Chapter 11 #2
He was upstairs asleep right now, and knowing he was so close but out of reach was excruciating. No one would ever know if I went up there just to watch him sleep, would they?
She moaned. God help me, but I want him so much—more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.
I have to talk to Smitty as soon as this weekend is over.
No matter what, I can’t go on with him any longer—not feeling the way I do about his friend.
The hopelessness of the situation left her feeling despondent.
For a long time, she lay there imagining Ted sleeping until she could no longer resist the temptation.
Almost as if she were watching someone else, she got out of bed and hobbled through the dark house wearing only a white cotton nightgown that fell to mid-thigh.
At the bottom of the stairs, she looked up.
Even though what she was doing went against everything she believed in, she was still unable to stop herself from taking the first step and then the second.
In the upstairs hallway, she paused, hoping to slow her pounding heart before she ventured to the one door that was closed.
Laying her hand on the doorknob, she rested her forehead against the wood door and tried to summon the courage to take the next step.
She turned the doorknob slowly and quietly.
The last thing she wanted was disturb him when it had been so obvious to everyone how tired he was earlier.
All she wanted was a glimpse of him, and the light from the hallway was just enough for her to make out his shape in the bed.
He lay sprawled out on his stomach, and the sheet had shifted down over his hips.
Her mouth went dry when she realized he slept nude.
Her heart pounded with desire and adrenaline as she crept closer to the bed.
The half of his handsome face that she could see was slack with sleep, his breathing a soft whisper in the quiet.
She wanted so badly to run her hand over the smooth plane of his back, but instead she used her index finger to brush a lock of blond hair off his forehead.
His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
Caroline yelped with shock.
“Did I mention I’m a light sleeper?” he mumbled without opening his eyes. “What are you doing?”
“I just, I, um . . .” She sighed. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
He released her arm. “You shouldn’t be up here, Caroline.”
“Believe me, I know. I feel like I’m going to be sick.” She rested her hand on her stomach. “I’ve never been in a situation like this. I have no idea what to do.”
“You have to go back downstairs before someone comes home and catches you up here. That’s the last thing we need.”
“I’m sorry I disturbed you.”
He stared at her, his eyes hot and intense. “I’m not.”
“Ted—”
They froze when they heard a thump downstairs.
“Shit,” Ted whispered. “Say you heard a noise and came up to check. Go. Hurry.”
With one last desperate look back at him, she moved as fast as she could on her broken ankle to get out of his room before whoever was downstairs found her.
If her heart had been pounding earlier, it was about to come out of her chest now.
She got to the stairs and hobbled her way down to find Parker drinking a beer in the living room.
“Caroline?” he said with a quizzical expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, Parker.” Realizing the thin white gown revealed more than she wished to show Parker, she crossed her arms over her breasts. “You scared me. I thought you were out.”
“Those bars are too crazy for me, so I walked home. What were you doing up there?”
“I heard something banging and went up to fix it before it woke up Ted.”
“Did you figure out what it was?”
“The blinds in Chip and Elise’s room were flapping in the breeze.” She cursed herself for not thinking of something better and wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t believe her.
“And you could hear that from down here?”
“Uh huh. Well, I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Are you sure everything’s all right? Your face is all red like you’ve been crying or something.”
“I was sound asleep and woke up to the banging.”
“Yes, the blinds.” He took a long sip of his beer as he studied her.
“Good night, Parker.” She escaped to the master bedroom before she could dig a deeper hole for herself.
Closing the door, she leaned back against it.
I should’ve never gone up there. Ugh. When she got in bed, the cool pillow soothed her heated cheek.
She couldn’t stop thinking about the hungry way Ted had stared at her.
Tears of despair pooled in her eyes when she realized she had found him. The one she had waited for forever. Her last thought before she finally drifted into a restless sleep was how would she ever live without him now that she had found him?
Ted stood at the doorway to listen to Caroline and Parker talking at the bottom of the stairs.
Shit, that was close! His heart galloped in his chest as he quietly closed the door and got back in bed.
Running his hand through his hair, he took a deep breath in an attempt to get his heart and his emotions under control.
He held his breath when he heard Parker coming up the stairs. Grabbing the sheet to cover himself, Ted turned over and closed his eyes as Parker came to a stop outside his room. The door opened.
“Duff?” Parker whispered.
When Ted didn’t stir, Parker closed the door and leaned against it.
Caroline was acting so strange, almost like she had been caught doing something wrong.
But what? Parker didn’t know her very well, but she had never struck him as the flighty type before.
Ted was apparently out cold, so Parker couldn’t ask him if he knew what was going on.
He went next door to Chip and Elise’s room, and the hair on the back of his neck tingled when he turned on the light to find the windows covered only by sheer curtains that billowed softly in the breeze.