Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
“A re you even awake?” Blake asked.
Paige shimmied herself closer to him, pressing her chest into his bare ribs. She was awake, but still a little brain fogged from sleep. She wanted to stay right here in his arms for a bit longer.
“I am.”
“And you are aware that you are manhandling me?”
She chuckled. “Like you aren’t loving this. I had no idea you slept shirtless.” She was trying to remember why she wasn’t open with him about her feelings, but at this moment in time, she saw no reason to.
He continued to play with her hair, and she nearly drifted off again.
“We can’t do this,” Blake said.
“Why not?” she mumbled.
“Because you are Lukas’s little sister.”
“So.” She was so warm and comfortable, she didn’t want to move. This was blissful.
“So, I don’t want to get punched in the nose for taking advantage of you.”
She sniffed. “Oh, please, we’ll just tell him I took advantage of you, which is actually more of the truth. I lured you to my bed, and then, how did you put it? Manhandled you.” She chuckled at her own joke.
He slid out from underneath her, and she pulled the pillow he was using into her arms instead. She inhaled. It smelled like him. He left without another word, and she fell back into a deep sleep.
* * *
Paige woke with a start and grabbed her phone. It was after ten. She never slept that long. She scrambled out of bed and jumped into the shower. Getting a full night’s sleep was the best thing that had happened to her in a long time.
She was glad Blake had agreed to help her, even if the situation was a little weird. Somehow she’d ended up on his side of the bed, and his scent was all around her. It was musky and manly with a hint of that cologne he always wore. He’d starred in all her dreams the night before. She blushed as she thought of them.
She didn’t know what she would do at the end of the summer when he left, but she didn’t need to worry about that now. She had another eight weeks. Eight weeks of glorious sleep.
She brushed out her hair, pulling it into a ponytail, and threw on a tank and yoga pants. Then she jogged down the stairs.
Blake was in the kitchen, and he smiled at her. “Hey, you’re awake. I nearly came up there to check if you were still alive.”
She hopped up on the counter and sat, facing him, while he put flour and eggs into a bowl. Before she knew him, she’d never pegged him as someone who baked, but his blueberry muffins were to die for. She’d told him so yesterday.
“I slept amazingly. Thank you. I have more energy today than I’ve had in weeks.”
He chuckled. “Good. I slept much better last night than I had on the couch.”
“It wasn’t too weird?”
He looked down into the bowl where he was stirring the batter. “With the exception of this morning, no, it wasn’t too weird.”
She plopped a blueberry that had not made it into the batter into her mouth. “What happened this morning? I wasn’t snoring or anything, was I?”
He set down the bowl and stared at her. “You really don’t know what I’m talking about?”
Her insides went cold. What the hell had she done?
“No, but I need you to tell me.” In her place between dreams and wakefulness, she often had times where she wasn’t sure what was real and what was a dream. It’d always been like that. If she’d done something embarrassing, she had to know.
He chuckled and poured the blueberries into the bowl. “Oh no. If you don’t remember, I’m not telling you.”
Her mind raced through possibilities. “Did I drool on you?”
His lips twitched. “In a manner of speaking.”
She shoved his arm and met the hard muscle. Her mind flashed back to her dream. The one starring him and his glorious chest and abs. “Tell me what happened.”
“Give me a minute here.” He took his time and poured the batter into a muffin tray and popped it into the oven. Then he came and stood directly in front of her, placing a hand on either side of her. If they were together, she would’ve reached out with her legs and drawn him closer, but they were just friends. Or something. She wasn’t even sure what they were.
“You really want to know?”
“I do.”
“It’s going to embarrass you.” His eyes twinkled.
She dropped her eyes. “So embarrassing that you won’t sleep with me again?”
He chuckled. “No. It’ll take a lot more than that.”
She placed a hand on his chest. “Just tell me already.”
“You were sleeping on my chest this morning, and when I tried to get away without waking you, you told me to stay.”
She jerked away from him, her stomach flooding with dread. That was part of her dream. Or at least she’d thought it was. But the dream had progressed much further than just lying on his chest.
Their kiss. But it was just in her dream. Wasn’t it?
Oh no. She swallowed audibly.
“I thought that was just a dream. How far did it go?”
He raised an eyebrow. “How far did it go in your dream?”
She was not telling him that. “Uh-uh. You have to answer my question.”
He moved away from her and leaned on the counter next to her, grabbing an apple from the bowl and taking a big bite of it. “It didn’t. I told you we couldn’t do anything because of Lukas, and you pouted a bit. Then I got out of bed, and you fell asleep. I really thought you were awake. Phil and Ida have already been here, and we had bacon and eggs. I was actually making the muffins as a peace offering because I figured you were too embarrassed to face me.”
“I am now.” She kept her gaze averted. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to look at him again.
He shrugged. “You shouldn’t be. For the record, the feeling is mutual, but I won’t risk my friendship with Lukas over a few weeks of good sex.”
He might not be willing to, but she certainly would.