She leaned forward, bracing her hands on the footboard of the bed, like it was the only thing keeping her vertical.
Before I could think too much about what I was doing, I quickly stepped closer and pulled the zipper at her lower back a few inches down. Just the sight of the bare skin at the base of her spine had my pulse pounding everywhere.
She started slipping her arms out of her sleeves drowsily, like she wasn’t even aware that she was about to undress in front of her best friend.
So I quickly turned my back to her and said, “I’ll just grab you a drink of water from the kitchen. I’ll be back in a minute.” Then I left the room before she could show me way more than she ever would if she wasn’t so out of it.
“Hello?” I knocked on the door a few minutes later, a glass of ice water in my hand. “Are you decent in there?”
No answer.
“Arianna?” I asked a little louder this time. “Are you okay?”
When there was still no answer, I knocked once more and set my ear to the door to listen for signs of movement. When I still didn’t hear anything, I opened the door slightly.
Arianna’s dress was in a pile on the floor, and she was lying face down in the middle of the bed in a position that I knew would leave her with a sore neck come morning.
She had managed to put on the T-shirt I’d given her, but just like the first time she’d stayed at my house, she had forgone putting on the shorts over her black panties.
Forcing myself not to stare at her bare legs for too long, I stepped into the room and set the glass of water on a coaster on the nightstand. Then, knowing she’d sleep a lot better if she was in a more comfortable position, I lifted her floppy body into my arms and lay her down with her head on a pillow.
That would be much more comfortable.
I pulled the sheet and duvet cover over her, and since I knew she wasn’t the best sleeper, I tucked the sides around her tight so she’d feel like the blankets were enveloping her in a nice, warm hug.
She sighed contentedly when I finished tucking her in and mumbled something incoherent yet happy-sounding.
I smiled as I took in her sleeping face.
She was always beautiful, but there was something special about seeing her when she was asleep. She was calmer and so serene with all the cares of the world washed away from her face.
My chest swelled at seeing her so peaceful. I wished I could do more to keep all her worries away all the time. She did so much for everyone else, I wanted to be able to take care of her for a change.
This girl really did have me wrapped around her finger. And I’d move the sun and the earth if it meant she’d agree to be mine and plan a future with me.
I let my gaze run over her delicate features. Her angled chin. Her lips that were pale pink and softly parted. Her long thin nose. The long, long lashes that surrounded the most captivating eyes I’d ever lost myself in.
She was amazing. Fun, smart, witty…and a million other things that made her up.
She had captured my attention the moment we met and stolen my heart not too long after that, and I really couldn’t imagine a world where she was supposed to be with anyone else. Because for me, she was it.
She’d always been it.
Her eyebrows knitted together, a crease forming between them.
“Cole…” She said my name like a caress, and for a heart-pounding moment, I thought she was speaking to me.
But then she sighed heavily like she was in deep sleep and said my name again.
After waiting a moment for her to say something more, I picked up the dress that she had left on the floor and hooked it over my arm to put with my suit so my housekeeper could take them both to the cleaners when she came next.
I was just turning off the lamp on the nightstand and about to head toward the door when Arianna’s soft voice drifted over to me, saying, “I wish he was mine.”
And with those five whispered words, my whole world tilted and tingles raced all through my limbs.