Chapter 45
[ 503 words ]
Chapter 45:
He was awake. He was looking down at her, his head propped up on his left arm. A lazy, devastatingly sexy smirk was playing on his lips.
Caroline realized with absolute horror that she was sprawled entirely on top of him. Her leg was hooked over his waist, her hand was flat against his bare chest, and her face had been buried in his neck.
And Jarrod’s large left hand was resting heavily, possessively, on the bare skin of her lower back, where her t-shirt had ridden up.
Caroline let out a strangled gasp. She tried to scramble backward, to throw herself off him.
But Jarrod’s hand on her lower back flexed. He didn’t let her go. He pressed her firmly back down against his chest.
D𝗶ѕ𝘤оv𝘦r 𝗁𝗂𝖽𝗱e𝗇 ge𝗺ѕ 𝗼ո 𝘨𝘢ln𝗈𝘷𝘦lѕ.𝘤𝗼𝘮
“Good morning, Mrs. Romero,” Jarrod murmured, his voice thick, raspy, and heavy with morning heat.
The sound of his deep, gravelly morning voice vibrating through his chest and directly into hers sent a shockwave of heat straight to Caroline’s brain.
Her face flushed a violent, burning crimson.
“Let me go!” she gasped, her voice cracking. She planted both hands flat against his hard chest and shoved backward with all the frantic strength she could muster without breaking her cover.
She practically rolled off him, scrambling backward until her spine hit the cold wooden headboard of the bed. She grabbed the edge of the heavy winter quilt and yanked it up to her chin, clutching it like a shield.
Her chest heaved as she glared at him, her eyes wide with a mix of panic and furious embarrassment.
“You crossed the line!” Caroline accused, her voice trembling. “I told you to stay on your side! You took advantage of me while I was asleep!”
Jarrod didn’t move. He lay on his back, utterly relaxed, watching her panic with a dark, amused gleam in his eyes. He slowly reached up with his left hand and casually began to re-button his rumpled white shirt.
“I didn’t move an inch, Caroline,” Jarrod said, his tone infuriatingly calm. He gestured with his chin to the empty expanse of mattress on her side. “You were the one who crawled across the bed and wrapped yourself around me like a vine. I was merely acting as your personal heating pad.”
Caroline looked at the bed. The sheets on his side were perfectly smooth. The chaotic tangle of blankets was entirely concentrated in the middle, right where she had just been.
The realization that she had actively sought him out in her sleep hit her like a physical blow. The humiliation was suffocating.
“I… was cold,” she stammered, desperately grasping for an excuse. “The storm dropped the temperature. It was a purely physiological reflex. I would have grabbed a golden retriever if one was lying there.”
Jarrod paused his buttoning. His eyes darkened, the amusement vanishing instantly.
He slowly sat up. The sheer size of him dominated the small bed. He turned his body toward her, leaning forward slightly.
“A golden retriever?” Jarrod repeated, his voice dropping an octave, becoming dangerously soft. “Is that what you think this is?”
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