Inside, the house was dark and quiet, the kind of silence that made every small sound feel intimate. I locked the door behind us and led her toward my room.
When she tried to keep walking down the hall, I tugged her back against my side. “In here.”
“You want me to sleep in your room?”
A week ago, her question would’ve been loaded with hesitation and fear. But tonight, she wasn’t looking for a way out. She was looking for an excuse to stay.
I pulled her into the room, closing the door behind us. “Yes. I want you next to me.” No way in hell was I letting her go now.
“Caleb —”
“Zadie, we’ve done this before. You, me, and a bed.” I grabbed a T-shirt and sweats from my dresser and held them out to her. “And sleep. Nothing more.”
She took the clothes and held them to her chest, her bottom lip disappearing between her teeth.
Fuck, she was beautiful. And way too enticing.
I turned and stripped out of my shirt and jeans, pulling on sweats and a fresh tee. Behind me, I heard her moving, and I gave her the space she needed without being asked.
“Thank you,” she said. “I’m decent now.”
Finally, I looked back at her.
My T-shirt hit an inch above her knees. The sweatpants hung unused from her hand, and her thick, bare thighs beneath the hem made my mouth go dry.
“Maybe it would be better if I just slept in my own room.”
“Get in my bed, Zadie.”
Her mouth twitched, her breath held, and then she walked to the bed and climbed in.
When I got in beside her, she pressed to the far edge of the mattress, putting as much space between us as the bed allowed. I lay on my back, one arm behind my head, and let the silence settle.
But she was too fucking far away. “Come here.”
The mattress dipped as she inched toward me, like she was negotiating with herself the entire way. Tired of waiting, I hooked my arm around her waist and pulled her in.
She gasped. But her head found my chest, her hand flattened over my ribs, and her bare thighs pressed against mine. The way she fit against me was utter goddamn perfection.
“Cal?” she whispered. “The things you said tonight. About the baby. About wanting me. Did you mean it?”
“Every word.”
“Even the miracle part?”
I tightened my arms around her. “Especially the miracle part.”
She exhaled a long, shaky breath, her body finally relaxing against mine—the tension she’d been carrying for weeks, maybe months, releasing in one breath.
I held her through it, running my hand up her spine and back down, tracing the curve of her waist, the dip above her hip. Memorizing every inch.
She shifted closer, her thigh moving higher up my leg, her breasts crushing to my side. Her head titled up, and she grazed her lips over my neck.
My body responded. There was no hiding it. “Go to sleep, Zadie.”
“What if I don’t want to?” Her voice was a sultry promise. But her exhaustion was still obvious around the edges.
“Then I’ll hold you until you do. Either way, I already told you…we’re just sleeping tonight.”