I flick on the lights and my eyes are instantly drawn to my bed. My pillow is missing. I smile inwardly with the realization that she came in here to get it before she sprawled out on the couch.
I drop everything on the bench at the foot of my bed and turn back to face her. She's tiny when she's not wearing heels. She looks vulnerable and broken. I want to take her in my arms, but I can't. I've always let her come to me when she needs my broad shoulders to cry on.
"I'm going to shave and take a shower."
Her eyes land on my jaw. "You look different like that."
I rub my hand over the layer of stubble. "Different good or different creepy?"
She studies my face for a long second. "Good."
"The beard stays." I could stare at her for hours. I've wasted too many years not looking at her, now I can't tear my eyes away from her.
She dips her chin and looks down. "I can leave if that's better for you. Sydney's party must be winding down by now."
It's barely midnight. Sydney is twenty-one. The party is just hitting its stride. "You're staying the night."
She nods without complaint. "I appreciate that."
I shrug out of my suit jacket and toss it on the bed. "I gave you that key because I want you to come here when you need a place to crash. That hasn't changed."
Her eyes are glued to me as I tug the tail of my light blue shirt from my pants.
She clears her throat. "I have to leave for work early. I'll try to be quiet so I don't wake you. You must be exhausted from your trip."
"Are you heading to bed now?" I ask as I toe out of my shoes and slip my socks off.
"No. I mean if you are, I should too." Her gaze trails over my biceps and chest until it lands on my face.
I finger the second button on my shirt. The first is already undone. I tucked my tie into my jacket pocket somewhere over Kansas. "I'm going to shower, then have a drink. You're welcome to join me."
Tilting her head she looks toward the washroom that's attached to my bedroom. I wait for her to make a flirtatious joke about my unintentional invitation for her to shower with me. When she finally looks at me again, her expression is pained. "Did you have fun in Vegas?"
I swallow. "It was a work trip, Ad."
"It's Vegas. You must have fit in time for more than work."
"Not this trip." I unbutton the second button on my shirt. "I was all work and no play this time around."
She steps back, her eyes never leaving my hands. "I'll wait for you in the other room while you shower."
"I won't be long." I watch her walk away, a faint flicker of hope burning in my chest that those questions didn't come from just a friend, but from a woman who wants me as much as I want her.
***
"You can put that fucking puzzle back where you found it, Ad." I gesture toward the cardboard box with my tumbler of scotch. "That's not happening tonight."
She slides it an inch forward on the coffee table with the tip of her index finger. "I think tonight is a perfect night for us to try again."
The words get twisted in their delivery. I do want to try again. I want to try and redefine our relationship again. The first time we decided to be just friends, but that's not fucking working for me anymore.
When I exited the shower, my pillow was back where it belonged with the bonus of Adley's fragrance attached to it. That means she walked into my bedroom when I was in the shower. The bathroom door was wide open. One turn of her head and she could have seen me through the glass walls of the shower. Granted, it steamed up pretty quickly, but I like the idea of her wanting to see me nude. Whether that's reality is for me to find out.
"Let's play a game." I move to sit on the couch.
Her eyes skim over my bare chest the same way they did when I walked into the kitchen wearing only black silk pajama bottoms to pour myself a drink. I saw her topless so I thought I'd return the favor.
Her hardened nipples thanked me for the show, even if she didn't.