Protecting the Boundary (LA Wolves #8)

Chapter 23

TWENTY-THREE

Meredith’s name flashes on my phone just as I’m getting ready to leave my hotel room. Their flight was delayed for this away game, so she’s probably just calling to tell me what room they’re in.

“Hey, you get settled in okay?”

“We have a problem,” she says, her voice strained.

“What’s wrong?” All my dad instincts go on high alert.

“The hotel apparently lost our reservation. All the rooms are booked.”

I grab my keycard and exit my room. “I’m on my way down. Be there in a few minutes.”

It takes me exactly three minutes to get downstairs where I find them standing in front of the reception desk. I walk up to the counter next to them, my hand automatically finding Meredith’s back in a soothing touch. She spins to face me and her face is lined with weariness. Kay looks equally worn out. What the hell happened?

I’ll ask them when we get this sorted. Turning to the hotel concierge, I say, “Their reservation got lost? They were supposed to be added on with the team. ”

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Watson. I’m not sure what happened, but there’s no reservation under her name or yours, apart from the room block for the team that’s already full. There’s another event happening downtown, and we’re all booked this weekend.”

I look at my girls—I mean, Meredith and Kay, only one of which is mine.

Not the time, Romel . I rub my forehead trying to get my shit together when the obvious solution hits me. “They’ll stay in my room. Can we get a cot?”

I’ll let Meredith and Kay take the bed and I can take the cot.

The concierge nods quickly. “We’ll get that up right away.”

“Great, thanks.” I reach out for Kaylee who lifts her hands to be picked up. “Hey, Sweetie. How was the plane ride?”

“Rough,” Meredith says, dragging her suitcase and Kaylee’s behind her as she walks next to me.

“What happened?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t think my trick to help Kay’s ears pop worked this time, and she was miserable the entire flight.”

Sympathy fills her features as she looks at my daughter, and my chest tightens. She’s always concerned for Kay, almost on the same level I am, and for the first time, I allow myself to admit that I find it attractive.

I find a lot of things about Meredith attractive.

We make it back to the room and I let them get settled before I leave to head to the stadium.

When I exit the locker room after our game, Meredith is waiting with Kaylee asleep in her arms. She gives me an exhausted smile. “I think she’ll probably be fine with you leaving for away games from here on out. This trip has exhausted her.”

“So your plan worked?”

She smiles wider. “I guess it did. Did you have doubts?”

“About your ideas? Never.”

We share a moment, and the tension I felt between us the other day when I made her breakfast roars back to life.

I drive us back to the hotel in the rental car I got for Meredith, but when we get back to the room, the first thing I notice is the cot that got delivered is definitely not made for an adult.

“I’ll call down to get a full-sized cot up here if you can get her put to bed,” I tell Meredith. She nods and takes over getting Kaylee changed into her pajamas while I call down to the concierge.

I hang up five minutes later with a new problem to address.

Meredith stands up from tucking in Kaylee—who’s still fast asleep—and puts her hands on her hips. “So, what’s up? Are they bringing another cot?”

“They don’t have anymore.”

Her eyes go wide. “What?”

I rub at the back of my neck. “Turns out they only had the one kid’s cot left. All the large ones are being used.” What I don’t tell her is the concierge assumed Meredith and I were a couple and would only need a kid’s cot.

“So…we have to share a bed?” she asks, her dark brow arching.

“Looks that way. You okay with that?” I mean, at least it’s a king-size bed, so it’s not like we’d be forced to cuddle.

“Are you ?” she asks.

I shrug. “Yeah, I mean I’m exhausted and you’re exhausted. It’s not like you’ll take advantage of me,” I say with a smile.

Her jaw drops. “No, I wouldn’t. ”

“So, it’ll be fine.”

“Fine.”

I let her use the bathroom first and spend the five minutes that she’s in there moving Kaylee to the cot and then staring at the bed. Panic starts to swirl in my gut—or maybe it’s nervousness, which is something I haven’t felt in a very long time—the longer I stare at the king-size bed which suddenly seems much smaller.

The bathroom door opens and Meredith comes out wearing pajama shorts and an oversized T-shirt. Nothing about her attire screams sexy and yet it’s hard to pull my gaze from her bare, toned legs. I brush past her, careful not to touch her, and then close the bathroom door.

Okay, this is going to be fine. We’ll sleep on our separate sides and it’ll all be fine.

I brush my teeth and then realize it won’t be fine.

I didn’t pack pajamas. I always sleep in my boxer briefs and wasn’t planning on having anyone else in the room with me.

My hand is heavy on the door handle as I press it down and open it, walking back into the room. Meredith’s gaze catches mine, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth, and the words just fall out of my mouth.

“I sleep in my underwear and didn’t pack pajamas.”

Even in the dim light, I can see her cheeks flush. “Oh,” she says, her lips parting to make the shape of the word. They look glossier than I’m used to seeing, probably from when she licked them. Her gaze drops down to my pants, and my stomach tightens as I beg my body not to respond to her stare.

I do not need to embarrass myself in front of the first woman who’s stirred up anything remotely close to feelings in over three years.

She puts her hand up. “I’ll cover my eyes so you can get undressed.” Her voice shakes a little, and I wonder if she’s feeling the same nerves I am.

I quickly strip out of my pants and dress shirt, and get into the bed. We lie there on our backs, neither of us saying a word, but I can’t help but notice her breathing seems to be as uneven as mine. I can’t get my heart to settle down, and my ab muscles are flexed like my body is bracing itself for a tackle.

“Is this awkward?” I ask her.

“No?”

I turn my head to face her, a smile on my lips. “Were you asking me or telling me?”

She mirrors my position and then covers her face as she laughs. Her laugh is light, but a little throaty like her voice and it’s infectious.

She rolls her body to face me, and this time it’s my turn to mirror her pose. Despite how big the bed is, our pinkies from our hands nearly touch where they are placed beside our heads. Her dark gaze stares into mine as her smile fades into a thoughtful expression.

“You’re nothing like I expected when I took this job.”

“Right back at ya.”

“Romel?”

“Hmm?” Both of our voices have gotten quiet, but there’s something freeing about talking in the dark, something that brings down all the walls I’ve held up to protect me from ever getting hurt again.

She rolls onto her back, her eyes facing the ceiling. “Never mind.”

I don’t know what compels me, but I cup her cheek with my hand, turning her to face me again.

“What are you doing?” she whispers.

“I don’t know,” I whisper back, closing the space between us, and for this one minute I forget who I am, who she is, my past, all of it. I’m just a man attracted to a woman and wanting to see what she tastes like.

I close the gap and press my lips to hers. She moans and then wraps her hand around my neck, holding me in place as our kiss deepens, taking on a life of its own.