I catch a glimpse of white fur and something colorful. A rainbow? Oh, yeah. A unicorn horn. I can’t help but smile as Eve settles down next to me. Her eyes are closed and she burrows deeper. She smells like vanilla, which must have been her soap or lotion.
I want to reach over, drag her into my arms, turn her to her other side, and spoon her. She wants to be comforted. I could do that. But I won’t. Good God. Of course not. I’m not here to hold this woman while she sleeps. I’m here to protect her.
Suddenly, I remember what Davis said yesterday when I spoke to him. About Eve looking much younger and innocent under the professional façade. Now I know what he meant and why he’s seen her like this. If she attends the club as a little, everyone at Surrender sees her as innocent and young.
I swipe a hand over my face and sigh louder than I mean to.
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs without looking at me. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want. I’m being ridiculous. It’s improper of me to ask you to stay in my bed.”
I roll onto my side, facing her, and reach for her to follow my earlier instinct, easing a lock of hair from her forehead. “It’s fine,” I whisper, my voice sounding more gravelly than I expected. “I’ll be right here. Sleep, Evelyn.”
Her breath hitches.
“Shit. Sorry. I forgot. Eve.”
She shakes her head, still not tipping back to look at me. Her face is halfway under the covers anyway. “I don’t mind,” she murmurs.
I’m not sure what to make of her response. She’d been so adamant earlier.
I can’t stop touching her, mostly because it’s calming her. Her breathing slows down as I stroke her forehead and then slide my hand down to her shoulder. An odd protective instinct rises in me. She’s not like any woman I’ve ever dated. In fact, she’s not even like the woman I met earlier this evening in the club, nor is she like the woman I’ve been following for two weeks. The one who looks like nothing would ever rile her up. The professional version of Eve in the pencil skirts and heels. The one who must make everyone she encounters at work nervous.
This is another Eve. Her little? Seems reasonable. In which case, I know I’m cramping her style for sure. She obviously likes to drop her adult self at the door when she gets home and unwind in a different kind of mindset.
It’s…cute. In no way am I taken aback. In fact, she’s bringing out a protective instinct in me. I vow once again to be open-minded no matter what I learn about her in the coming days. The last thing I want to do is hurt her feelings or insinuate she’s not exactly perfect the way she is.
I don’t know when I fall asleep, but the next thing I know, I’m on my back and my arm is around Eve’s shoulders. She is snuggled up against me, her cheek in the crook of my arm. She’d dead asleep and I don’t have the heart to dislodge her.
I’m smiling as I fall back into slumber.
Chapter 7
Colton
I awake slowly to the smell of coffee, wondering how that’s possible since I obviously am not up yet to make it. It’s not until I open my eyes that I remember where I am and startle.
Eve is sitting on the edge of the bed on my side. She’s dressed for the day in another high-power, chew-them-up-and-spit-them-out outfit. And bless her, but she’s holding a mug of coffee.
I push myself to sitting and glance at the clock on her side of the bed. “Shit,” I mutter, wondering how the hell I slept this late, including through her getting ready which surely happened all around me. “Sorry. I never sleep this late.”
She smiles and hands me the coffee. “I figured.”
I take the warm mug and blow on the edge before taking a sip. “Mmm. Bless you. I wasn’t sure you even had coffee in the apartment.”
“I do. It’s in a drawer next to the stove.”
“But you don’t drink coffee…” I’m trying to remember her exact words from last night.
“I drink coffee. Two cups every morning. After I get to the office.”
“I’d never make it to the office, or the shower for that matter, until I’ve had at least half of the first one.”
She shrugs.
“Give me ten minutes to shower and get ready?”
“You have plenty of time. No rush. Oh, and you might want to use my bathroom. The shower head in the guest bathroom is so low you’ll have to duck. Mine is higher, more powerful, and larger.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
She stands and heads across the room, talking over her shoulder. “I’ll just grab my lipstick and get out of your way.”
Damn, she is totally ready. Makeup. Hair in that bun again. Fucking legs that go on for days in those heels. Her ass makes my cock hard, tenting the front of my flannel pants. I jerk my gaze back to the coffee, willing my dick to stand down.
Who the hell is this woman and who was the woman who slept with a stuffed unicorn and snuggled up against me?
Eve leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. When I tug back the covers, I find the unicorn deep under them. I smile. It’s indeed a fluffy white ball of soft fur with a rainbow horn. If I found this in any other woman’s bed, I’d be concerned, but the version of Eve who slept with that stuffed animal was adorable, so I’m not going to judge her.
I’m ready as promised in ten minutes, having used Eve’s shower then switched to the other bathroom to shave and
