The room warming quickly he crossed to Lauren's bed and slipped in under the covers pressing his length against her back shocked to find out how cold she still was. He pulled her in spoon fashion tucking the doona more firmly around her, slid one arm under her neck, wrapped the other to hold her gently against his chest and took a deep breath steeling himself for what was going to be a long frustrating night ahead.
Even in sleep Lauren seemed to sense the warmth radiating from Ethan and wriggled her bottom more fully into the curve of his hips and gave a heart felt sigh. A bout of shivering reassured Ethan that she was on the mend not that it helped his equanimity.
Oh please lie still
It took a while but Ethan finally got control of his body's wayward and totally inappropriate response to Lauren's proximity, her shivering and so God help him her wriggling and thankfully went to sleep.
Both Ethan and Lauren by now facing each other with their legs and arms entwined were blissfully unaware of the hourly temperature checks done by a silent, smiling Darlene.
Ethan's alarm clock radio penetrated his deep sleep at 6 am. Grimacing he understood now how Lauren had met him for breakfast the day before and perhaps had avoided him in the mornings before since the impossibly ebullient sounds of the breakfast news reader reached through their common wall.
Ethan did not make a habit, since his farce of a marriage and the birth of his daughter, of waking up with any woman he took to bed so it was an unfamiliar though delightful experience to find Lauren draped over him like a melted blanket. With pleasure he caressed the sexy sleepwear she was wearing smiling at Darlene's choice of appropriate nightwear. Darlene never did anything without reason. He wondered what ulterior motive she'd had for choosing to clothe Lauren in this alluring piece, medical reasons not being it, let alone emotionally blackmailing him into her bed.
Lauren began to stretch indicating her own rousing from sleep and Ethan thought it would be judicious if she woke alone in the bed. Having to explain his relationship with Lauren to his daughter who was likely to come bouncing in at any moment was also not on his agenda, at least not yet. As quickly as he could without disturbing her too much he reluctantly slid out from underneath and rising, donned his robe. Lauren it seemed today was too exhausted to fully wake up in response to the alarm so he returned to his room, turned off the offensively chipper voice, showered and dressed casually. No work, again, after all it was the day before his birthday and they had a party to throw.