“I had a key made so that I could get into your loft. I’ve been sleeping in here with you for the past couple nights.”
“What?” Megan exclaimed, sure she’d misunderstood him.
Christian stood and switched on a bedside lamp. His sober expression increased her incredulity. She hadn’t heard him wrong.
“From your reaction, I’d say you heard me correctly,” he said.
“Christian, that’s outrageous. How could you do that? Why would you do that?” she asked as bewilderment gave way to wonderment.
He shrugged helplessly. “I’m sorry, honey. I truly am. It seems that…over the past week or so, I’ve developed a need to have you near me before I can fall asleep.”
Megan’s gaze unconsciously swept over Christian’s strong, jean-clad thighs in the silence that followed. “Where?” she finally asked throatily.
“Where what?”
“Where did you sleep?”
Christian motioned his head over to the chair without breaking their gaze. Megan remembered her crying jag this morning after she’d smelled his scent on her T-shirt. The incident seemed like it had happened ages ago. She wanted to demand that he explain his behavior, but instead, she mused, “I’ve been dreaming about you at night. In the morning, I would wake up, and half expect you to be with me. It was upsetting, to find myself alone.”
“It was?”
She nodded. “Why did you really do it, Christian?”
“What I told you was true. I went three nights on less than two hours sleep. If I didn’t get some rest, the band was going to lynch me. I was acting like a Grade A asshole. I just had a hunch that I might be able to sleep if I was with you.”
“And you did?” she asked softly.
“Like a baby.”
“Are you going to sleep here again tonight?”
“Are you asking me to?”
“You didn’t need an invitation before.”
He grinned sheepishly. “Well, this is different…seeing as how you’re conscious now and all.”
They shared a smile. Christian’s faded when she lay back on the bed.
“Okay, then. I’m inviting you. Not just to sleep here. To make love to me, too.”
Chapter 9
“Christian?” Megan asked warily a few seconds later. Christian had responded to her bold proposal with unsettling silence. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” he said slowly.
“Why not?” she asked in surprise as she sat up on her elbows. “You used to want to.”
“Oh, I want to,” he assured her with a ragged laugh. “Bit of an understatement, really,” he added under his breath. She watched him with wide eyes when he sat down next to her on the bed. “I’ve just gotten to know you more since then. Maybe we should take things slowly. I want you to be sure.”
“What makes you think I’m not?”
“Maybe you are sure. But just in case, it won’t hurt either of us to wait a little longer,” he said doubtfully.
Megan closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “Maybe it’s not hurting you, but I think it might be killing me.”
His expression tensed. He reached for her, tenderly cupping her cheek in his palm. “Are you hurting, honey?”