The Author and Her Bodyguard

Chapter 20

"Laliana," a voice called, trying to wake me up. But any voice that threatened to take me from my first love, sleep, was insane and should never be listened to. 

"Leave me alone," I muttered, burrowing my face into my warm pillow. I refused to wake up. Not when dreaming was so much better lately. 

"Laliana," the voice called again. I pulled my pillow tighter against my face, enjoying the smell of citrus and the warmth against my skin. I froze, my eyes still shut as something familiar tickled at my subconscious. 

Citrus? My pillow doesn't smell like that. And then suddenly it hit me. I wasn't clutching my pillow. It was too warm and too muscular... I forced my eyes open and looked up. I was clutching Aiden's waist. And even knowing that fact, it took me several seconds to let go. Oh my gosh, brain work. Let go of this guys well-toned body before you die of embarrassment.

I jumped back, and found myself laying in my bed, Aiden seated on the edge of it, looking down at me with a flustered expression. "Um... hi," he said, laughing.

I yanked up my blankets to my chin. "Hi?" I squeaked, forgetting how to sound like a human person. As always Laliana, smooth.

Aiden smiled widely, his eyes sparking with mischief. "You talk in your sleep." 

I rubbed my eyes, trying to push away the grogginess and the desire to crawl under the covers and pretend Aiden wasn't sitting in my room. 

"Why are you here?... In my room?" On my bed?  My brain was screaming that last part so loud that I found it hard to form words beyond them. Aiden is in my room.

Aiden crossed his arms. "You passed out in the back of the limo." He held out a glass of water and I drank most of it in one gulp. "I brought you back here. Tate is out getting you something with electrolytes." He took the glass and put it down on my nightstand. "You are really dehydrated." 

I pulled the blanket down slightly to see what I was wearing. "And why am I wearing last night's clothes?"

Aiden leaned in, searching my face, his deep blue eyes waking me up far faster than any shot of caffeine could. It was like a bolt of lightning, his eyes analyzing mine closely. Too close. I couldn't think with that little room. All I could see were his eyes. His perfect eyes demanded attention like nothing else in my life. "Do you really think I am the type of guy that would go into your closet, pick out new clothes for you and change you while you are unconscious?" 

My face burned red and I shook my head. "No."

He leaned back, releasing me from my sudden paralysis, satisfied. "Good. I'll get you more water. Then you should get some sleep." 

He stood up to leave, and if I had been more aware of myself, I would have let him walk out of the room. But I blamed how slowly my brain connects to the rest of my body when I wake up, because I reached up and grabbed his hand like it was my first instinct. Like it was a habit, a common practice. Like I had some kind of right to take his hand. I had clearly lost my mind. "Wait." 

Aiden seemed to freeze, glued to the spot next to my bed.  He turned and looked down at our hands, and then up to my face. "Yes?"

Flashes of the stalker filled my mind. His figure filling the alleyway, the notes he had written, the phone call he had made, and the message he had scrawled on my bathroom mirror. "I don't want to sleep." 

Aiden sat back down on the edge of the bed, his face soft, his brows creasing with concern. "What happened? Carter?"

I shook my head and looked down, fully aware that his hand was still in mine. "I got a call... The stalker got my number." I felt Aiden's fingers tense under mine.