Page 13 of Danger
“Okay, how will we decide which one of us is to be banished to the sofa?” he asked.
“How about we flip a coin? I’ll take heads,” she said. “Do you have a coin of some sort?”
He dug into his pocket and pulled out a pound. “I guess that I’m tales then?” he asked.
“Right, I’ll flip it,” Danger said, snatching the coin from his hand. She tossed it into the air, and he held his breath waiting for it to land on the hardwood floor. The coin landed, spinning on its side, landing on heads.
“Looks like you’ll be sleeping on the sofa,” Danger taunted. “Sorry.” He didn’t believe that she was sorry at all.
“No problem,” he lied. “I don’t mind one bit.” Yeah, she was fiery all right and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to get burned by Danger or stay as far away from her as possible.
Danger
Danger tossed and turned for over an hour before giving up on trying to sleep. She felt awful making Declan sleep on a sofa that was half his size, not that she was willing to take his place. The bed was king-sized and every time she rolled over, she felt like an ass for not sharing it with Declan. So, she was going to do the only thing that she could think of doing—wake him and ask him if he wanted to share the bed with her. She had a feeling that it was the only way that she’d get any sleep.
She quietly walked downstairs to find the poor guy curled up to fit on the very uncomfortable-looking sofa. He looked as if he had bent himself like a pretzel to fit. “Declan,” she whispered from across the room. “Are you awake?” He grumbled something about there being no way in hell that any man his size would be able to sleep on the God-awful couch and she almost wanted to giggle.
“Well, I might just have a solution to your uncomfortable situation,” she offered. He sat up, seeming eager to hear her plan.
“Go on,” he insisted.
“I was thinking that you should come up to the room and share the bed with me,” she said. Before he could speak, she held up her hand to stop him. “Before you get all excited, you’ll stay on your side, and I’ll stay on mine. Otherwise, we can continue with our current sleeping arrangements.” He looked at her as if she had just given him the one gift on his Christmas list and she was starting to regret her decision to invite him up to her bed.
“I accept your offer,” Declan quickly said. “Why the change of heart?”
That was an easy question for her to answer. “I felt bad for you,” she admitted. “This couch is half your size and can’t be comfortable.”
“It’s not,” he agreed. “Thanks for taking pity on me.”
“No problem,” she breathed. “Now, I’m going back to bed because I’m exhausted.”
“Understood,” he said, “I’m going to take a quick shower before bed. I think this couch has fleas or something. I can’t stop scratching.” Danger must have made a face because he chuckled. “It’s not that bad. I’ll fumigate the sofa tomorrow morning.”
“Good,” Danger said, “just thinking about the sofa possibly having fleas makes me itchy.” She wasn’t a girl who liked to be outside and the thought of bugs being in the house made her shiver.
“Enjoy your shower,” she said as she headed up the stairs. The thought of Declan naked and soapy in the shower just outside the bedroom made her hot. Danger thought about taking a cold shower herself, but crawling back into bed sounded like a better idea to her.
She climbed into bed and felt as though she was holding her breath waiting for the shower to turn on and when it did, she exhaled. The idea of sleeping close to Declan for an entire night revved up her internal temperature again and Danger knew what she had to do—build a pillow wall between them. He’d probably think that she was being a total chicken about having to share the bed with him, but she really didn’t care.
Danger rummaged through the room and found some extra pillows and blankets in the closet and pulled them down from the top shelf. She lugged them back to the bed, praying that Declan took long showers because it was going to take a few minutes for her to get the wall built. When she finished, she was out of breath and pretty damn satisfied with her handy work.
“There, now we can’t accidentally touch during the night,” she said to herself. Danger laid back and closed her eyes hoping that sleep would find her before Declan came to bed, but she had no such luck. The only thing she could think to do was pretend that she was asleep and hope that Declan bought it.
Danger slowed her breathing and hoped that she was selling it when Declan crawled into bed with her and chuckled. She could feel the bed dip with his weight and all she could think about was what he would feel like crawling on top of her, letting his weight press her into the mattress.
“Did you really think that a pillow wall would keep us from touching?” Declan whispered. Judging from the way that his warm, minty breath washed over her cheek, he was quite close. She wasn’t going to get away with her ruse and she wasn’t sure if that pissed her off or impressed her.
She sighed and opened her eyes to find him lying much too close for her personal comfort levels. “I was trying to keep our sleeping arrangement platonic and thought that a wall of pillows was a great solution. If you have a better one, please let me know.” She laid back down and closed her eyes, sending him a clear signal that she was done discussing everything and going to sleep.
“Well, this is ridiculous,” Declan grumbled. He started removing the pillows one at a time and Danger sat up to protest. “Don’t give me any shit about this, Danger. We’re two adults who can both stay on our side of the bed without a fucking pillow wall.”
“But—” she started.
“But nothing,” Declan growled. “I’m going to take these ridiculous pillows away and you and I are going to go to sleep, understood?” Danger had never been spoken to like that before. She wasn’t sure if she liked it, even if her girl parts were standing up and taking notice of Declan’s sexy, dominant side. She never really liked dominant men since she usually enjoyed being the one in control, but something about Declan and his sexy Irish brogue did it for her.
“Don’t speak to me as if I was a child. I’m an adult, Declan,” she insisted. Yeah, she didn’t sound very much like an adult right now and Declan shot her a look letting her know it.
“Great, then let’s act like adults and go to sleep,” Declan ordered. He pulled the last pillow from the middle of the bed and tossed it to the corner of the room. “There, done,” he said sounding proud of himself. Declan laid back on his side of the bed and groaned. “Driving all day really took it out of me. This bed is much more comfortable than that flea-ridden sofa.”