Best I’ve Ever Had
best i’ve ever had
. . .
Cade
Ellie the Unicorn lacked even the most basic survival instincts.
I couldn’t wrap my head around how someone like her existed.
I’d pinned her to the bed and tried to throw her out, and she’d reacted by… cuddling up to me?
I blinked down at the sparkly horn poking my chin to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
She’d stayed.
I’d woken to the weight of a soft body pressed against my side and the tail end of a sunset outside, more refreshed than I’d been in a long time. Somehow my arm had ended up wrapped around her during the nap.
I hadn’t lied earlier. Cuddling wasn’t my thing. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d even hugged someone—including my own mother.
Maybe I was the one lacking survival instincts for not kicking Ellie out of the building and filing a restraining order when she first climbed into my bed.
I blamed the jet lag.
Last I remembered, I’d been lying a couple feet away from her and listening to her babble on about her cat, but now she was cuddled against me with her cheek resting on my chest and breaths in sync with mine.
It felt… different.
Which made me want to get away as fast as humanly possible.
I debated between pushing her off me or trying to extract myself from underneath her and sneak out, when a knock on the door made me freeze. I was too comfortable to do anything more than lift my head.
Mac opened the door before stopping short in the doorway, his gaze zeroing in on the unicorn lying on top of me. His brows skyrocketed. “… Boss?”
I couldn’t blame him for staring. Mac and I had come back to the penthouse alone, and I’d gone straight to bed. Not to mention I never brought women back to my place, let alone one with alarmingly blue hair who dressed like a unicorn.
He must’ve thought I was having a mental breakdown.
“Long story,” I said, keeping my voice low. “I’ll explain later.”
“I…” He trailed off before shaking his head. “Nate came by to drop off the files and set up your video call in the office. Ten minutes until it starts.”
My gaze snapped to the clock on my nightstand. Somehow I’d gotten five hours of completely uninterrupted sleep.
I couldn’t remember the last time that’d happened.
“Be there in two,” I said, rubbing my face to wake up more.
At the quiet click of Mac closing the door behind him, the girl stirred against me, and bright blue eyes groggily blinked open. She immediately pushed into a full body stretch—almost whacking me in the face with a rogue fist—before curling back against my side with a soft hum.
I lay still as death under her, debating between ushering my uninvited guest out the door or letting her sleep while I took my meeting.
The fact I didn’t want to immediately kick her out of my bed was concerning.
It took her another moment to even realize I was here, and her eyes widened. “Oh. Hello.”
I cocked a brow. “Have a good nap?”
“Sorry.” She smiled sheepishly but didn’t move away. “That wasn’t very professional of me to fall asleep, but I blame your super comfy bed.”
Her voice was hoarse with sleep, and she hummed softly. She rested her chin on my chest, eyelids heavy, looking way too pleased with herself—like a cat waking up from a long nap. But with a horn poking out of her head.
“Well?” she whispered. “How was it for you?”
The corner of my mouth tugged up because the innuendo was impossible to miss. “Best I’ve ever had.”
That earned a cheeky grin from her, followed by a laugh.
Until her eyes drifted to her watch, and she jolted up.
“Oh my gosh. It’s late.” She jerked back and scrambled off the bed. “I need to get home!”
I sat up and scratched at a faint itch on my chest while she gathered her things. “Got a boyfriend to get back to?”
The words left my mouth before my brain caught up, but it was too late to take them back.
Ellie froze with the duffle bag strap halfway up her arm. A smile curved her lips. “Where’d that come from?”
I shrugged. “You’re in a rush. Sounds like someone’s waiting for you.”
She hiked the bag fully onto her shoulder, shaking her head. “A cat is waiting for me, not a man. Although Whiskey’s infinitely more clingy than any boyfriend.”
I paused. “You named your cat Whiskey?”
“It’s a nickname,” she said. “His full title is Lord Whiskerson.”
My lips twitched. “You’re kidding.”
That was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard—even after learning professional cuddlers existed.
“I wouldn’t joke about something like that.
I even bought a square foot of land in his name over in Scotland to make it official.
He’s a lord,” she insisted, before frowning.
“Well, I’m pretty sure he is. My friends told me the land thing was a scam, but I kept the certificate anyway. It’s laminated.”
I rubbed my jaw, thrown by her strange obsession with laminating things. And just how many certificates did she have?
“I’m sorry again about the mix-up,” Ellie said with a wince. “I’ll alert my boss, and hopefully he can find the person responsible.”
“No need.” I waved a dismissive hand. “My security team will take care of it.”
“Oh. Okay, that works.” She bit down on her lip, eyeing the door before bracing herself and facing me fully.
I waited patiently for her to work up her nerve.
“Um, I usually give a little spiel to new clients about leaving a review on the app, but this feels like an exception. So, I’ll just get changed in your guest room and go.
” She drummed her fingers against her thighs, and my amusement only grew as she inched closer to the exit.
“And, um, I guess I already know my way out. So… bye!”
She ducked out of the room without another word, rainbow tail swinging behind her.
I got out of bed and changed into a fresh shirt, still mulling over what’d happened, when Mac reappeared in the doorway. “Want to tell me what the hell that was about?”
I coughed into my elbow to hide a grin. “Relax. She wasn’t here to stab me with a poisoned knife after all.”
Any humor was lost on him, and he stared back like he didn’t even recognize me.
“You banged the window washer,” he accused.
“I didn’t bang her.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I walked around him and through the door. “And she’s not a window washer.”
He fell into step beside me. “Who is she, then?”
“A joke someone sent. I don’t know who, but they hired her from an app. I’ll send you the details to look into.”
Mac’s head jerked back. “Someone ordered you a hooker?”
“She’s not a hooker.” I lowered my voice as we passed the closed door of the guest room, then didn’t speak again until we reached the living room. “She’s a… cuddler.”
His blank stare echoed how I’d felt when Ellie told me. “A cuddler? What the hell is that?”
“I don’t know, but she gets paid to cuddle people for a living. Apparently, there’s a demand for that.”
“… So, a random girl showed up while you were sleeping,” he said slowly, squinting at me. “And instead of alerting me or the team, you invited her into your bed?”
“I had it handled. Besides, I’m not the one who let her in the door.”
He scowled. “She was supposed to be with Steve’s!”
“Just see that she makes it off the property without any more trouble,” I ordered as we reached my office door.
Mac stalked off, cursing under his breath.
It wasn’t until I took a seat at my desk that I could admit to myself how stupid I’d acted today.
… What the hell was I thinking letting a random person climb into my bed and cuddle up to me?
But the strange blue-haired girl was right.
That was the best sleep I’d ever had in my life.