To his shock, she started jiggling around. If he didn’t know better. . .
She tugged at his hand again. This time, a noise of frustration left her mouth. Shit. Was she waking up? He figured he’d best go with her. He wondered how often this happened?
She led him down the passage, past his own bedroom and Dominic’s then around a corner to her bedroom.
“Uh, angel, best I stay out here.”
She just kept pulling on his hand. Reluctantly, he followed her inside. Surprise filled him as he took in the bedroom. It was enormous. At least the size of his and Dominic’s rooms put together. He’d been expecting something sterile and organized.
It was feminine and filled with stuff. There were portable racks of clothes up against one wall. Her bed was king-sized with a velvet, gray headboard. The bedcovers were a pale pink. Down the end was a velvet gray bench that ran the length of the bed. A white, fluffy rug lay under the bed. Not that you could see much of it because of all the clothes that lay on the floor.
Long, gray floor to ceiling curtains rested along one wall. He knew there were huge windows looking out at the park below. He stared at all her clothes. Didn’t she have a closet?
A lamp on the bedside table cast shadows of stars around the room and ceiling. A nightlight?
Arianna made a noise of frustration, dancing around as she held onto his hand tightly. She then pointed at a door across the other side of the room.
Shit. She needed the bathroom.
He quickly followed her across the bedroom and she opened the door. Yep, bathroom. Okay, no way was he going in there. He was already breaching so many rules, it wasn’t funny.
No more.
“Angel, I’m not going in there with you.” What he needed to do was leave. She could handle this part by herself, right?
Except what if she slipped and hit her head? What if she suddenly woke up and got a fright?
She looked at the toilet then back at him.
Shit.
“Angel, go to the toilet. I’ll wait out here,” he reassured her.
She still just stood there. Crap. How did he get her to move?
He turned her towards the toilet. “Go potty, little one. I’ll be right in here.”
To his shock that worked, and she moved off to the toilet. He closed the door but kept it open a few inches just in case.
He paced up and down outside the door. What the fuck was he thinking? He should have walked away the moment she turned up. Or gone and woken up Dominic. He should not be alone in her bedroom with her.
The door pushed open and she shuffled out, yawning. Her mouth was so wide, he could see her teeth. No doubt she’d be mortified if she remembered any of this tomorrow. Then he’d be fired and headed back to Montana.
Which should have made him happy, right?
Ari walked towards the bed then turned and looked back at him. He stepped around more clothes, watching as she tried to climb up into the bed. What the hell was she doing with such a high bed? What if she fell from it in the night?
Stop it.
Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer. He grabbed her around the waist and settled her in bed. Then moving on instinct, he tucked the covers around her.
Crap. What if she wouldn’t stay in bed? He needed to get some sleep himself tonight. He couldn’t stay here, watching over her.
She pulled her stuffed dog close and her eyes started to drift closed. Her thumb was back in her mouth. She needed a pacifier.
“Angel, I want you to listen to me. I want you to stay in bed until morning, understand me?”
She didn’t say anything, but she did nod her head before her eyes shut and her breath evened out. Fuck. He wished he could fall asleep that quickly.