Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“I…I have to get up. I need a shower!” Mattie exclaimed.
Pushing away from the big Hybrid, she slid out of bed, barely noticing the freezing cold of the New England winter morning.
“You just had a shower last night,” Grath pointed out, frowning.
“I know but…but I need another. I can never wake up in the morning without one,” Mattie babbled. “Uh, excuse me.”
And she ducked into the bathroom, heart racing. God, what had she said in her sleep? Nothing awful, she hoped. Nothing that would give Grath the wrong idea…
Okay, get a grip, Mattie! she told herself sternly, as she started the shower and waited for the water to get warm. Yes, last night with Grath was nice—amazing, actually. Who knew he had such emotional depths or that he could be so sensitive and supportive? But you’re not actually dating—this is all fake and you have to remember that and not let yourself get caught up in the act you two are playing out together. Keep yourself grounded in reality—once this is all over, the two of you are going to go back to the Mother Ship and you’ll just be coworkers again—nothing more and nothing less. So keep a check on your emotions—all right?
The stern self-talking-to helped and after a quick shower to clear her head, Mattie came back out into the bedroom wrapped in her fuzzy bathrobe and wearing her matching slippers.
She was surprised to see Grath sitting on the bed, pouring over one of her old yearbooks.
“Hey, you know you’re pretty fucking adorable in these pictures,” he commented, when she came in.
Mattie came up to see which picture he was looking at and groaned when she saw it was her senior class photo.
“Oh, don’t look at that! I look terrible!”
“No, you don’t.” He frowned as he glanced up at her. “You never told me you wear oculars,” he said, pointing at the thick glasses perched on her nose in the picture.
“I don’t—not anymore,” Mattie told him. “I got Lasik surgery as soon as I could afford it—I haven’t had to wear them since.”
“That’s too bad,” he remarked. “They’re so fucking cute on you.” He glanced up at her. “Not that you’re not beautiful without them, because you are, baby.”
“Grath…” Mattie wasn’t quite sure what to say…how to handle this situation. “Last night,” she began, “I said some things…shared some things I’ve never shared with anyone else. I was feeling hurt and…and vulnerable.”
His midnight eyes softened.
“I know, baby. We don’t have to go through it all again if you don’t want to.” He brightened. “Unless you changed your mind and you want me to go pound the ever-loving fuck out of that bastard, Hartsford?”
“No, no!” Mattie exclaimed, holding up both her hands to stop him. “No, I just meant that, well…” She cleared her throat. “I may have said or done some things that weren’t strictly…professional.”
Grath raised an eyebrow at her.
“You mean like cuddling up in my arms and sleeping draped across me like you were my own personal blanket?”
Mattie felt her cheeks getting hot but she nodded.
“Er, yes. That.”
Grath shrugged.
“I didn’t mind. Gets fucking cold in this part of your world—for humans, anyway. I don’t see what’s unprofessional in me keeping you warm.”
“Uh, you don’t?” Mattie asked uncertainly.
“Of course not—I’m your Protector. I’m supposed to protect you from all dangers—including freezing to death in your own bed,” he pointed out. “If we have to get close and cross some physical boundaries we might not usually cross on a mission together, well…” He shrugged. “That’s just part of the mission. Right?”
“Well…I guess so,” Mattie said cautiously. She hadn’t thought of the situation like this before, but it did seem to make sense.
“And right now our mission is getting your family to believe we’re lovers, right?” he continued.
“Well…yes,” Mattie admitted, though her cheeks were still flaming.
“So we’ve got to do whatever we can to make that happen,” Grath said. “I mean, what if one of your parents had come to check on us this morning? If I’d been sleeping on the floor or we hadn’t been close in the bed, they might have wondered if something was fucking wrong.”
“I guess so,” Mattie conceded again. Though she was awfully glad none of her family had come knocking on the attic bedroom door when she was all tangled up with Grath. That would have been incredibly awkward.
“So we just have to keep playing our parts,” Grath told her. “Doing everything we have to do in order to make people believe we’re together. And in the meantime, I’m also going to be protecting you from anything—or anyone—who threatens you, little girl,” he added, his voice dropping to a low growl. “That’s my fucking job and I’m going to fucking do it.”
“Translation: Luke Hartsford had better steer clear,” Mattie said dryly, but her heart was still pounding in her chest.