Nori's Delta (Delta Team Three #1) - Lori Ryan Page 0,36

good and clear to his team that they were all welcome to take turns standing watch at Eleanor’s door, but that he’d be the only one in that room overnight with her.

He opened the door to the attached room and they did the same routine they’d done the night before when they’d gone down the hall. They returned to the room they’d slept in, this time with Jangles opening the door and leaving when they entered.

Heath watched as she kicked off her shoes and went to the bed. When he went to the armchair and started to lower himself into it, she stopped him.

“Are you planning to rest?”

He nodded. He normally wouldn’t be kicking off his boots and laying down to rest, even if that’s what this time was for. He and his men were still on guard. But he knew Jangles was outside the room and Duff and Merlin were in the room next door and he’d been up much of the night before. They were covered and he needed to rest if he was going to be any use to Eleanor.

He groaned at the idea of being of use to her. Damn, he wanted to let her use him any and every way she wanted to. He pictured her above him, straddling him as she sank down onto him. Running her hands over his chest as her breasts swayed above him.

Christ.

“Then share the bed with me. That chair can’t be comfortable.”

He kept his face blank even though his eyebrows wanted to climb onto his forehead at her words. “The bed?”

Okay, so he hadn’t quite managed to keep his voice from going thick and heavy at the suggestion of sharing the bed with her.

“We’re adults, Heath. I think we can manage to lay on a bed for a nap together.”

He wasn’t so sure about that, but he didn’t argue. He shucked his boots and laid on the bed, over the covers like she was doing.

He wanted to take Nori into his arms the way he used to and felt his chest tighten at the memory of her arms wrapped around him and the way she used to snuggle into him, burying her head in his chest.

She and her team had just pulled apart the entire morning’s negotiations so he searched for a topic that wasn’t at all related to work.

“Tell me about your stepfather. You said you took his name when you were in college?”

Heath knew her mom had worked two jobs to support her and Eleanor growing up. Her mom had been young when she had her and her father had never been part of the picture, but her mom had worked hard to make sure Eleanor had everything she needed, including her mom’s love.

He remembered going over to their small apartment. Eleanor had her own room but her mom slept on a small bed in what was supposed to be a tiny office in the one-bedroom apartment. Even as a teenager, he’d been able to see that her mom was something special. She wanted the best for Eleanor and she didn’t want Eleanor to have to work. She always told Eleanor she should be able to focus on school, not making sure they had food. He had respected the hell out of Eleanor’s mom.

Eleanor nodded against his chest. “My mom married him when I was a freshman in college. He didn’t care if I was already grown up. He was there with my mom for all the important things. Dropping me at school, parent weekends, that kind of thing. And when I came home for breaks, he wanted to hang out. Not in an I’m-trying-too-hard kind of way. He just was there for me as though he’d been with my mom and me forever. And for once, I saw that my mom wasn’t having to work as hard anymore. She had a partner in things. It was nice.”

“It sounds nice,” he said. He had never gotten along with his own dad so what she was describing with her stepdad really did hit home. Heath would have loved to have a parent that took an interest in him like that.

She nodded. “And then when my mom got sick, he was by her side all the time. He never left her, never seemed to mind taking care of her. He was her cheerleader all the way.”

“That’s good that she had someone with her through it all.” He wanted to reach over and hold her, but he stuck his hands