next to her. Not until I explained what she might face if my nightmare crept in, and I certainly wasn’t going there now.
“No, I’m not staying the night.”
Disappointment.
Fuck.
“Babe, I know this is asking a lot but I need you to trust me. There’s nothing I want more than to crawl into that bed next to you and see what you have under that robe. As hot as last week was, it was too fast. I didn’t get to explore all the places I wanted to. Next time, we’ll do that,” I finished, not meaning to say more. Then I remembered all the honesty Hadley had given me and I knew I owed her the same. “I’m not ready to spend the night. I told you I was fucked up. I’ve never hidden that from you, not even way back in the beginning. Part of what’s fucked-up is that I dream, and when I do, sometimes I wake up rough. I don’t trust myself to be lying next to you when I’m not in control of my actions and not knowing what I’m doing, only what I’m capable of. Sucks to tell you this, because I figure waking up next to you would be spectacular. But I can’t give you that, and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to.”
Recognition and relief shone in her eyes. As much as it pained me to admit a weakness, I knew I’d made the right decision telling her.
“Has something bad happened before?”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you had a nightmare and not been in control and hurt someone?”
“Fuck no. Never slept next to a woman.”
“So you don’t know if—”
“Not a chance I’m willing to take.”
“Not tonight, but in the future.”
“Hadley—”
“Stop, Brady. I get it.” And with her face set to stubborn, she continued, “I know you think you know me but you don’t know me. Something for you to learn is, I’m not a quitter and I don’t back down, not from anything. You came over here tonight asking me if I was ready to give us a shot. So now I’m asking you—are you ready? Because part of that is you sleeping next to me, Brady. Not tonight, not tomorrow, but in the future. You want me to trust you, then you’ve gotta trust me and believe I’m strong enough to deal with whatever happens.”
She was wrong, I didn’t need to learn those things about her. Part of the reason I fell in love with her was because she wasn’t a quitter. She was outspoken, she went after what she wanted, and she did it with a laser-focus.
“I can give you that,” I acquiesced.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“Now can I kiss my woman and put her to bed so she can get some sleep so she’s not dragging ass tomorrow night when I take her out?”
“Yeah.”
Fucking finally.
My head dipped and I wasted no time taking my woman’s mouth. This kiss was far less frantic than our first but no less intense. Her tongue glided against mine, her arms wound around me, her hands went under my shirt. They skimmed up my back, she hooked them over my shoulders and held on tight.
Finally.
Hadley Walker was officially mine.
10
My alarm blared from across the room, necessitating me rolling out of bed and walking to my dresser to turn it off. This was by design, I needed my alarm clock across the room and not on my nightstand where I could easily reach it and hit the snooze button. And it was needed because I was not a morning person. According to my mother, I’d never been one, not even as a baby, and in all the time since, I’d never become one. My twin, Adalynn, was a morning person. This annoyed me to no end when we were growing up sharing a room. Addy would pop up out of bed before the first beep of the alarm sounded and she’d start making noise. Sometimes she’d whistle and that was even more annoying than her chipper-first-thing-in-the-morning mood.
Being as I was a gainfully employed adult with responsibilities, I couldn’t hit the snooze five times if I felt like it. Therefore, my alarm was across the room so I had to get my lazy ass out of bed to shut it off. And once I was up, I was up, albeit not in a good mood ready to face the day. But at least I was upright.
But right then I was fully awake. I’d gotten up early even though I didn’t