Read Online The Billionaire Boyfriend Proposal: A Kavanagh Family Novel by Kendra Little - Free Book Online Page B

him and he didn't let me go. His arms still
trapped me against him. I tucked my head under his chin and closed
my eyes. The rhythm of his breathing steadied, slowed, until I
suspected he was asleep. I felt myself drifting off too, the
feeling of completeness filling me up.
    ***
    It was darker when I awoke. The inky black of
a moonless night disoriented me at first and it took a moment to
realize I was in my own bed, still lying on top of Blake. Half on
top. I must have slid to his side at some point, but my upper body
and one arm lay across his chest. His muscles twitched and jerked,
and his breathing had quickened. It must have been that which woke
me.
    I lifted my head to see him, but his face was
in shadow. He didn't move and I suspected he was still asleep. I
didn't want to wake him so stayed where I was, cocooned by his
powerful arm. The arm suddenly tightened its hold. I couldn't have
moved even if I'd wanted to.
    He said something, half grunt, half whisper,
then fell silent. His head turned from side to side and every
muscle went rigid. He was having a nightmare.
    "Blake," I said. "Blake, wake up."
    He suddenly sat upright, dislodging me. "Get
down!" he growled.
    "Blake? It's me, Cassie. Get down from
where?"
    I could just make out his silhouette as he
twisted toward my voice. His eyes were like two gleaming pinpricks
in the dark. "Cass?" he rasped, his chest rising and falling
heavily.
    I touched his arm. "It's okay. You're in my
bedroom with me."
    "I know that." He jerked away and scooted off
the bed. He snatched clothes off the floor. I didn't know how he
could see anything in the dark. He strode to the door, but stopped
before leaving. He lowered his head and let out a long breath, then
came back to the bed. He stood beside me, a looming, ominous
shadow. "I'm sorry," he muttered, brushing his fingers against
mine. "I didn't mean to snap at you."
    "It's okay." I wanted to tell him to come
back to bed and let me hold him. I wanted to tell him that I would
help him banish his bad dreams. But I didn't. That's what a lover
would do. We weren't lovers. We'd just lapsed for one night and it
wouldn't happen again.
    I shifted my hand away and severed the touch.
It was too dark to know what he thought about that. "Cassie?" He
sounded uncertain, and I guess I did know what he thought.
He was confused.
    I wasn't. I knew nothing had changed between
us. Our love-making could best be described as being for old time's
sakes.
    "Thank you," he said, "for…"
    "You don't have to thank me. I—" I enjoyed
it , I wanted to tell him, but didn't. "I'm as much to
blame."
    "Blame?"
    Maybe that was the wrong word. "We're two
consenting adults who came together for…relief." There, that was
better. No room for misinterpretation. "It's okay. It happens."
    "Not to me."
    He stalked away from the bed to the door, his
strides long and purposeful. Hell. We were going to end this night
on a note of anger and resentment, exactly what I didn't want.
    "Blake, wait." To my surprise, he paused at
the door. "We've managed to do okay since you returned. Not friends
exactly, but it's been…comfortable. Please don't let what happened
tonight ruin it."
    "I wasn't." His voice was barely a whisper.
"I haven't."
    I swallowed. "We should keep to the rules I
laid out earlier. No touching."
    "Except for extreme circumstances," he
sneered. "Well, there's your problem, because all circumstances are
extreme when I'm around you." He pulled the door open, but turned
back before leaving. "Damn it, Cassie. I thought the army was going
to break me, but I was wrong. You will."

CHAPTER 6
     
     
    I didn't see Blake in the morning, but I
heard hammering coming from the summer house. I paused at the back
door and warred with myself. On the one hand, the ice had to be
broken at some point, but on the other…what should I say to him?
Was an apology in order?
    No. No way. I had nothing to apologize for.
If anything, he should apologize to me for the way he'd treated me
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