like you too, and I want to see where this is going if that’s good with you.”

It felt like a weight had lifted off my chest as I sagged deeper into the mattress in relief. “Works for me,” I answered. “I’d like to see where this goes too. Hopefully we won’t end up killing one another.”

He hummed thoughtfully, his pensive gaze drifting to the side. “Very true. Maybe, given our . . . rocky start?”

At the questioning arch of his brow, I replied, “That’s a very PC way of putting it.”

---