Page 32 of Do It With Me

14

HOLDEN

Iwoke before she did, aware of her presence even before I opened my eyes. She wasn’t draped over me anymore, but she was close enough that I could feel the heat of her under the covers and hear the soft sounds of her breathing.

The room was so warm and peaceful that I was almost afraid to even crack open an eye, not wanting to disturb her or shatter the strange sense of morning-after peace. I did it anyway, slowly blinking my eyes open.

Immediately, I was struck by the sight of her in bed with me—and how comfortable I felt about it.

Ever since the divorce, I’d never been one to stick around. I rarely fell asleep straight after, and even on the occasions when I had, I usually left before I was even fully conscious the next morning.

With her though, I didn’t feel that pull to disappear. To take off like it’d never happened. Oddly, I was perfectly content right here, watching her sleep with one arm thrown over her head and her red hair spilling across the pillow.

Behind her, early morning light crept across the room, the soft rays creating a hazy glow that almost made it feel like I was dreaming. Last night had not gone the way I’d planned, which contributed to the sensation that my brain had cooked up everything that had happened. The showdown with Shannon, the dancing, and most of all, the intense chemistry I’d felt with Ellora.

Yet here she was, her chest rising and falling evenly beneath the crisp white sheet. Her lips were slightly parted, still bee-stung from the ferocity of our kisses, and the sweet scent of her clung to me like my skin had been infused with it.

Looking at her completely soft and vulnerable in her sleep, I found myself wanting to stay in bed with a woman for the first time in a long time. Not only for a few more minutes or hours but for the rest of the day. Potentially even the rest of the weekend.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d wanted to drag out the time we had together to eat breakfast, talk, and just be lazy. I also wanted a few repeat performances of last night, but for now, I was going to do my best to make the other stuff happen, despite the fact that my cock couldn’t care less about breakfast.

While I would’ve loved to wake her up with an orgasm, she was sleeping so soundly that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. But I would make sure there was food by the time she woke up. I refused to give in to any urge that would involve disrupting this peaceful quiet.

Carefully slipping out of bed, I pulled on my underwear and padded over to the bathroom, using the complimentary toiletries to brush my teeth and wash my face. I hoped the mundane of the routine would help my dick realize it wasn’t in control, and it worked enough that I left the bathroom to order room service without having to worry about the state I would be in before it arrived.

Opening the hotel app on my phone, I ordered pancakes, omelets, fruit, bacon, croissants, and coffee. I didn’t know what she liked to eat, so I figured I’d get the works. Something in that spread had to appeal to her.

Ellora finally started stirring after I’d brought the room service cart inside. She blinked awake, bolted into a sitting position with the sheet held to her chest, and looked around with her eyes wide, like she didn’t immediately remember where she was. When her gaze finally landed on mine, she frowned adorably.

“Did you rob the kitchen?” she asked, her voice still raspy with sleep. She suppressed a yawn, the fact that she was all sleepy and naked not helping my situation at all, but I focused on her face instead of her body. “Seriously, how many people are you expecting for breakfast?”

“I believe in abundance,” I said, pulling on my shirt. “Besides, we worked up an appetite and I didn’t know what you liked.”

She tossed a pillow at me, but it only sailed to the foot of the bed before it dropped. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Hungry ridiculous.” I lifted the silver dome off a plate of pancakes. “Come on, sleepyhead. This is the breakfast of champions right here. I’d say we earned it.”

She groaned but finally slung her legs off the side of the bed. I saw the moment she fully realized she was still naked, her cheeks flushing slightly as she paused. After a beat, during which I was proud of not reminding her that I’d seen it all anyway, she hugged the sheet closer to her body and pulled it off the bed with her.

I handed over a hotel robe from the closet and she slipped it on, tying the belt loosely around her waist. Even with her fiery hair mussed and tumbling past her shoulders and last night’s mascara smudged lightly under her eyes, she still stole the air out of the room.

I stared much too hard but blinked myself out of it when she sat down. This wasn’t really the time to freak her out. If she caught me looking at her like that, she might even drop out of the darn course.

Sleeping together was one thing, but looking at her like I wanted to crawl into her and stay there might just be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Especially since I couldn’t explain why I was feeling so many mixed emotions this morning.

Thankfully, she was too busy inspecting the spread to notice my staring. She grabbed a strawberry and pointed it at me. “Do you eat like this every morning?”

I shook my head and lowered myself into the chair across from her. “Most days, my breakfast consists of coffee and a granola bar if I’m lucky enough to have one in my car.”

She laughed, the husky sound filling every hollow place inside that I hadn’t even realized was empty. I was still grappling with that knowledge when she looked up at me, her plate now filled with a bit of everything from the table.

“This might make me sound like I’m not used to much, but a chocolate statue of the bride and groom? Is that normal?”

“Not normal,” I said. “Honestly, that was a first for me too. It’s not about you not being used to too much. I thought I’d seen everything until I saw that.”

She chuckled, dabbing at the corners of her mouth after taking a bite of her syrup-slathered pancake. “Well, it was certainly memorable.”

“As was the fact that the groom cried more than the bride during the speeches.”