I passed out, completely drained and sated. I didn’t remember him untying me or gathering me into his arms, but I did wake up briefly as he tucked me into his bed. I felt the kiss he left on my forehead and heard the words he whispered: “I wasn’t supposed to want to keep you, Emily.”
Despite my exhaustion, the words imprinted. They were both sweet and ominous at the same time. I wanted him to keep me too. I was more than happy to be kept by him. Was he implying that there would be a reason that he couldn’t? Or wouldn’t?
But I was too tired to think about it any more than that. I fell into a deep sleep that lasted well into the next morning.
CHAPTER 15
I woke to sunlight streaming brightly through the wall of windows. Reeve wasn’t there, but the other side of the bed had been slept in. Too bad I didn’t remember it. I considered pulling a pillow over my head and going back to sleep, but my brain was already at work with a million thoughts that wouldn’t let me shut down. One thought in particular I couldn’t ignore any longer: now that I was in with Reeve, how the hell was I going to help Amber?
It had to be my priority. Reeve could be more to me than my connection to her, but he couldn’t be instead of her. That wasn’t a promise I was going to break.
So it was time to search for answers, and I wasn’t finding any under the covers.
Besides, the smell of bacon wafting through the house was a siren I couldn’t deny.
Since my dress hadn’t made it upstairs, and since I preferred to not give Reeve’s staff a show if I could help it, I searched through some drawers until I found a plain white T-shirt. I threw it on and headed downstairs.
I didn’t expect to find Reeve in the kitchen, but the sounds and smells of coffee and cooking were the only signs of life in the house so I went there first.
To my surprise, it was exactly where I found Reeve. He was standing behind the island stovetop, turning bacon in a skillet with a pair of cooking tongs. A medium bowl on the counter had the remnants of an egg mixture and just as I walked over, four slices of toast popped up from the toaster.
“Morning,” I said with a silly grin that came out of nowhere.
He returned the smile, his expression heating as he ran his gaze down my body. “I like you wearing my things.”
“I like wearing your things.” The giddy voice that spoke sounded like a freaking teenager. I cleared my throat and came to stand across from him, the island between us. “You’re cooking. Where’s your staff?”
“I gave them the day off.”
“Really?” Everything about the situation was surprising – no staff, Reeve cooking. The last man that had cooked for me had been Liam and that had only been burgers on the grill. That was a decade ago. So much had changed. So much hadn’t.
Thinking of Liam made me feel off balance, and I kicked my toe absentmindedly against the wood base of the counter. “I like it. Like being really alone with you.” Whoa. Where had that come from?
Reeve set down the tongs. “As much as you like it when we’re not really alone?”
I swear my blush extended to my toes. How did he know those things about me? How did he just understand what dirty things turned me on?
“That shade of red looks good on you,” he teased. “Come here.”
I couldn’t look at him as I circled around the island. When I was within arm’s reach, he pulled me into him and I licked my lips, expecting a kiss. Wanting a kiss.
But it didn’t come. Instead, he fingered the jewel at my neck. “I knew this color would bring out your eyes. But it looked better when it was all you were wearing.”
“Such mixed messages you give, Sallis. You like me wearing your things, you like me not wearing your things. You’re awfully confusing.”
“And you’re awfully distracting. I changed my mind – go back where you were.” He swatted my behind and turned his focus on his meal. Or maybe he was as thrown by the tender undertones in the air as I was.
Come to think of it, “awfully confusing” was an understatement. I had a feeling that no matter how much time I spent with the man, he’d always be completely perplexing. I wondered if Amber had felt the same about him or if she’d managed to crack his code. I wondered if he’d given her jewels that brought out the color of her eyes and called her distracting. I wondered if he’d given his employees the day off and made her breakfast, kissed her in the kitchen while she wore nothing but his things. While she wore nothing.
They weren’t the kinds of Amber questions that usually pushed for my attention, and it shamed me. It also reminded me that I needed to be asking other questions. Ones that would gain useful information and as many as Reeve would allow.
“So, is this something you do often?” Okay, I was weak. It was the only door I saw open, though, so I slipped in. Maybe it was just the only door I saw.
“Breakfast? I do it every day.” He walked to a cupboard and brought back a stack of plates.
“Cook, I mean. Send away staff so you can be alone with a girl.”
He seemed to think about his answer. “I can’t say that I do.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let it get to my head. I remember; I’m not special.” I added a wink so he’d think I was only regurgitating his words and not digging for the reassurance that I was somehow suddenly desperate for.
“I’ll say this, Emily – I’ve dated my share of actresses and you’re the only one who hasn’t bent over backwards to try to keep me entertained. Outside the bedroom, I mean.” As he spoke, he placed a paper towel on one of the plates and started moving strips of cooked bacon to it from the pan.