I woke up when Creed laid me down on my bed. Blinking slowly, I stared up at him. I didn’t know how late it was or if he had finished the movie. “I’m sorry,” I said groggily as he covered me up with all four of the blankets I kept on the bed.
“For what?” he asked in a low voice.
“Falling asleep,” I said.
He smirked then and brushed some hair out of my face. “It was tough. I hate it when beautiful women snuggle up against me and fall asleep in my arms. but I’ll forgive you.”
Smiling, I closed my eyes unable to fight off the sleepiness.
“Goodnight, Sailor Moon.” I heard him whisper and I must have fallen asleep again because I dreamed he kissed my head and then my cheek.
sixteen
November 13, 2019
My alarm went off and rudely woke me up. Yawning, I reached over and turned it off then stretched. On my second yawn and grumble about having to wake up, I smelled it. A fire. Sitting up, I stared at the fireplace in front of me and the fire roaring in it. What the heck? My room was warm as I tossed the covers off me and slipped on my house shoes. I was still wearing yesterday’s clothes, a pair of stretchy slacks and a blue sweater.
Creed had put me in bed. I looked back at the fire and then headed for the door. Was Creed here? I hoped so because if Creed hadn’t started the fire, I had a very thoughtful intruder that I hoped hadn’t warmed me up to kill me.
Stopping at the top of the stairs, I heard the crackling of the fireplace downstairs and I smelled coffee. Slowly, I made my way down, almost convinced it was Creed but prepared if it wasn’t. I should probably be armed, but I didn’t think about grabbing a hairbrush to whack over someone’s head before I started down the stairs.
When I reached the bottom step, I turned right into the living room and sighed with relief when Creed was sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee in his hand watching the television. He turned to look at me and smiled. “I hope I didn’t wake you starting the fire in your room.”
“Uh, no, you didn’t,” I replied, not sure if it was rude to ask him why he was here or if he’d stayed all night.
He nodded a head toward the kitchen. “I made coffee.”
Was it okay he had stayed the night? He obviously hadn’t slept in my bed. The other side was untouched like it was every morning. We were friends. We’d slept in the same apartment in Boston. Griff was there though. We had been alone here, but it wasn’t the same.
“I couldn’t figure out how to lock your door without the key last night,” he said.
“Ooooh,” I replied, understanding dawning on me. “So you stayed? Please tell me you slept in the other bedroom and not on the sofa.”
“Nothing was wrong with the sofa. It slept good.”
I covered my face with my hand. “I am so sorry I fell asleep on you. Thank you for staying.”
“Like I said last night I’ll get over it,” he replied then winked…again. He needed to stop winking. No man should look that good when he winks. It’s not fair to females. Especially those of us who have boyfriends that they love.
“I’ll make you breakfast,” I told him, hoping I had time to do that and get a shower before I needed to leave.
“I’m good. Go get ready. I’ll head back home,” he said standing up. “Rachel will still be asleep, and I will have some peace until I leave work.”
“I hope she doesn’t hate me for keeping you all night,” I said.
The right corner of his mouth lifted in a half-grin. “She won’t. She thinks we are sleeping together,” he replied, then opened the door and left without another word.
She thought what? I started to run after him but then glanced at the clock. I didn’t have time for that conversation. Thanks to Creed I didn’t need to build a fire in the kitchen stove to warm me up or make coffee. I grabbed a cup and headed upstairs to shower. Trying not to think about how much I enjoyed last night and snuggling up to Creed like a hussy was difficult but I did try.
Albert was oddly cheerful. It didn’t mean he spoke more than three words at a time but he was still in a good mood. The exhibit was set up and tomorrow would be opening day for it, which meant tonight an elite crowd would attend a cocktail party to view it first. The guests would consist of patrons that helped fund the art museum. I’d helped address and mail all fifty-seven invitations that had gone out my first day on the job.