Samantha wished they could stop playing this silly game. She wanted the freedom to go to him. Wrap her arms around his waist and hold him tight. Offer him some reassurance that he wasn’t alone. If he’d been anyone else, she wouldn’t have hesitated.
He didn’t care about her. Fine, she got that. But it didn’t mean they couldn’t be civil, did it? At least try to be friendly?
“Why are you still up? Can’t sleep either?”
Caleb opened the bottle she’d given him and took his time draining its contents. The muscles in his back bunched and flexed with the movement. He had the kind of build that came from hard work and diligence. The kind of build that made a woman sigh with pleasure.
His stern expression reflected in the window as he remained silent.
“Cat got your tongue?”
He turned to her. Heat pooled in her stomach as his gaze traveled slowly, deliberately, from her face. He seemed to take in every inch of her before stopping to linger over her bare legs. “I don’t sleep much. I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”
“You didn’t.” The devil in her insisted she cross her legs, exposing more of her thigh to his view. She enjoyed his eyes on her, as if he saw the woman she was instead of the pain in his ass he’d claimed her to be. She was tempting fate, knowing that any second he’d remember who she was and that look in his eye would change.
For now, she’d use any means to distract him from his pain. Her pain would come later, when she was alone again.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“Why you’re still up.”
He chucked a thumb at the windows. “Daytime.”
She clamped her mouth shut before she said something she’d regret. And he thought she was stubborn. She pulled in a slow, steady breath. “True, but barely. On a normal day, I wouldn’t be up yet.”
“Exactly. Go. Rest.” He closed his eyes as if to shut her out.
She could feel his irritation, but, this time, it wasn’t directed at her. It gave her hope as she pressed on.
“Are you hungry? I could make us some breakfast. If you don’t mind me searching through your fridge, I’m sure I could find something edible.” In fact, she’d been surprised at the amount of food she’d seen. She’d half expected him to only have beer and water and maybe a stray bottle of ketchup. Like Alec’s fridge.
“For the love of christ, what do you want? I don’t want to eat. I don’t want to talk.” He sighed, apparently resigned to her company a few minutes more. “What do you want, Samantha?”
Right now? To slap the shit out of you.
Hurt invaded her chest as she stared back at him. Gone was the pain she’d seen earlier, as well as the male interest. What remained was the Caleb she knew. Cold, hard, angry.
She shoved the hurt away and bit back the sharp retort he deserved. She softened her features, allowing herself to appear vulnerable. It wasn’t much of a stretch. “Can I stay with you?”
* * *
Caleb jerked, surprised by her request. “That’s not a good idea.”
Even as he said the words, his cock came to life. It seemed the lower half of his body thought it was a very good idea. And seeing her in nothing but his T-shirt wasn’t helping. Jesus, he hoped she had panties on under there. A bigger, harder, part of him hoped that she didn’t.
Samantha shifted, exposing more of her delectable thighs. “It’s not like I’m asking you to get a root canal. You can wipe that horrified look off your face.”
Caleb checked his expression, doing his best to appear calm, bored even. She’d surprised the hell out of him, coming in his room like she had.
He was angry. Angry with himself and the past that wouldn’t free him. Angry at her for being here, for looking as if she belonged here. This was his space, damn it. How was he supposed to relax with her prancing around half naked, knowing she’d pleasured herself and called his name?
He wasn’t stupid. He suspected it was his fault she was awake, and now she was here—checking on him as if he was a child who needed coddling. He didn’t need coddling. His body demanded the satisfaction that would only come from pounding his aching flesh deep into her soft, wet pussy.
As tempting as that idea may be, he was still trying to wrap his head around how he felt about her.
“You’re tired. You don’t know what you’re asking.” And he couldn’t think straight. He was low on sleep and even lower on patience. He shoved his hands into his hair and blew out a breath. “You can’t be in here. Go back to bed.” Before he forgot all the reasons he shouldn’t fuck her silly.