Thwarting Cupid. Lori Crawford

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СКАЧАТЬ think of one single charming thing to say.” He blew out a breath and she realized exactly how serious he was. He wanted to charm her and was drawing a blank. The fact that he admitted it did the trick. Hutch was so cute. She smiled and hooked her arm around so she could cup his cheek. He turned his head to look at her.

      “Consider me charmed.”

      A frown flitted over his face before a puzzled expression settled there. “But I didn't even do anything.”

      “You've done more than you know.”

      * * * *

      They never made it to the restaurant, so he ordered pizza instead from what turned out to be her favorite restaurant as well as his. Their similarities hadn't stopped there, either. While they ate, they talked about anything and everything and found they agreed more often than not. He couldn’t believe he had this much in common with her and had never even known it. Of course, their previous time together had been much more focused on the work.

      Hutch rolled over to look at her while ignoring his own creaks and aches that came from too much time spent on the floor. He was getting old, whether he wanted to admit it or not. Light from the television flickered over her sleeping features. She looked so peaceful. He hated to disturb her.

      He hated it so much that he'd already let her sleep for the last two hours. He was still so amped from her admission that she liked him, he didn't even care his date had fallen asleep on him. And he had managed to turn this into a date.

      Hutch turned his head to look at the clock on the Carissa's bookshelf. Twelve forty. He really should get home. Not that he had to work the next day. He'd given his staff the next two days off after all their hard work prepping and getting the mailing out. Despite the continued twinges in Carissa’s back, he knew she was determined to go in to her office since she'd missed that day due to the accident. He'd already offered to drive her to and from the office since her other alternative was to take the bus which would only add more strain to her protesting back muscles.

      She stretched jarring him out of his thoughts. He smiled when her eyes blinked open. “What time is it?”

      “Going on one o'clock.”

      “What? Seriously?” She tried to sit up and cringed. He hurried to support her so she didn't fall over, or worse, hurt herself more.

      “You are in no shape to go to work in the morning.”

      “I can manage.” She rolled over to her knees. Gripping the couch, she pulled herself to her feet. He jumped up to catch her if she was too unsteady. Her stubbornness was one of the things they hadn't seen eye to eye on.

      “I can see that.” His droll humor dripped from every word.

      She smiled at him and he saw that it cost her. “Great! I knew you'd see things my way.” Still gripping the couch, she cast a look at the door. “I don't want to hold you up. You're probably exhausted by now.”

      Carissa was right, but he'd be darned if he was going to let her know that. “I'm fine. But we should get you to bed before I go.”

      “You don't have to do that.”

      “Think of it as part of my campaign to charm the socks off you.” He tugged on her ponytail and gave her a rakish smile.

      She raised an eyebrow. “Sure it's my socks you want off?”

      He laughed. “I'm going to take this opportunity to plead the fifth.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her toward her bedroom.

      “I just bet you are,” she said in a dry tone, but he could hear her amusement underneath. That was one of things he'd always admired about her. She had a great sense of humor no matter what was imploding around her. On more than one occasion, she'd teased him off the proverbial ledge when things had gone massively wrong during events.

      “Need any help getting in your pajamas?” He gave her a sweet smile when he asked. Her mouth dropped open. He shrugged. “What? I'm a man. What'd you expect?”

      “Unfortunately for you, these are my pajamas. Good night, Hutch.”

      He urged her toward the bed. She eased down on the mattress, which told him her back was still hurting much more than she tried to let on.

      “Let me just tuck you in. Then I'll be on my way.”

      She stared at him for a moment. “I think I can manage from here.”

      “I know you can. Just humor me. I won't sleep a wink all night if I'm worried about you being uncomfortable over here.”

      “You're not going to give up are you?”

      He grinned. “Nope.”

      “Fine.” Carissa pulled her legs under the covers with a small grimace. He raced out to the living room to grab a throw pillow from the couch. “What are you doing?” she asked when he returned and tucked the pillow under her legs.

      “You need to keep them elevated. It'll keep the pressure off your back while you sleep. If you roll to your side, put it between your legs.”

      He felt his face heat at the mention of between her legs. In the bright light of the bedroom, there was no way she could miss his blush. Even if he kept his head down to fiddle with the covers. His hair wasn't yet long enough to hide his face from her view.

      “Between my legs, huh? You're making that up.”

      He started to protest his innocence and caught sight of her amused face. “You're laughing at me?”

      “You gotta admit. It's pretty funny.” She turned her head to the side. “I don't think I've seen that on you before.”

      “I'm funny, huh?” He leaned over her and planted his hands on either side of her body, trapping her. He watched her amusement change to something else. Her breath caught in her throat. He watched the muscles work as she tried to swallow.

      “Hutch?”

      “Hutch, what?”

      “I...I don't know. I...”

      He smiled down at her. “You've got this big ole bed right here and I'm awful tired.”

      “Hutch...”

      “It's so late and my bed is so far away. Maybe I should just stay here for the night.”

      “Hutch...”

      “Besides, you might need some...looking after in the middle of the night and I'd be too far away to help.”

      “I am not sharing my bed with you tonight, Hutch,” she protested.

      He wiggled his eyebrows and stood up. “What are you going to do about it?” He crossed the room in a couple strides to turn off the light. By the time he got back to the bed, she was trying to sit up. He lay beside her and tossed an arm and leg over her body holding her in place.

      “Okay, okay. You're not funny.”

      He nestled as close to her as he could possibly СКАЧАТЬ