The touch of a finger trailing the length of her spine in a sinuous, serpentine stroke was enough to jerk her from the depths of a wonderful sleep to the stark, shocking reality that she was waking up with someone else in her bed.
Dr Leah Hudson’s eyes blinked open in an instant as recollections of the previous night poured in, and in a panic she grabbed the duvet to her chest and leapt from the bed, dragging the quilt around her naked body, stumbling over it as she turned to see the man she’d left behind in the bedsheets.
Ben. Handsome. Fit—even with bed hair and a shadow of early-morning stubble. The man who had known his way around the female anatomy very well indeed, as it turned out.
Her naked male companion had woken at her sudden movement, and now lay propped up on an elbow, smiling at her in an irritatingly charming and attractive way, the curls that only last evening had been perfectly tamed now wild and tangled. In no way did that diminish his appeal. Somehow it increased it. And he didn’t make any move to cover himself up. Deliciously confident man that he was. And she couldn’t stop her gaze from travelling down...down...
Red-faced, she looked up again.
She envied him his confidence in his body. Hers had always let her down.
Ignoring the pleasant tingling she could feel from their combined fun last night, she felt her cheeks flush with heat. What must she look like? She’d gone to the club with Hannah and the others in full-on partying mode—mascara, lipstick, glittery eyeshadow, for goodness’ sake! And after meeting the Adonis who now lay luxuriantly upon her comfiest blue cotton bedsheets she had brought him back to her place with the promise of a coffee or a nightcap and they had fallen into bed together without her having time to remove any of the muck from her face!
Did she look like a panda?
This was not like her at all. She wasn’t a woman who did this kind of thing—one-night stands. Not that there was anything wrong with it, if it suited the people involved. But she’d always imagined herself as the going-steady type, waiting before she’d allow anyone the intimacy of her bed. That might be boring to some, but it had suited her perfectly until last night. It had given her a standard to uphold so that she didn’t make her life complicated. Not letting anyone in because, really, what was the point? Life was complicated all on its own.
Now he lay on her bedsheets. Still here. The next morning! He wasn’t meant to have stayed.
‘Didn’t I say you had to go? Remember? Just after midnight?’
‘You exhausted me. I must have fallen asleep.’
He seemed oblivious to the fact that she wanted him out of there. Gorgeous or not. Seemed content to stay in her bed.
Leah clutched the quilt even tighter and glanced at her alarm clock beside the bed. Seven thirty-two a.m. She had slept with a strange man for over six hours, and him lying there looking like a wonderful breakfast delicacy was not helping. She had a new job to get to. An important job. Lives that might need saving.
Thinking about it, she really ought not to have agreed to going to the club.
‘Look, last night was great, but—’
‘Don’t say but. Nothing ever great happens after someone says but.’
She smiled. ‘But I’m going to take a shower, and when I get out of the shower I don’t want to find you’re still here. You need to...’ her gaze travelled along his wonderful torso, eyeing the hunk of gorgeousness she’d allowed herself last night ‘...put some clothes on and leave. Is that understood? You get what I’m saying, right?’
He nodded and smiled. ‘Seems a shame to end something so great.’
Embarrassingly delighted, she smiled back. ‘Maybe so, but that’s the way it’s going to be.’
She saw his trousers and designer underwear discarded on the floor of her living room, exactly where she’d torn them from his body, and picked them up, threw them at him.
‘Start with these.’ She gave him a broad, embarrassed smile. “It was a pleasure knowing you.’
Leah opened the shower door and listened for any strange sounds. The flat sounded pleasingly empty, so with one towel wrapped around her body and another around her hair, she unlocked her bathroom door and stepped out, listening once again just to make sure.
All she could hear were outside noises—singing birds, the odd car driving by. Nothing internal.
Thank God he’s gone!
What had she been thinking? To do such a thing! Sleep with a stranger! Was that the behaviour of an expectant mother? Okay, to be fair, she wasn’t the one expecting herself. She had a surrogate. Sally. Who was pregnant with Leah’s baby.
Perhaps that’s why I did it? One last mad fling? And I did choose a very nice candidate!
She smiled to herself. She would never find a guy like that in real life. And even if she did he’d probably run a mile as soon as she explained she was going to have a baby in seven months.
Leah paused to look into her spare room before she passed it. It was still filled with boxes from her recent move here. She really ought to get a move on and get it sorted into some sort of nursery. There was a cot in there somewhere, still waiting to be unfurled from its flat pack.
She padded through to her bedroom and then stopped, surprised.
He’s made the bed! Wow. Did I manage to find the only hot, sexy, neat-freak?
The pillows had been fluffed, the sheets and duvet straightened and smoothed. He’d even picked up the bed runner from the floor and put it back on. And what was that on her pillow?
She bent to pick up the small piece of paper. Unfolding it, she saw a telephone number and a short note.
We had fun. Call me.
Leah bit her lip and smiled. He liked her. Wanted to see her again! She picked up the phone and dialled.
‘Hello?’
‘Sally, it’s me. You’re never going to believe what I did last night. Or rather, who.’
She heard a gasp from the other end. ‘Naughty girl! Do tell. You know I’ve got to live vicariously through your adventures for the next two trimesters.’
Leah sank onto the edge of her bed. ‘His name was Ben and he...er...stayed over.’
‘What? Damn! I knew I should have tried harder to get babysitters for these monsters. Then I could have met him. Come on. I need details. What was he like? Tall? Dark, Handsome?’ She giggled. ‘Girthy?’
Leah laughed. ‘Yes, to all of those.’
‘You lucky girl.’
‘And he was also polite and charming and funny—and he made the bed before he left.’
‘You let him leave? He sounds like a keeper.’
‘He’s left me his number.’
‘So call him!’
‘I can’t do that! He’s only just gone. I need to leave it for a bit, don’t I? Act cool?’
‘Darling, you don’t do cool. Get your first day out of the way, then give him a ring. Have fun whilst you can. Make hay whilst the sun shines—isn’t that what they say?’
‘Who?’
‘I don’t know. Farmers?’
Leah laughed. ‘I’ve got to get ready for work. I did miss you last night.’
‘Clearly. Look, I’ve got to go—William’s just tipped orange juice over his brother.’
‘Okay.