like this.”
He nodded, chewing slowly on his soft ginger cookie. “Yeah.” Then he frowned and added, “Why are you alone tonight? You’ve got tons of friends and people who love you.”
“I know I do. Ria wanted me to come over, but I didn’t want to... to get in the way of their family time.” She sighed and swirled the last bit of her hot chocolate in her mug. It was cool now, and she didn’t really want to finish it. “Ria’s got a new family now.”
“You’re still her family, Belinda.”
Her eyes burned for just a minute. “I know. But it’s not the same. I guess I’ve just been... missing my parents. It’s been years since they died, and it hasn’t bothered me like this for a long time. But there’s something about losing people suddenly like that. It’s such a shock that it doesn’t hit you all at once. You haven’t had time to process it and adapt. And so it’s like it’s happening over and over again. For a really long time.” She couldn’t quite keep the tears back, so she used her fingertips to wipe a couple away.
“I know.”
She looked over at his gravelly tone. “Did you lose someone suddenly?”
“I lost everyone suddenly,” he told her. “My parents and my sister.”
“What?” Her voice cracked as she reached over to put a hand on his knee. “Fitz, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. Was it a car accident like my parents?”
“A different sort of accident. But it was just as sudden. I know how it feels. I know, Belinda.” He covered her hand on his knee with one of his own.
She wanted to ask him more questions, but she didn’t want to force him to open up. So she didn’t push it. They sat that way for a minute, and the warm strength of his hand on hers was like a lifeline.
Until he finally withdrew it.
She pulled her hand back quickly. “I was watching White Christmas,” she said, suddenly self-conscious of the intimacy between them when it had never existed before. “Do you like that movie?”
“Sure. But I don’t have to stay if you’d rather—”
“I’d like you to stay.”
He nodded and reached for another cookie while she started up the movie. They finished it and then started another Christmas musical.
They finished the plate of cookies, and before the second movie was over, Belinda had fallen asleep.
Five
FITZ WOKE UP ON THE couch with Belinda all over him.
All. Over. Him.
She’d fallen asleep during the second movie and had unconsciously leaned over against his shoulder. Although he’d known he should have rearranged them since she’d never have gotten cuddly with him like that if she was awake, he’d liked it so much he’d stayed completely still, enjoying the warmth of her body, the soft flutter of her hair, the rhythm of her breathing.
He’d intended to indulge himself for only a few minutes before he gently moved her back over and got up to go home. But the few minutes stretched out to more until he was closing his eyes and adjusting his legs. At some point, he’d gone to sleep too.
Which was how he’d ended up there—stretched out on Belinda’s sofa with her sleeping body on top of him.
He was stiff. One foot and one arm were asleep. He was overly hot, and Belinda’s long, loose hair was tickling his neck.
And he was hard.
Achingly, throbbingly hard.
He choked back a groan as he processed his condition and the fact that Belinda was completely unconscious of the way she was snuggling into his body.
She felt so good. Soft and hot and feminine and sensual. She smelled faintly like vanilla and peppermint—some combination of the hair and body products she must have used. He wanted to keep holding her. Keep breathing her in. He wanted to rub his pulsing body against hers hard and fast.
He wanted...
A lot of things he wasn’t allowed to have.
With a surge of bleak will, he managed to lift her up and ease her off him so he could extricate his body. Although he tried to be careful, the motion woke her up. She gasped and blinked and lifted her head as Fitz lurched stiffly to his feet.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“Sorry. We fell asleep.”
“We did? What time is it?” She was utterly delectable—tousled and groggy and confused.
He had to literally turn his back to her in order to keep himself from reaching down and pulling her into his arms. “I don’t know. Late. Or early.” He remembered he had a