“Keep danglin’ that apple, li’l Eve, and I’ll follow.”
She poked his chest with her index finger. “Don’t even think of not sharing the blame for being here.”
His coy look was comical. “Oh, I’ll take all the blame…and the credit.”
Her heavy eyelids started to fall and took longer to look back up. “Good. Glad that’s settled. You take the blame, I take the credit. All is right in my world.”
His chest rumbled as he laughed. He tucked her under his chin and sighed. “Go to sleep, Katelyn.”
He did not have to tell her twice.
Early morning light winked through the curtains that were being blown around by the air-conditioning vent in the wall. Katie blinked open her eyes and sighed. Her limbs were lax and her mind free of worry. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this rested.
Warm images of the night with Dean put a grin on her face. She’d worried if she’d regret their night by the time morning arrived. She didn’t. She couldn’t. Everything about them felt complete and, even if she needed to be less than honest with him about how she felt, she wouldn’t lie to herself.
Katie rolled to her side expecting to see him there and found nothing. Her heart lurched. Had he left in the night? Was he upset they were sharing a bed again? Though she didn’t want that, she also knew she couldn’t keep up the pace they’d had before with Savannah in her life. Not with the infant hidden anyway.
Pushing the covers aside, she padded across the plush carpet to the bathroom. She took care of her needs and ran a brush through her hair. What little makeup she’d worn the day before was smudged on her face, but she left it there. If Dean was somewhere in the massive penthouse suite, he’d appreciate that she didn’t gussy up for him. She covered up with the white terry cloth bathrobe that hung on the back of the bathroom door and made her way into the living room.
Richly brewed coffee met her nose as she rounded the corner. Dean sat on the sofa with his feet propped up on the coffee table. He drank his coffee while reading the paper. When he didn’t notice her walk in, she cleared her throat.
He dropped the paper and looked up with an instant smile. His gaze traveled her body and his smile fell.
“What? I don’t look as good in the morning?” she teased.
“No.” He set his coffee down and walked to her side. “You look even better.”
It was so easy fishing for compliments with Dean. “You’re full of shit, Dean Prescott. I have mascara smudged under my eyes and eye shadow on my forehead. I look like day old bread.”
He grasped her slim waist and pulled her into his arms. “I like day old bread. A little hard on the outside with the insides still soft and tender. Warm it up, and butter melts on it all the same.”
She couldn’t stop smiling. “That’s one heck of a line. Might need to write it down and blog about it.”
“You blog?”
“No.” But she’d thought about it after visiting several in the last month. Between designer blogs and mommy blogs, Katie had opened up an entire world of cyber information she couldn’t find in books. “But I might wanna.”
Dean brushed his lips over hers. “Good mornin’, darlin’.”
Katie sighed. “Good morning.”
He turned toward the service and poured her a cup of coffee with cream and sugar, just the way she liked it.
“Thanks.”
“I took the liberty of ordering a few things. I know you’re not big on breakfast, but—”
“You are,” she finished for him.
“Right.”
The first sip of coffee opened her eyes even wider. It felt wonderful to have a morning of relaxation. A tiny bit of guilt pulled at the back of her brain. Monica would expect her there by ten. Which meant Katie would have to find a way to have Dean leave without any questions.
“You got up early,” Katie said. It was Saturday and neither one of them would go to work.
“Couldn’t avoid it. My cell phone started chiming thirty minutes ago.”
“Is everything OK?”
“Probably. I need to go by the site. The Santa Ana winds started up last night and there’s a mess at the hotel.”
Katie looked out the window and noticed a haze. Being on the top floor of the hotel, she didn’t see any trees blowing around and the thick windows didn’t allow any wind noise. “Jack said the winds here can be nasty.”
“The gusts can reach hurricane speeds. They knock down power lines, semitrucks. Out here, they kick up dust and topple trees. Leaves quite a mess most of the time.”
She sipped her coffee. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to push him out the door.
Dean topped off his coffee and brought a plate of fruit and toast over to her.
“You don’t have to wait on me.”
“It’s my way of assuring you’re going to eat since I can’t stay here and watch.”
“I don’t forget to eat.” Actually, she had forgotten to eat…more than once in the past month.
“I’m sorry I have to run off. I’d rather we spend the day together and talk about us.”
She bit into the dry toast to hide her expression. What could she say to hold him off on pushing “us” right then?
“You know, Dean. It might be good for us to think about the us part before we talk about it. I wasn’t exactly expecting this.”
He sat beside her, his face blank. “You don’t look like a woman filled with remorse.”