Page 32 of Indescribable Love
Reaching for her hand, Simon held it. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Honestly, I typically enjoy documentaries of all kinds, but I am fascinated by the true crime ones.” Pausing, he shrugged. “I know the one I’m going to do will be fine as long as we can skip over certain aspects.” Taking the remote from her hands, he turned on the TV.
“I think there is every channel imaginable and all the streaming services too,” she said. “So, what are you thinking?”
It wasn’t a true crime kind of night, and the thought of a celebrity tell-all kind of bored him. After scrolling through the channel options, he decided on one and knew exactly what they should watch.
“Penguins?” she asked with a small laugh. “We’re going to watch a show about penguins?”
Nodding, he hit play and put the remote down. “It felt like a great way to be able to sit and relax and not worry about following along or having to hear or see anything gross or eerie.” Wrapping his arm around her, Simon gently pulled her closer. “Now we can watch or talk or simply sit here and doze off. The penguins won’t mind.”
Resting her head on his shoulder, she laughed again. “You’re adorable, Simon. Utterly adorable.”
It wasn’t the best compliment, but he’d take it.
Just when he thought they were comfortable, Juliette sat up. “Gimme one minute,” she murmured, as she climbed from the bed.
What the…?
Walking across the room, she hit the light switch and then crawled back onto the bed with him. “It’s better with the lights off.”
Yeah. She was killing him.
It didn’t take long for Juliette to be back in his arms as they settled in to start learning about penguins.
It also didn’t take long for them to lose interest and instead start kissing.
“We can watch the penguins another time,” Juliette whispered as her hand wrapped around his nape and touched her lips to his.
After that, it was the most G-rated thing he’d done in a long time, and by far the most satisfying.
She felt good, she tasted good, and there wasn’t anywhere else he’d rather be. The only problem? He really was exhausted, and being in a comfortable bed with the lights off wasn’t helping him stay awake, no matter how much he wanted to be.
“Juliette,” he whispered sometime later. “I hate to say this, but…” The yawn was out before he could stop it.
Softly, she ran her hand through his hair. “You’re sleepy. I get it. I’m very relaxed too. I think if I reclined a little more, I would be asleep within minutes.” They rested their foreheads against each other’s. “So, um…you should probably go.” It was her turn to yawn.
Simon nodded. “I should,” he agreed, and immediately yawned too.
They giggled and it was the kind of laugh that only happened when you were overly tired. When he looked at her bedside clock, he saw it was after midnight.
“Or,” she said, stroking his jaw. “We can just be adults and pull the blankets up, shut off the television, and go to sleep. It’s not a big deal. It’s just sleeping, right?”
With another nod and a yawn, he tried to think of a reason he should say no and go downstairs to his own room and own bed, but…he couldn’t think of one.
Nor did he want to.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “Because I think one of the things you said earlier was that you said you knew you could invite me up here and if you asked me to leave, you knew I would.”
She was already shimmying down the bed and pulling the blankets up over them. “I know, and I also know if you weren’t so exhausted, you’d be heading down the stairs right now. The way I see it, I’m saving you from hurting yourself.”
“This I have to hear.” But he was already tossing one of the pillows to the floor and shifting a bit so he could lie down properly, with the blankets over him.
“You’re tired. Too tired,” she explained. “And the house is dark. You could fall going down the stairs, and we can’t have that. You’re a big-time rock star with a tour starting back up. If you fell down the stairs and hurt yourself, millions of fans would be devastated.”
“I wouldn’t say millions…”
“Trust me. It’s safer and smarter for you to stay here. With me.” The next thing he knew, she was pressed up beside him, her head on his shoulder, her hand on his chest, and her legs tangled with his.
Perfect.