Hot Fudge Sundaes
Dahlia
Why do I own so many books? I yawn for the third time. Not sleeping much for weeks has really done a number on my energy.
“You sound like you’re ready for bed.” Vex sets a book down on the shelf across from the window.
“I am.”
“Then let’s go to bed.”
Let’s go to bed?!?
Vex and I are sleeping together.
We haven’t even kissed and we’re going to sleep together…
Get your head out of the gutter. Nothing is going to happen tonight. It’s going to be completely platonic… well, mostly platonic. It’s not like you are half comatose like you were the last time.
Sleep, though, sounds so amazing. A nice long night’s sleep safe in Vex’s strong arms sounds better than anything else in the entire world right now.
But the whole getting to that point sounds awkward. “I’ll go make our hot fudge sundaes.”
Like the coward I am, I rush off to hide in the kitchen for as long as humanly possible.
Vex’s chuckles follow me out the door and down the stairs.
There is nothing wrong with being a coward.
Nothing at all.
What is Vex going to wear to bed? Before he wore his street clothes. Will he do that again? That seems awfully uncomfortable.
Vex probably brought pajamas.
A man like Vex wears pajamas?
That doesn’t sound right. In all the books and movies, men like Vex sleep in their underwear or…
Nope. Nope. Nopety. Nope.
Vex brought pajamas. Very modest pajamas. Pajamas that cover every inch of his muscled skin.
Boring pajamas.
Stop thinking about Vex in his pajamas.
Go make hot fudge.
***
As I set the last cherry on top of a dollop of freshly whipped cream, all my excuses for avoiding bed disappear. There’s no more procrastinating.
It’s time to face my fears…a sexy man in my bedroom shouldn’t be this scary.
What would Mom do?
Put on a negligée and schedule the reception at the clubhouse.
There has to be someone else I could emulate… Diane would probably strip off her clothes…
Nope. That’s a bad idea.
Savie... She would brazen it out and pretend like she slept with a different man every day but Sunday and this was no big deal.
I’m brave. I’m sassy… sort of.
But being brazen isn’t one of my strong points.
Why didn’t I buy a house with ten floors?
Because you’d never make it up to the bedroom.
Which would come in handy right about now.
It would also thwart all the sleep I will get tonight.
There really should be a company where you can just rent a man to hug…
Vex steps out of the bathroom as I reach the bedroom landing.
Every thought slips out of my mind except… muscles… how does he have so many muscles? They’re stacked on top of each other… so pretty. Muscles shouldn’t be pretty. They’re hard and scary. Vex is scary… to everyone else.
“You know if you stare at me much longer, we’re going to have soup instead of sundaes.” The grin on his face says he doesn’t really care.
“Aren’t you… um…” Hot. Very hot! “…cold?”
The beast chuckles. “No.”
What am I going to do? My brain won’t function with him like that.
“You must be. I’ll just…um…” Did Dad leave any shirts here when he stayed last? Like Dad’s shirt is going to fit over all those expansive muscles. “You don’t have any tattoos.” Why? Why in the world would you blurt that out? Don’t make it any more obvious that you’re salivating over him.
“Never saw a reason to get one. I don’t need to prove my strength or pain tolerance to anyone. Do you have any?”
“Muscles, no.”
He chuckles again. “I meant tattoos.”
“Oh.” Stop staring and start thinking. “No, I don’t have any tattoos. My mother would have lost her mind if I ever got one. ”
“And you care about that?”
Can you really kiss a smirk off a man’s face? It works in books.
That smirk is almost as sexy as his…
Stop being a perv. This is completely normal. Women have ice cream with shirtless men all the time.
On the beach, not in the middle of my bed.
“Would you feel better if I put a shirt on?”
“No.” What did I just say? “Yes.” Pull yourself together. “It would be nice if you put on a shirt. I wouldn’t want you to catch a chill.”
The smirk turns into a grin as he heads to my bathroom. The view from the back is just as nice…
Vex comes back a second later with a shirt on and one in his hand. “This is for you.” He takes a bowl from my hand and gives me the soft shirt.
“Why?”
“You can sleep in it.”
“But this is your shirt.” I hold up the offending garment.
“It is. Now go put it on.”
“But I have pajamas.” Lots of pajamas. Including a pair that covers me from my neck to my toes. I usually wear it on the coldest day of winter, but was planning to wear it tonight like it was armor protecting me from the gaze of a sexy man.
Which would probably work, since what man finds adult onesies sexy?
“I know, but I want you to wear this.” He nods to the t-shirt.
“But…”
“Wear the shirt, Dahl.”
Fine, I’ll wear the shirt, but only because it’s incredibly soft. “Here, take this. I’ll be right back.”
Vex takes the second sundae bowl, and I go change.
He’s lying on the bed on top of a blanket with the television on and a bowl in his hand .
How do women win any battles when they walk out to a sight like this? “You… um… didn’t have to sleep on top of the quilt. You have pajamas on.”
“Dahl, come eat your ice cream.”
“But Vex—”
“Dahl, I only have so much willpower.”
What does—Oh. I scamper into the bed and take the bowl he holds out to me. “Vex?”
“Yeah, Dahl.”
“Can I hug you?” There. That was certainly brazen.
His big arm wraps around my shoulders, and he pulls me in close.
The same warm, safe sensation runs through me like it does every time I’m in his arms.
This is right.
Everything about this moment is perfect.
“Vex?”
“Yeah, Dahl.”
“Do you think I’ll be ready for you to kiss me soon?”
“You’ll be ready when you’re ready.”
It better be soon. I snuggle into Vex’s shoulder.