She admired the way his long eyelashes shadowed his cheeks.
“But it’d have to be the perfect candidate. I can’t let this go to just anyone. It’s too important.”
“Believe me, I understand putting your passion to work.”
His eyes closed. “Maybe you could ask around for me.”
“No problem.” She leaned over him to set her coffee on the nightstand, opened her e-mail, and started drafting a request. Until they found an assistant, Chloe was pulling double duty.
“Not now.” He opened his eyes.
“Why not?”
“Because we have other things to do.”
“Like what?”
He answered by setting her laptop on the nightstand next to their coffee mugs. Then he pulled her down next to him and tucked her against his side.
“Like sleeping.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Or”—he stroked his fingers over her arm—“resting.”
“Resting?”
“You’ve heard of it, right?” he asked, his voice heavy with impending sleep. “It’s when you lie still and listen as your heart rate slows.”
Isa rested her head on Eli’s chest, taking a deep breath and listening as his heart rate did just that. And then she listened as his breathing shifted into a contented snore. He was three things she’d never imagined he’d be: warm, snuggly, and in this moment, all hers.
***
Eli woke from his nap refreshed, but alone.
Wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, he walked out of his bedroom to find Isa dressed, her hair tied into a ponytail at the back of her head. She glanced up, then took an even longer gander, her eyes wandering down his form as a cat-got-the-cream smile stole her mouth.
She made him feel capable. He liked that. It’d been a while since he’d felt like a hero, arguably wasn’t feeling quite that way now, but this was a step in the right direction.
“You’re terrible at resting.” He lowered his face to hers and she tipped her chin to place a kiss on his lips.
That move, he liked a hell of a lot.
The way her eyes fluttered closed, the way her hair swung behind her when she lifted her mouth to his. The way she was here, in his space. He didn’t think he liked anyone in his space, but like everything else he’d experienced with her, Isa was the exception.
“While you were sleeping, I found two candidates perfect for running Refurbs,” she said. “They have past charity experience and one of them is a personal friend of mine. I put together a sort of fact sheet on each of them.” She clicked a button and the printer purred to life in his office and started spitting sheets.
“You like lists,” he observed, his eyes wandering over her open planner and notebook filled with to-dos. Nearly every item had a line through it.
“I do. Nothing gets done unless I write it down first.”
“Have you always been like that?” He eased into the chair next to her, genuinely curious. About what she preferred, what she liked. What made her tick.
She watched him for a second before lifting her shoulder into a cute shrug. “I…yeah. I have. Organized. Neat. Ready to help.”
“But it didn’t sit well with your parents when you didn’t want to run their empire,” he said, grateful his parents hadn’t been that way. Reese was always the one. He knew it, Mom and Dad knew it, and Tag and Eli had aspirations separate from running a corporation.
“I wanted to pave my own way.” She dropped her chin on her fist. “What about you? What is it about Crane Hotels that makes you run and hide?”
“I’m not hiding.” He felt the jerk in his shoulders when he pulled them back, ready to argue. He’d do anything for his family…like stay out of the way when he couldn’t add value. “I’ve been busy.”
“Not anymore.” She pointed at her computer screen. “You can do Crane work once we have Refurbs handed off to a responsible manager. Then you can park in a big, plush office and get an assistant who answers your ringing phone.”