“It’s really fine, Maddie. The ibuprofen helped and I don’t think anything’s broken. The swelling in my hand is down. I think it just burst a blood vessel. My side is only bruised, and my head will feel better once I sleep.”
“That’s good. Really, really good. Okay, let’s get you some rest. Goodnight.”
No answer came, and his hand stayed on her arm.
She feared what he’d try to talk about next and needed to deploy some defenses. “You prefer to sleep with the light on?”
Thankfully, that did the trick. He lifted his hand off her, rolled over, and turned off the lamp. The room plunged into blackness, and horrifically it just upped the tension. Apparently she didn’t need to be looking at him to picture him in that towel.
A few intense beats passed and all Maddie could hear was her own quick pants for air.Calm down, she begged herself. What was she doing? She was always in control, always had the upper hand. She was letting herself and the Delta family name down right now. Big time.
“So the quick breathing, and all the flirting, and you staring at me like I’m … attractive to you…” Braden let it all hang in the air for a few seconds. Was he pausing to give her a chance to form a rebuttal? She thought it was more to taunt and tease her. She loved it. Attractive? He was miles past attractive. “They all add up to zero interest?”
Oh, boy. She should just tell him she was on a job and to keep all this romantic crap out of it, but that would only reveal that she was interested in him and using the job as a cover. So she spit out the first thing she could think of. “I have a boyfriend.”
“Oh?” His voice was thick with disappointment.
“Yep.” She congratulated herself on dodging a Howitzer.
A few seconds slid past, and the tension was different. Braden was obviously thinking about something and then he hit her with it. “Would your boyfriend appreciate you flirting with me and sleeping in the same bed with me?”
“My boyfriend is confident enough to know no man could ever compare to him. He couldn’t care less if I fake flirt with somebody, and I’m only in this bed because of the job I’m on, and I don’t want to dye your hair pink. With your blond hair, the pink would really look fabulous.”
“Fake flirt? Hmm.”
Was she going to get away with this? She doubted it.
“So what’s he like?” he asked, giving her no time to relax.
“My boyfriend?”
“Yeah.”
“Go to sleep, Braden.”
“Tell me about your boyfriend and I will.”
She pushed out a heavy sigh and tried to make up a fake boyfriend in her mind. Unfortunately, he looked exactly like the man lying a foot away from her. “He’s in the military.” That wasn’t a smart place to start.
“Of course. He’d have to be special ops or an international spy to keep up with you.”
She laughed at that and for some reason she loved that he seemed to know her so well.
“Navy?” he asked.
“No. Air Force.”
He said nothing, but she knew he knew she was lying. Did that even make sense? What a mess. She should just go to sleep. Everything would be less … muddled in the morning. Nighttime was not anybody’s friend. Least of all when a woman’s defenses were down and an ultra-handsome man was lying in the same bed and he smelled … incredible.
“What’s his rank?” he asked.
“Brigadier General.”
“Really? So even if he enlisted at eighteen, he’s at the youngest, thirty-eight?”
Shoot. That had been a stupid lie, trying to make Braden jealous and throw him off. “What can I say? I like older men.”
“Interesting.” He obviously didn’t believe her. Who could blame him? “What does he look like?”