Page 46 of Replacement
“Then don’t. Sweetheart, please don’t leave me.”
My face twists with a surge of emotion, but I don’t break into tears. I give him a shaky smile. “Okay. I won’t.”
He stands up with a slight wince, as if he’s stiff or sore. Then he reaches his arm out, offering me his hand.
I take it, letting him help me to my feet.
He holds my hand as we walk back toward our building. Even as we maneuver around other pedestrians on the sidewalk, he doesn’t let it go.
* * *
When we get back to the apartment, I have no idea what to do.
It’s six thirty on a Friday morning, but it feels like I’ve lived several lifetimes in the past twelve hours.
William appears equally restless and bemused. We stand in the entryway, looking at each other.
“I guess you’ll probably need to take a shower and be heading to work.” I lift my voice slightly at the end to make it a question.
“Yeah. I should.” He still doesn’t move.
“Unless you want to take the day off?”
He huffs softly, his eyes softening. “I do want that. But I’ve got meetings stacked on top of each other starting at ten.”
“Oh. Ugh.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you’ve got plenty of time to shower and dress and get to work if your first meeting doesn’t start until ten. Maybe you can come home at a reasonable time tonight and we can… we can hang out?”
He smiles. “Yes. We can definitely hang out this evening.”
I perk up at the promise in his tone. “Okay then. If you don’t think me too lazy, I might go back to bed for a couple of hours.”
“Sounds like a very good plan to me.”
I change back into pajamas and climb into bed while he takes a shower. I’m still awake, tired and flustered and ridiculously giddy, when he comes out into the bedroom wearing nothing but a towel.
I smile at him from my pillow, hoping my hair isn’t too embarrassing.
“You shouldn’t look like that when I’m supposed to be getting ready for work,” he says.
“Look like what?”
“Like temptation personified, luring me back into bed.”
I suck in a quick breath, suddenly hot. “I wasn’t trying to seduce you!”
“I know you weren’t. But you’re still almost impossible to resist.”
Now that sex has entered the air, I can’t think of anything else. I’m immediately excited, arousal clenching hard between my legs. I glance over at the clock. “Well, you still have some time, if you don’t want to resist that temptation.”
He smiles with a leisurely heat that makes me gulp. “You want it too?”
“I definitely want it.”
He’s moved to the bed now, his body firm and lean and fit and masculine. I can see the shape of a partial erection beneath his towel. “Good. Because I’d like to show you what I can do when I’m not half-asleep.”