“He would have. That’s the problem,” Micah answered huskily.
Tessa rested her hand on his shoulder. “It doesn’t have to be a problem. If you shared the situation, I know that your cousins would help, too. Maybe Xander needs a major intervention with as much backup as you can get.”
“He does. And I think that’s probably going to happen. Julian swears he’s bringing Xander back here so he can get away from his sources in California.”
“Good. We can arrange for an expert to be there to help. Now let me get you some breakfast. You must be starving.”
Micah narrowed his eyes as he looked at Tessa. He wanted to reach out, scoop her up, and then bury himself inside her, forget for a short time about everything except her. She was beautifully mussed up from sleep, and her spiraled curls were wild and pretty damn sexy. There was only one thing that stopped him.
“Christ! I stink. How did you manage to stay in the same room with me, much less the same bed?” The fact that he could smell his own sweat told him that his stench was beyond a smell that he could get used to or go nose-blind to.
Tessa smiled at him. “It’s not like I haven’t smelled your sweat before.”
His cock stiffened as Micah thought of the many times he’d worked up a sweat in bed with her, but this was different. “It’s stale sweat, and it stinks.” He always perspired heavily when he was going through one of his painful episodes, but he was usually alone.
“Go shower and I’ll strip the bed,” she demanded as she got out of the bed. “It’s really not that bad. Are you going to be okay by yourself?”
Micah was tempted to tell her that he wouldn’t be all right, and he needed her naked and in the shower with him. However, he refused to put her through inhaling any more of his pungent body odor. “I’m good.”
She was already pulling the sheets off the bed as he exited the bedroom, and Micah’s chest ached once again at the thought that Tessa had stayed with him, even though it hadn’t been the least bit pleasant.
He wasn’t used to that, having somebody care for him, and he wasn’t sure he was completely comfortable with it. But damn, it felt good knowing that Tessa had his back.
I’ll be right here beside you if you need me.
Tessa’s soft declaration the night before drifted through his mind as he quickly stripped out of his disgusting-smelling clothing. He hadn’t imagined them. Her words had been real. And she’d stayed there for him all night long.
“I need her. I do fucking need her, and not just for my migraines,” he growled as he flipped on the water.
Tessa connected with him on a level that was almost terrifying for a man like him. He was used to being the oldest, the problem solver in his immediate family. When his parents had been murdered, he’d handled everything, taken care of everything. He was used to being the caretaker, and he wasn’t quite certain what to do with a woman who actually cared about him, saw who he was beyond his money.
Keep her!
“Mine,” he rasped as he stepped into the hot shower. “She’s mine.”
He wasn’t sure how he could work everything out, and he didn’t have a plan. For once, he was going by gut reaction, primal instinct, and a certainty that he felt clear down to his soul.
Tessa Sullivan was his, and he was never going to let her go.
Micah felt more human as he sat at the kitchen table and drank a cup of coffee. Tessa had put the sheets into the wash and then decided to go take a shower herself before fixing breakfast.
He nearly choked on his coffee as Tessa strolled out to the kitchen fresh from the shower, her damp ringlets of blonde hair barely tamed, and her gorgeous legs exposed because she’d pulled on one of his button-down shirts. It was way too big for her, and the sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, the hem of the shirt hitting her at about midthigh. But seeing her in something that belonged to him had his cock straining against his jeans almost immediately.
“Nice shirt,” he choked out as she looked at him.
“I hope you don’t mind. I came right here. I didn’t bring anything clean.”
Her face was contrite, and he fucking hated that. Hell, Tessa could feel free to wear every shirt in his closet if she wanted. In fact, she could do anything she liked as long as she stayed with him. “Keep it. It looks better on you than it did on me,” he rasped, dirty thoughts filling his mind as he wondered if she was wearing underwear, since she hadn’t brought any extra. “Did you borrow my boxers, too?”
She flushed as she stopped at the table and looked down at him. “All of my clothes are in the washer.”
The adorably flustered look on her face sent Micah over the edge. Jesus, she was irresistible when she wasn’t sure what to say, which didn’t happen very often.
He picked up his empty mug and dropped it on a small, decorative table behind him before he stood and hoisted her onto the table to sit in front of him. “I think I need to investigate exactly what you’re wearing underneath that shirt.”
“Nothing,” she admitted, her gaze fixed on his mouth. “I already told you that.”
He put his hands on her thighs and slowly slid them upward, edging the shirt higher. “I want to look.”
“I thought you were hungry,” she replied in a tremulous, aroused voice.
“I am. That’s why I want to see my breakfast, baby,” he answered hoarsely, releasing an enormous breath as the shirt went up to her waist and he saw her bare pussy. He pushed her body down on the table and jerked the material until every button popped, revealing Tessa in all of her naked glory, spread out on the table for him like a fucking buffet.