The Cinderella Deal - Jennifer Crusie [33]
But after the tour of the house, she knew it was still his story and still his house. True, the house did have glowing amber wood floors and an ornate mantel and an oak staircase, but every single wall was painted stark white.
She looked at Linc in despair. “White?”
He frowned at her, defensive. “It looks clean. And neat.”
Neat. Something she obviously wasn’t. The tension of the past day made her temper spurt. “Are you kidding? We could operate in here. I can’t live in a hospital room, Linc. And, my God, this furniture, all this leather and metal stuff. I can’t live like this.”
He sat down, looking exhausted and pulled the cat carrier toward him. “So you can mix in some of your stuff when the movers send it.” He opened the door to the cat carrier and looked inside. “Hello?”
“They’re still asleep.” Daisy looked around at his black leather and chrome. “I don’t think our furniture is going to mix.”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.” He picked up one of her boxes and started upstairs. “The house is the least of our problems.”
Daisy looked around at the white walls and ugly furniture. “No, it isn’t,” she said. Whether he liked it or not, his furniture was going to have to go and hers would have to come in. She felt her spirits rise at the thought. He’d like it once he saw her things in the house. Her stuff was old-fashioned and warm, just like the house. He’d love it once he saw it. He’d say, “Daisy, it’s amazing what color can do for a house. Thank you.” And she’d smile and he’d smile and the cats would curl up in the windows and they’d live happily ever after.
Feeling much better, Daisy picked up a box and followed Linc upstairs.
Once he’d helped her unpack and she’d hung her clothes in the empty bedroom across the hall from his, she explored the house, making plans, mentally moving her furniture in and burning his. The moon was high by the time she climbed the stairs again, and Linc was asleep in the only bed.
“Hey.” She poked him.
“Mmmphf.”
“Hey.” She poked him harder.
“What?”
“Shouldn’t you be on the couch like a gentleman?”
“I never said I was a gentleman,” he said sleepily. “This is a king size. I’m so tired I couldn’t find you if I wanted you. Which I don’t. Go to sleep.”
As a speech, it was a lot more reassuring than flattering, but she was exhausted too, so she knew how he felt. She went across the hall and changed into her nightgown and took her soap and toothbrush into the bathroom. By the time she was ready for bed, he was asleep again.
She crawled in beside him and fell asleep almost instantly, dreaming of gleaming wood floors with Liz sprawled in the sunlight.
Linc woke up the next morning with his arm around Daisy, pressed close against her back. She was wearing the same thin cotton T-shirt she wore the night they’d spent in the motel, but this time they were in the same bed. And he was awake in more ways than one.
SIX
MOVE BEFORE SHE wakes up, he told himself, but he didn’t want to. She was so soft and warm and round and he felt so good pressed up against her. It took all the self-control he had not to move his hand up to the fullness of her breast. She’d be terrific to sleep with in the winter, he thought as he moved his cheek against her hair, and then he realized that he wouldn’t be sleeping with her in the winter. She’d be terrific to sleep with anytime, he thought, growing dizzy with the thought. Maybe we could …
No. The last thing in the world he needed was to have an affair with a temporary wife. That would simply add an emotional element to an already impossible situation. No, no, no.
So why is your arm still around her? he asked himself.
“Why is your arm around me?” Daisy asked sleepily.
“I never had a teddy bear when I was little.” Linc held himself very still. “I’m compensating. Go back to sleep. This is completely asexual.”
“I don’t think so.” Daisy yawned and stretched a little, which compounded