A towel hung over the chair at her dressing table. She must have taken a bath before bed. Smiling again, I exhaled softly through my nostrils and realized that I’d better go tell the driver to go so I could come slide into bed next to her.
The man didn’t have to wait. I was pretty sure we wouldn’t be going out to the house tonight after all. Just before I left her bed, she suddenly opened her eyes, saw me, and screamed.
The next thing I knew, she threw a pillow at my face and started scrambling out of bed. I took the pillow like a champ but reached out to steady her when it looked like she was about to fall out of bed.
She’d gotten stuck in her sheets or something, and I lurched forward to catch her shoulder just before she toppled off the mattress. “Larisa? It’s me. It’s just me. Relax.”
Her head jerked to the side at the sound of my voice. She reached for the lamp on her nightstand, flicking it on. Relief played out over her features. “Tanner? What the hell? What are you doing here and why were you standing over my bed like a fucking ax murderer?”
Surprised laughter rolled out of me before I could stop it. “An ax murderer? Gee, thanks. I feel so loved right about now. I tried calling, but you didn’t answer your phone and the driver told me he’d brought you here, so here I am.”
Her relief quickly turned to anger, and then she was livid, grabbing another pillow and hitting me with that one, too. “What on earth were you thinking creeping up on me like that? I thought you were here to rob me or kill me. Why didn’t you just knock or wake me up?”
“I did knock,” I protested, catching the pillow she was still hitting me with in my hand. I dropped it on the floor, sat down next to her, and pulled her into my arms. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you. The driver was supposed to take you to the house, and when he told me you were here, I had him bring me, too.”
She shrank into me, gulping in deep breaths of air. She clung to me but glared at me at the same time. “He told me you said to take me there, but I thought it was a mistake. We never discussed going to sleep at the house tonight. You scared me half to death.”
I stroked a hand through her hair and held her closer as I kissed the top of her head. “I’m really sorry. I honestly didn’t mean to scare you. There’s something at the house I want to show you, but I wanted it to be a surprise. That’s why I didn’t mention it to you, but when he said he’d brought you here instead, I thought I’d come see if you were still awake and I asked him to wait for us.”
“Jesus, I can’t feel my knees,” she muttered into my chest, trembling as she rested her forehead over my heart. “What you’re saying makes sense, but next time you want to surprise me, maybe just give me a word of warning so I won’t see my life flashing in front of my eyes.”
“I’m so sorry.” I scooped her up in my arms instead of rehashing the whole situation again. “Come with me, but don’t worry, I’ll carry you downstairs. You still seem pretty shaky.”
She banged on my chest but she was obviously too shaken up to demand that I put her down. “You’re crazy. I’m not going anywhere. I’m in my pajamas, and if we go all the way out to the house, I’ll need a change of clothes for tomorrow. We can’t go there and come back tonight.”
“Don’t worry about that, either,” I murmured into her hair. “I’ve got you covered. Just don’t worry about anything. In fact, if you want to, you can even go back to sleep and I’ll wake you up when we get there.”
She snorted. “I’m not sure I’m ever going to be able to sleep again after waking up like that. You owe me big time, Harris.”
I grinned and planted a quick kiss on her temple. “You name it and it’s yours. Anything. I have a few suggestions, but I have a question first.”
“You have a question?” She scoffed. “Well, I have many.”
“Sure, but since I only have the one, let me ask mine first. Why do you smell like sex?”
She groaned and dropped her head back against my chest. “I’m not answering that. Consider it part of my payback because I think you’d really have liked to know.”
“I’ll get it out of you.” I smirked as I carried her onto the sidewalk and to the waiting car. “We have a whole night ahead of us and you’ve already had a nap. Eventually, I’ll figure out a way to get you to tell me.”
I had a few ideas about what I could do to convince her to tell me, but since the town car I’d hired didn’t have a privacy screen, it was going to have to wait. I’d find out eventually, but as much as just thinking about the possibilities turned me on, I had bigger fish to fry right then.