Page 27 of The Geek and the Sheikh

His gaze ran over her glistening blonde hair, puffed up from her brushing it upside down, and her heart-shaped face. He took an involuntary step toward her, pulled by the crystal blue depths of her eyes and those sultry black lashes. She had a pert, slender nose and enticingly plump lips.

Like a dream, every feature designed to drive me crazy,he thought.

His gaze dropped lower and he swallowed again. His heart thudded in his chest hard enough that he placed his hand against it to make sure it didn’t explode outward. She was wearing an oversized black t-shirt with Bronx Zoo emblazoned above her unrestrained breasts and an image of the animated characters from Madagascar spread across her—

Sweat broke out on his forehead as his whole body became a furnace.Damn, but I would give anything to have my face buried right between them.

Her nightshirt stopped above her knees. Her legs were bare and seductive. His attention drifted to her feet— and Jameel blinked, jerked out of his dreamy trance. He blinked again. The cause of his bewilderment was still there. She was wearing the largest, fluffiest pair of bunny slippers he had ever seen in his life.

“Do you like them?” she asked, wiggling them so it looked like they were hopping. “Idella sent them to me. Midnight must have asked her," she added softly with a touched expression. "Oh, she sent me something else, too!”

He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water as she turned and scuffled across to the bed. He couldn’t help but notice that the ears on the bunnies flopped up and down. Hell, there was even a fluffy tail on the heel of each slipper.

She bent over the bed to reach the open box on the other side. The back of her nightshirt inched upward, giving him a clear, unobstructed view of her sexy thighs and a glimpse of pink lacey panties. The hand still pressed against his heart pressed harder, as if holding himself back. He didn't quite hold back a barely audible groan.

A moment of embarrassed clarity made him wonder if his hand should instead be covering his groin. He grimaced. There would be no hiding the effect she was having on him. He cursed the fact that he was wearing dress slacks instead of jeans.

Still... he had to try. He moved his hand to his front, trying to find a casual place to put it that wouldn't make it obvious what he was trying to hide.

“What else did she send?” he finally choked out as she pulled something out of the box, straightened, and turned, holding up a large, plastic bag in each hand. He tilted his head to read the description.

“Marshmallows?”

“Not just any marshmallows! These are chocolate and chocolate filled marshmallows,” she breathed with delight. “Do you want some?”

“I… sure. I’ll try one,” he gracefully accepted.

She peered at him quizzically, her gaze dipping down briefly and then back to his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. “You’re holding your cock like you think I’m going to coldcock you there or like maybe it's going to fall off? You don’t have any STDs, do you? Marshmallows won’t cure you if you do. Not even the really good ones. Harry would know what to do. If you need me to ask him, I can.”

She was talking so fast while she was carefully opening each bag with a lethal looking knife that at first only the most outrageous words stood out to him: 'cock...fall off...STDs'. It took a few seconds for his tired brain to realize that he was not in fact imagining this conversation. He dropped his hand to his side and scowled at her.

“No, I donothave any STDs,” he bit out.

“That’s surprising in some ways. Youhavehad a colorful assortment of women, and well, some of those women—”

He silenced her reflective and embarrassingly accurate litany of his love-life with a gentle finger to her lips. She held up a chocolate marshmallow. There was an intriguing blend of curiosity, uncertainty, and vulnerability in her eyes.

She caused a need inside him. It was an all-encompassing and confusing mixture of protective instincts and sexual aggression. He didn’t even realize he was bending forward to kiss her until he was stopped… by the marshmallow she was holding against his lips. He slowly parted his lips so she could pop the tasty, soft treat into his mouth.

It wasn’t nearly as sweet as he knew kissing her would be, but a small, grudging part of him appreciated her hesitation. She was too trusting, and for once in his life, he wasn't sure that he was trustworthy. Not when she was the prize.

“This is good,” he admitted, chewing the marshmallow.

“Wait until you try the chocolate filled ones. I keep hoping they will make chocolate marshmallows with chocolate filling. I keep writing them, but they haven’t made them yet. They do have an amazing Cookie ‘N Cream variety. Idella sent a package of those as well, but I’m saving them for a special occasion,” she said, slowly stepping away from him.

“I take it you like chocolate?Allkinds of chocolate?” he chuckled.

“Notallkinds. I like hot chocolate and my marshmallows. I don’t like chocolate by itself, like in candy bars. But chocolate flavored stuff? Yeah, that's my comfort food.”

“Do you need comfort?” he asked softly.

She paused and bit her lip, her eyes suddenly glittering with tears, and she nodded hesitantly. He stepped forward, gently took the knife and bags of marshmallows from her hands, and placed them on the nightstand. When he straightened, she moved into his arms, stepping on his toes with her big bunny slippered feet, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He held her tightly against his body. “I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. What do you say we get a few hours of sleep?”

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