Page 136 of Hold Me Until Morning

I was an idiot for thinking I could touch her and this wouldn’t end badly, but it didn’t fucking matter.

She was worth it.

Before I allowed myself to get consumed by another bolt of lust, I carefully eased out from under her and settled her onto her pillow, doing my best not to disturb her since there was no question she was spent.

I crept around her bed, trying to keep my footsteps quieted, though there wasn’t a chance my weight wouldn’t make the floor creak.

I glanced back at her as I pulled on my sweats where they were in a ball on her floor. The woman was so gorgeous where she lay lost to the abyss of sleep with the kiss of gold skittering across her flesh.

My damned heart clutched.

Thrashed in my chest.

Blowing out the strain, I tugged my shirt over my head then slipped to her door. Carefully, I cracked it open and peered out.

A stilled silence echoed back.

Thank fuck.

I slinked out, just as cautiously, and I clicked the door shut behind me before I started to tiptoe across the floor toward the couch where I’d left the blanket tossed aside last night.

“And just where do you think you’re sneaking off to?” I nearly hit the roof with the voice that suddenly broke the silence.

A shout got free, aggression whipping a stir into my bloodstream, and I whirled toward my right.

My hand smacked down over my heart like it was going to keep it from jumping out when my fumbled brain finally came to the comprehension that it was only Lolly.

The old woman let loose a knowing grin. Her lips were already painted red, and she wore a satin floral robe as she sipped from a mug where she sat at the small round table under the window that overlooked the front.

“Someone’s jumpy,” she said, so damned sly.

“Yeah, that’s because you nearly scared the pants off me,” I grumbled.

Sure, I was relieved it wasn’t an intruder I was going to have to take down first thing in the morning, though that relief wasn’t lasting long with the way she was watching me.

My pulse thundered, and I scraped a shaking hand through my hair that had likely dried sticking up all over the place since Hailey had been tugging at it last night.

I dug around in my brain for an excuse. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been caught sneaking out of a woman’s door or window a time or two in the past, and I always managed to come out unscathed.

But I didn’t think I’d ever felt as exposed as right then. Like I’d been caught doing something illicit all while feeling like holding Hailey was exactly what I’d been created to do.

Lolly’s eyes gleamed. “I’m surprised you’re wearing them.”

Agitation lit me up, and I shifted from foot to foot. “I was just…”

I swept a flustered hand back at Hailey’s door.

“Oh, I doubt it was just. It sounded like a whole lot of something to me.”

A penciled-in brow arched toward the ceiling as she sent me a challenge, daring me to deny it.

Well, shit, this woman wasn’t about to tiptoe. She was just laying it out.

Blowing out a sigh, I shook my head like it could break up the disorder and changed paths. I headed into the kitchen where she’d been hiding out.

The woman was stealthier than a panther.

I leaned back against the island, chewing at the inside of my cheek, wondering what the hell was protocol in this sort of situation. It wasn’t like Hailey was a child, but I also didn’t want to come around here showing disrespect.