As I tested my muscles, I felt a gentle ache. The kind that came from clenching hard. It was the kind of feeling I only got from—
Brady.
My eyes flew open as I turned to his side of the bed, shielding my eyes from the light with my forearm.
He wasn’t there.
After an initial bout of disappointment, I chided myself. What had I thought, that he’d cuddle me all night? That was something aboyfrienddid. Well, some boyfriends. But it definitely wasn’t the behavior expected of a guy who was just trying to prove that he was better than your high-tech toys.
I sank back onto the mattress with a groan. He’d proved that and more. Last night, he’d literally rocked me to my core. It had been one of the best orgasms of my life, and I’d slept straight through the night afterwards.
No restlessness. No tossing and turning. No nightmares.
Thank god.
Or, rather, thank Brady.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, I realized he must’ve drawn back the curtains before he left. Was the early morning sunshine retaliation for me leaving him high and dry last night?
But that didn’t really seem like something he’d do. Maybe he thought I’d appreciate some light in here, and I did, even though I was half tempted to turn my back to the window and go back to sleep.
But then an electronic beeping filled the room. Bolting upright, I fumbled with my phone, trying to turn the alarm off. I pressed button after button, but the noise didn’t abate. Then I realized that the alarm on my phone wasn’t supposed to go off for another hour.
Sliding my feet over the edge of the bed, I scanned the room. Finally, I spotted a little white clock on the dresser that definitely hadn’t been there yesterday. Pulling the sheet around me, I padded across the room and hit the button on the top. The beeping ceased.
Perplexed, I examined the little plastic clock. There were a few buttons and a little hatch on the back. Hmm… I guess Brady wasn’t opposed to all battery-operated devices.
But the question was why he’d set it. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and spotted the answer. There was a little yellow Post-it on the dresser with the same handwriting used to ask Cole to feed the cats yesterday.
Get dressed and meet me out back, sleepyhead. There’s something we need to do before breakfast.
I pulled open the heavy dresser drawer and took out some clean clothes before stopping to question what I was doing. Just because Brady wanted an early morning meeting didn’t mean I had to oblige. Yet somehow, I found myself heading into the bathroom to take a quick shower.
Half an hour later, I eased the sliding door shut behind me and descended the steps of the little deck. I was better dressed for hiking today. I’d donned jeans in case we’d be sitting on a rough log again. And I was glad I’d put on my pink hoodie when I felt the nip in the morning air.
Brady was nowhere to be seen, but the door to the smokehouse cottage thingie, the one they were fixing up, was open, so I headed over there. Brady’s note said there was something we needed to do. Hopefully, that didn’t involve construction. I’d be about as useless at that as I was at cooking.
“Brady?” My voice was just a whisper, not because I thought the sleeping inhabitants of the inn could hear me out here. No, it was more because the morning air was so crisp and still, it seemed a shame to disturb it. The birds were singing, but they added to the peaceful atmosphere.
He appeared in the doorway, and for a moment, I was struck anew by how handsome he was. His body was lean but strong. I’d felt his muscles pressing against me last night. They were the kind that came from working outdoors, not from a gym.
His biceps stretched the sleeves of his flannel shirt. His arms weren’t those of a bodybuilder, but they were sure ripped enough to catch a woman’s eye.
The smile that he aimed at me made my heart rate increase, and I couldn’t imagine how he was still single. Unless it was because no woman could find him out here.
“Morning,” he said.
“Good morning.” The events of last night flooded my brain and I felt shy—which wasn’t a sensation I was very familiar with. Maybe I’d have to ask Penny how to deal with it later. It was her default mode.
“How’d you sleep?”
The corners of my mouth twitched upward. “I think you know.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, probably. You were out seconds after the main event.”
Though he didn’t look upset, guilt hit. “I’m sorry, I should have—”
“That was the whole point of the exercise, remember?” He cocked his head to the side. “To help you sleep deeply. Any job worth doing is worth doing well.”