“You stay here.” His throat worked. “With me.”
The offer warmed her heart, and while part of her wanted nothing more than to stay this close to him forever…
“I can’t just move in here, Brody.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll be in the way.”
“You’re never in my way, Princess.”
Ro’s insides tingled, her thoughts threatening to wander to things that were much more pleasant than gunshot wounds and unidentified killers. But she forced all that away and focused on the important conversation she and the sexy former SEAL were currently engaged in.
“I’m serious, Brody. You can’t be out there, doing what you guys do, if you’re stuck here babysitting me the whole time.”
“This is what we do, Ro. Trust me, I’ve got this.” He stared into her so deeply it was as if he could see the very depths of her soul. “I’ve got you.”
Her pulse quickened. “But you…only have one bed.”
“True.”
She slid a glance toward the blanket still folded at her feet. “You can’t spend every night on your own couch.”
“Didn’t plan on it.”
The rumbled words had her focus swinging back up to him. At first, she thought maybe…but then she shook her head with the embarrassing realization. “Right. Because I’ll be the one on the couch.”Slick, Ro. Way to play it cool.“That makes a lot more sense, anyway. I mean, you’re a lot taller than me, and I’m perfectly fine taking the couch, so—”
“Are you?”
The question had her searching his dark gaze for clarification. “Am I…what?”
“Perfectly fine taking the couch.”
Her breaths grew shallow, and Ro inwardly cursed her overzealous hormones. Because the way he’d asked that just then almost made it sound as though…
“I, uh…” She swallowed as her heart pounded in her chest. “I don’t mind.”
“Well I do.” He leaned in closer, that hand of his sliding lower to the side of her neck. “You want the couch, it’s yours.” Brody brushed the tip of his nose to hers. “Or…”
She likedor. In fact, orwas her newest, most favorite friend in the whole entire world. Because that tiny, two-letter word brought with it a promise. One that would give her the very thing she wanted most of all.
“Yes.”
“You could sleep in here,” he breathed the tantalizing offer. “With me.”
“That wasn’t me searching for clarification, Brody.” Ro mimicked his position by raising a hand to his face and resting her palm against his rugged cheek. “I was saying yes.”
A slow, panty-dropping smile lifted his lips in a way that made her heart stop, and her toes curl beneath the sheets. And then…
“You need to be sure, Aurora,” he said her full name in a way that made everything else around them disappear. “Because once we start this…” A shake of his head. “I honestly don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.”
Oh. My. God.
“I’ve waited for you my whole life. The last thing I’m ever going to want is for you to stop.”
“Ah, Princess.”
“Make love to me, Brody.” Ro brushed her lips against his. “Please.”