Nolan remained on the couch with him, and the two were definitely bonding.
I had everything stacked up, and I was about to go get dressed when I glanced back to find the both of them out like a light. Nolan’s eyes were closed and his hand cupped Gizmo’s butt to make sure he didn’t fall.
My heart somersaulted as I had to take a step back.
Oh, no.
I wasn’t allowed to start falling for this cranky pain in the ass.
But he was so good with Gizmo. In all his grumpy posturing, there wasn’t a single bit of it with my cat. In fact, the jerk had actually relaxed enough to sleep.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen Nolan relax about anything.
Unsure what to do, I tossed my throw blanket on top of them and went down the hall to my bedroom. It wasn’t terribly late, but I was in that fuzzy post-drinking tired place.
Maybe if I just rested my eyes for a little bit.
Next thing I knew, there was a cat sitting on my chest, patting my face.
I opened one eye and groaned as sunshine filled my room. Gizmo crawled off me to the other side of my bed where a very large man was on his stomach, one arm under one of my decorative pillows and his face slack with sleep. He still wore his T-shirt and stupid jeans.
How on earth was that comfortable?
I’d been officially naked with him three times, and he still didn’t trust I wasn’t going to run screaming at his scars.
Then again, maybe he was just being a gentleman since I hadn’t invited him to sleep in my room. Gizmo curled up on the small of his back like he had done the day before. I laughed and rolled off the bed quietly.
Knowing it was food time, Gizmo quickly leaped onto the floor.
It wasn’t that early, and my mouth felt like my cat’s litter box. Gross.
I opened a can of turkey delight for my little troublemaker and set a pot of coffee to brewing while I went to brush the death out of my mouth. My face was next as I got rid of what was left of my makeup and wrangled my hair into a braid. I checked the weather report as I padded back into the kitchen and was happy to see a high of only mid-eighties for the day.
Finally, a little reprieve from the oven we’d been living in.
I fixed two mugs of coffee—my own brew from Macy, thank you very much—and brought them both back to my bedroom. Nolan was still out like a light, but he’d moved diagonally across the bed and stolen my pillow. I grinned down at his scruffy face pressed into the pink satin. His features were softer and younger in sleep.
I set the mug on my nightstand and smoothed away his overlong hair from his eyes.
He hummed out a soft groan, mumbled something, and settled back into slumber.
I took my mug with me to my walk-in closet to find something to wear. I’d need to set up Gizmo at the mansion, and I had a few errands I had to run—the usual things I put off until the weekend, like groceries and picking up a few samples from one of my suppliers. Summer would quickly be passing us by, and I liked to keep abreast on all the new trends.
Designing Women preferred to stay with classic, timeless remodels, but there were always a few people who wanted the next big trend going around on social media.
I settled on white shorts and a breezy cotton shirt in my favorite olive tone. When I turned, I found Nolan awake. He was half sitting up with his hair all spiky, and confusion marring his features.
“Morning.”
He spotted the coffee mug and grunted before reaching for the mug for a sip.
Not a morning person. Why was I not surprised?
Then again, I’d had a good thirty minutes on him, as well as a whole mug of coffee. “Impromptu sleepover, huh?”
He gulped down the coffee. “I wasn’t taking all that cat crap with me at two in the morning.”
“I didn’t have the heart to wake you on the couch with Gizmo. You two were too cute.”
He grunted again.
Definitely not a morning person. “I’ll just take these into the bathroom and get dressed.”
“Why?”
He was propped up on his elbow, his long legs taking up my whole bed.
“So, you play shy with your clothes, and I’m supposed to dress in front of you?”
He closed his eyes.
I laughed. “Ass.”
He opened one. “What? I can be a gentleman.”
Two could play that.
Nonchalantly, I dropped my robe.
