He was right beside her, the big frame of a sleeping man. In her bed. In the light of day.
The light of day! She smothered a squawk as she quickly looked over her shoulder at the alarm clock. It was later than she usually slept, but that wasn’t saying much: she always woke early to get a jump on things. There was still time to do her usual prep work. More important was to remove any evidence of Alessio from their home before Dash returned.
Moving incrementally from the bed, quietly and gently, so as not to disturb him, she paused only to grab her robe from the back of the door before tiptoeing into the living room. The heating was on, and the space was cosy—even more so because she’d left the Christmas lights on when they’d gone to bed the night before and the space glowed with the warmth of the tree.
First things first: she began to brew a pot of coffee, before moving to the coffee table and collecting their coffee cups and chocolate wrappers, bringing them into the kitchen and running them through the sink. She was just pouring her first coffee when a noise behind her had her spinning almost guiltily, eyes landing on the mussed, tussled, morning figure of Alessio Cavalcante. Here, in her kitchen. Wearing a pair of boxer shorts and nothing else.
Her heart slammed into her ribs, and she almost spilled her coffee.
“Morning. I made coffee. Would you like some? I always have coffee first thing. Usually in the kitchen downstairs, so I don’t wake Dash, but he’s not here right now—you know that, obviously—because you were here last night, but um, did you say ‘yes’ to a coffee?”
“I don’t think you gave me a chance?” He teased, moving deeper into the kitchen and putting his arms around her waist. She pulled a face.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Nervous again?”
She bit into her lower lip. “Well, this isn’t exactly normal for me.”
“Would you like me to leave?”
Her chest gave a strange, stretching feeling. “Not right away,” she admitted after a pause.Not at all, she silently added. At least, not for the rest of the day. She wanted to explore him some more…but Dash would be back within a couple of hours, and she needed some time to clear her head before having to switch back into mummy-Charlotte mode.
“Coffee first,” he agreed, smiling at her.
She blinked back, her smile natural, and sipped her coffee in the space created between their bodies.
Later, much later than she’d intended, after two cups of coffee apiece and conversation that roamed from world events to favourite bands, Alessio stood by the door, preparing to leave.
“I had fun last night.”
Her heart exploded. “I did too.”
“Can I see you again?”
“You’re staying in the hotel I live in, I think it’s a given.”
His response was a quick quirk of his lips. “You know what I mean.”
“I do,” she agreed, pausing a moment. She wanted, with all her heart, to say yes. But was it wise? And how could she make it work? “The next few days are busy for me—I don’t work Christmas Day, but I do a lot of the preparations. And there’s Dash…”
A frown briefly marred his handsome face. “If you don’t want to see me again, it’s okay.” He pressed a finger to her chin, tilting her face to his. “I’m a big boy, I can handle it.”
I’m a big boy.She had to literally bite down on her tongue to stop from saying, ‘yes, yes you are.’ It didn’t stop the heat from flushing her face, though, and she was sure he read her mind, because he lifted his brows in response.
“I want to see you again,” she said quickly, without bothering to hide her eagerness. “It’s just a question of how.”
“Later tonight?”
If she didn’t hide her eagerness, nor did he, and she was gratified by that.
“After Dash is asleep?”
He nodded. “Text me a time.”
She nodded. “Let’s say nine-ish, to be safe?”
“Text me.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her forehead and her heart did a funny little stitching movement.