“Shh,” he whispers. He brushes my hair down out of his face and I feel a quick kiss on the nape of my neck. “Go to sleep,” he says. “I’ll protect you from anything that could harm you.”

I smile into my pillow. “Fine. Make me fall in love with you. I don’t care.”

He tenses behind me but he doesn’t respond. His fingers play around the hem of my shirt until he finds the edge of it, and then he slides his hand beneath, pressing his palm against my skin. I dare not breathe for fear that he’ll move and take away the perfect.

Daniel

I wake up with a warm body curled into mine. I’m on my back, and she’s lying with her head in the crook of my arm. My whole arm is asleep, and I flex my fingers trying to get the blood to flow. I don’t want to move, though. God, I don’t want to move. I like the way she feels pressed along my side. I like it so f**king much that I won’t ever f**king move. If there was ever a time I wanted the clock to stand still, it’s now.

Faith wiggles and her thigh presses into mine, so I do the natural thing and pull it across my body. My dick is so hard I could pound nails with it. But I don’t even want to use it. Well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to slide into her and make her mine. But I can’t. She’s not mine. But she’s in my arms and I can pretend she’s mine for this second. Until she wakes.

Faith’s hand lies flat on my chest and she tentatively lifts her fingers and trails them from one side of my chest to the other. Her touch shoots straight to my dick and if I wasn’t hard before, I’m like steel now. I bite back a moan.

“Daniel,” she whispers.

“Faith,” I whisper back.

“Are you awake?” she asks. She doesn’t lift her head and she’s still whispering.

“No.” I don’t want to wake up. I want to stay in this dream world where I can keep this girl in my arms.

Her leg shifts and it brushes my dick. “You are awake,” she says quietly. She buries her face in my chest and I can feel her smile against my chest.

I jostle her in my arms. “Shh,” I say. “Let me pretend I’m asleep so I can hold you a little longer.”

She stills. Then her leg hitches a little higher and she presses into me, softening against me. “I’m going back to sleep,” she says.

“That’s probably best,” I say.

Her body is soft and lax against me. I rub her thigh with my fingertips and she purrs against my chest. I start at the back of her knee and rub all the way up to where my hand slides beneath the boxers to feel the elastic of her panties. I roll to face her, and she breathes against my chest. Her leg is over my hip, and I can feel the moist warmth between her thighs close to my dick. It pulses, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

“Do you want me to roll in the other direction?” she asks.

Yeah, because having my dick pressed along the crack of her ass would be so much better. “No,” I breathe. “Go back to sleep.”

“I can’t while you’re rubbing me.” She giggles against my chest and I pull her in and wrap my arms around her. She scrubs her face into my chest. “What time is it?” she asks.

I glance over at the clock. “Thirteen hundred,” I say.

“Oh, it’s still early.” She yawns.

“Go back to sleep,” I say, nudging her.

“Are you going back to sleep?” she asks.

“I will if you will,” I say. Let me hold you for a little longer. Please.

She nods, her nose brushing up and down my chest. “Okay,” she breathes. She tilts her face toward mine. “Did you call to see if we can get tickets for tonight?” she asks.

Oh, shit. “I didn’t.” I move to sit up but her arm wraps around my waist.

“Don’t move yet,” she says. “I like this.”

I do too. I hug her to me and roll so that she has to go with me. She squeals and the sound makes me laugh. I hook the phone cord with my index finger and pull it toward me. Without letting her go, I call the concierge to ask about tickets. He connects me to the ticket agent.

“I’m so sorry,” the man says. “We don’t have any tickets for tonight’s shows. They’re all sold out.”

My heart falls. “None?” I ask.

“I have some for the three o’clock show,” he says. “But nothing later.”

I mouth over the phone at her. “How quickly can you be ready?”

She grins and scurries to stand up. She’s f**king gorgeous with her hair all messy-tumbled and a crease on her face from where she was laying on my shirt. “Really quickly,” she says. She dances in place and holds her breath as she waits for an answer.

“We’ll take two for the three o’clock,” I say. She squeals and dances in a circle. That’s when I notice her feet. What the f**k is she wearing? She has on knee socks that don’t come close to matching. I grin. I can’t help it. She’s just too f**king adorable. And she’s hot in my boxers. I admit it.

“I call first dibs on the bathroom!” she says. She grabs her purse and spins to run to get ready. I finish buying the tickets and push the covers back. I can hear the shower running and I get dressed in nice slacks and a button-down shirt. Then I make a call to the concierge because I want to do something nice for her that will surprise her and make her smile.

I’m tying my tie when I hear the bathroom door open. “Can I use your hairbrush?” she asks through the tiny crack in the door.