Free Heat Up the Night by Skylar Kade

tonight. Please.” She didn’t want to hear his words, selected and assembled to let her down gently. If he loved her too, he would have already said it. Whatever sense of closure he needed could wait until morning. She’d give herself the night to pretend none of this had happened and savor his presence for a few more hours.
    Mouth set in a grim line, he nodded.
    “I’ll sleep on the couch if that’s better, or take a cab—”
    He cut her off with a searing kiss, backing her against the front door and boxing her in with his body. “You’re not going anywhere, Tovia. I’ll respect your wishes to talk about this tomorrow, but I’ll be damned if you leave tonight.”
    Too weary to begin deciphering his hot and cold reactions, Tovia nodded and let Keilor lead her across the expansive main room and into the bedroom, dropping her purse on the kitchen bar top as they passed. As soon as she glimpsed the warm, waiting comfort of his memory foam bed, the day exacted its revenge on her.
    Eyes heavy, she somehow shucked her clothes, leaving them in a pile she vowed to fold in the morning. At this point, she didn’t care whether or not Keilor followed. She crawled under the covers and let sleep take over, only barely conscious when his strong arms surrounded her.

Chapter 11
    After tossing and turning until five a.m., Keilor gave up on sleep. Tovia, once she’d drifted off, had snuggled deeper into his embrace, and he found himself studying the curve of her jaw, the fine red hair spilling across her cheek.
    I love you…
    Her voice echoed through his head on repeat. Why hadn’t he replied? He did love her. After seeing decades of his parents’ fairy-tale romance, it was a given that he’d have no problem offering those three words to his other half. Then Tovia let them slip while heavy into subspace and his reply choked on self-doubt. She’d gone all deer-in-the-headlights after saying the words and the last thing he wanted was to confess his feelings then have her pull away because her I love you had slipped out on a subspace endorphin rush, not truth.
    Then things got awkward and he tried to play it cool even as his palms got clammy and all his “Dommy Self-Assurance,” as Samantha liked to say, slid through his fingers. Just as he feared Tovia would. What he wouldn’t give to read her mind…
    Keilor slipped out of bed and headed for the balcony jutting off his kitchen. He looked over the strip, letting the city sounds wash away his racing thoughts. It was like scrubbing at a grease stain with water—useless, spreading the stain around.
    Okay, Branson, get your shit together.
    If Tovia said the words accidentally and he told her he loved her, she could cut and run. Though she had been spending more and more time with him, building what he would normally classify as a relationship, they’d never really talked about what their intentions were. It wasn’t something he’d thought necessary, but maybe it was. He’d seen everything through the lens of his parents’ perfect courtship.
    Damnit.
    And if Tovia had meant the words, and he didn’t reply, he was the worst sort of ass for not being honest when he demanded the same from her.
    As the sun peeked over the horizon, Keilor set aside the brooding and decided a run would clear his head. He’d figure it out, though it was cold comfort at the moment.
    Moving silently through his bedroom, he slipped into track pants and a Viva Las Vegas T-shirt his old kitchen staff had given him as a going away gift. Aside from the moment the tee slipped over his head, he couldn’t tear his gaze from Tovia, still and at peace in his bed. A little smile curved her lips.
    She looked right, lying there. Her arm reached across the bed to his empty spot and under other circumstances he’d say she looked like a woman in love with her bed partner.
    With a frown, he unearthed his running shoes from the pile of clothes Tovia had dropped the night before. Knowing how she hated mess, he