My reply was swallowed up by a yawn.
Cade shifted into a sitting position with his back against the headboard, and rolled me gently so I was plastered along the length of his side. I snuggled into his heat, my arm sliding around his waist as he pulled the sheet up over us.
“You tired?”
“Mmm,” I hummed.
“Then sleep.”
My eyes flew open. “Here?”
“No, in Socks’ crate.” He scoffed. “Yeah, here.”
“Aren’t you going to bring me back to The Sea Witch?”
“No.”
I attempted to pull away so I could get a look at his face, but his arm tightened around me, preventing so much as an inch of space between us. I blinked at the wall of his chest, confusion rippling through me.
“What do you mean,no?”
“You’re sleeping here tonight.”
I was?
“I am?”
“Mhm.”
“But… it’s our first date.”
He said nothing for a moment. When he did speak, there was subdued laughter in his voice. “Thanks for pointing that out, Goldie. Astute as ever.”
My teeth chomped playfully on his pectoral in retaliation. “I’m just saying, sleepovers aren’t really a first date thing.”
“You have a lot of first dates?”
The question was thrown out in a deceptively casual way. But the sudden tension emanating throughout the hard body beneath mine told a different story. “Um…”
“Umisn’t an answer.”
“Well, excuse me, detective. I didn’t realize post-coital cuddles were going to include an interrogation.”
The tension in his body magnified. “Interrogation?”
“Yes!”
“That’s funny, seeing as I haven’t asked you a damn thing since you breezed into town,” he said, and he didnotsound happy. “Haven’t demanded any answers, even though I could have. We both know I could have, Imogen.”
A lump lodged in my throat.
He was right, but I wasn’t about to admit it.
“Christ,” he cursed. “I thought I was making some progress here. You, earlier, opening up about your past... Not much, just a crack, but more than you’ve ever given before. And, hell, I’ll take a crack. I’ll take whatever you give me.” His head thumped back against the headboard and I knew he was looking up at the ceiling, even though I couldn’t see him. “Here we are again, though. I can’t ask a single question without you freezing up and freaking out.”
“I am not freezing up,” I hissed. “Orfreaking out!”
“You are.”