There was a woman-shaped lump under the comforter, and when he drew it back he discovered Mia, naked and curled up, fast asleep in the middle of the bed.
Instantly the remaining liquor fumes vanished and his cock hardened.
She looked so small curled up there in his bed. Pale and slender and vulnerable. Her hair was tangled all over the pillows, her lashes lying in thick, black fans on her cheeks. Her breathing was slow and even and deep.
Small and beautiful and perfect.
His heart thumped, a heavy, painful beat, and the weirdest sense of . . . need swept through him.
He’d been thinking of taking her to Wyoming, to show her something different. To give her a new experience, broaden her horizons a bit. But this need went deeper than that. It felt like . . . more somehow.
She sighed then, rolling over onto her back, her hands moving up and above her head, abandoned in sleep.
His chest constricted.
She wanted a home and he’d told her she could be here as long as she liked, but what if . . . she stayed? What if that home was with him?
You can’t do that. You break those you care about, remember?
Yeah, but he’d been so careful this past week, so good. He could do this. He could keep her safe. Sure, Wyoming wasn’t New York and maybe she wouldn’t like it, but shit, maybe she would. Maybe she’d want to stay there with him.
Permanently.
Chapter 10
A cold shock hit Mia, because it hadn’t been too long ago that waking up to find a man standing over her could only mean bad things. But there was only one man she knew who had blue eyes like that. Xavier.
Everything readjusted itself, and she remembered where she was and what she was supposed to be doing.
She was in Xavier’s bedroom, in his bed, waiting for him to get home. He’d told her he’d had to go into the office this morning, so she’d spent the day surfing around on Netflix and totally indulging herself by watching a whole bunch of crap movies.
She’d gotten a little worried as the hours had ticked by and night had fallen, but then he’d sent her a text telling her he’d be late, so she’d decided not to wait up and just go to bed instead.
Along with the clothes from that department store, Xavier had also gotten her some silky pajamas. But although she liked the fabric, she preferred to sleep in his bed naked. It was still a novelty to sleep with nothing between her and the expensive cotton sheets and she liked it, especially when the sheets smelled of him. She found that comforting.
She thought she might try to stay awake until he’d gotten home, but despite her best intentions, as soon as she’d snuggled up, she’d fallen asleep.
But she wasn’t so sleepy now, because it wasn’t Xavier in one of his expensive custom-made suits standing by the bed right now. It was Xavier completely and utterly naked.
Even after five days of sleeping every night with him, the sight of him bare still made her blink.
Naked men had been few and far between in her life—in fact she could quite safely say she’d never seen one, never wanted to see one. But Xavier . . .
Her mind went blank every time. Because he was so beautiful.
Wide shoulders, smooth, tanned skin stretched over the kind of body she thought a god might have had. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. He was all hard, chiseled muscle, lean-hipped and sleek as a tiger. She couldn’t help herself, her gaze wandering down to where his cock rose up against his stomach, just as big and hard and demanding as the rest of him.
Her mouth went dry. No wonder it had hurt earlier. He wasn’t a small man.
“You’re really late,” she said thickly, sitting up. “I was starting to worry.”
He smiled as something tightened in her chest. He was beautiful when he smiled too. “Don’t. It was only work shit.” His gaze drifted down her body. “Glad I’m home now, though. Very glad.”
A ripple of heat moved over her skin and her breath caught. Wanting someone wasn’t something she was used to, but she was getting used to wanting him.
Only him.
The thought hit her hard in the chest, like a blow. She hadn’t even thought about being with someone else since just being with him was so new, but . . . no. Of course it was only him. She couldn’t even imagine being like this with someone else. Because how would she ever come to trust anyone else the way she trusted Xavier? She wouldn’t, and that was that.
She leaned back against the pillows. “What work shit?”
His gaze moved back to hers again, his smile turning almost tender. It made the tightness in her chest constrict even further.
With one of his fluid movements, Xavier got into bed with her, sliding his arms underneath her and gathering her in close. Seconds later she was on her back, with him hard, hot, and heavy on top of her.