Then he said, “Please.”
Fine. Mathieu wasn’t important. We could talk about it tomorrow. Honestly, I just wanted to be with Archie right now.
“Okay,” I said, leaning up to press kisses to his jaw. He gathered my hair up in one fist and then pulled me until our mouths could meet. “Okay,” I whispered again between kisses. These weren’t anxious, desperate kisses, but soothing and sweet.
“Sleep for a little while,” Archie said. “I’ll drive you home a little later. I just want to lay here with you. Hold you.”
It was almost impossible to tell him no when he was in this soft, playful mood and we were wrapped together. “Set an alarm?” Otherwise, we’d both end up sleeping all night. “Then we can still wake up together.”
A compromise. Archie kissed the tip of my nose and then nudged me over before he glanced around and then groaned. “Yeah, sec.” He slipped out of the bed and padded, nude over to where he’d left his phone on the dresser. Rising up on one elbow, I watched him go and enjoyed the way the muscles pulled across his ass and legs.
He glanced over at me and smirked. “Happy with your purchase?”
“Umm-hmm.”
With a laugh, he glanced at the phone and then raised his brows.
“Something wrong?”
“No,” he said, swiping the screen. “There we go. Alarm set.” He showed me the phone. It was almost midnight.
It was way later than I thought. He slid back into the bed with me and put the phone on the nightstand.
“I set the alarm for five,” he promised, then kissed my shoulder. “Because I’m going for gold standard boyfriend points. I’ll even buy you Starbuck’s on the way back to your place, since you’re missing French toast.”
I grinned as he turned off the lights and then pulled me back to snuggle against his chest. Drawing a little circle around one of his nipples, I said, “We can always take a nap at my place after I feed the cats and before I go to work.”
“Deal.” Squeezing my shoulder, he pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “You still doing okay?”
I thought about it and then nodded. “Better. I still feel floaty.”
“Good.”
Grinning against his chest, I said, “Though it occurs to me, you’re going to have a hard time topping this date next Friday.”
His chest rumbled under my cheek. “Challenge accepted.”
Then we were both laughing before he dragged me up for another kiss. I didn’t know if I would be able to go to sleep, but curled up around Archie was a great place to be while I figured it out.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Crash
Iplanned to ride Friday’s floaty high all day Saturday. As promised, Archie’s alarm went off at five, and we both stumbled out of bed. I borrowed a t-shirt and sweatpants rather than putting my dress back on. I had to find my little clutch—I’d left it in the guest room—for my wallet, keys, and phone.
The guys had blown my phone up. There were easily a dozen different messages from each of them. Archie just smirked, and gave me a long, very thorough kiss before we headed out to his car. The space next to his car was empty, but maybe Jeremy had early morning errands. Archie made a face, but he didn’t comment.
On the way back to my place, we got coffee. The cats were vocal in their displeasure at my absence. Luckily—for once I was glad to see it—my mom’s car was not in its spot. She hadn’t been there in days. Jake hadn’t been wrong when he said we were more like roommates.
Once the cats were fed, I ran the trash out—including the bag I’d stuffed under the sink after cleaning the litter box—then sipped my coffee while I sorted my laundry. Technically, I should do it today because chances were I’d be at Archie’s in the morning.
I wrestled with the idea, but Archie tugged me back to my bed and wrapped around me. “Sleep,” he insisted. “At least a couple more hours.”
It wasn’t hard to convince me. It was harder to eel out from under him when I woke up the next time. Lying there, he looked so damn sweet. With morning stubble and disheveled hair, he looked like he belonged sprawled on my pillows. Tiddles seemed to think so, because he’d claimed a spot on his chest while Tory looked up from between his legs, her wide blue eyes inquisitive.
I’d never wanted to move less than I had right then, but I forced my ass up and down the hall to the shower. I was still a little sore and achy this morning. The shower helped, and I settled for some leave-in conditioner and toweling my hair. I had time for it to dry before I went to work, and the curls would be better than trying to flatten it today.
Archie’s eyes were open when I walked back into the bedroom. I’d taken panties and a bra with me. He grinned, his eyes still sleepy. “Did you know your bed smells like you?”