Unholy Matrimony

Chapter Nine: Snooping

I woke up with my arms wrapped around a warm, breathing teddy bear.

I snuggled closer, enjoying the warmth radiating from it.

It was so hard though, not at all soft or fluffy. It reminded me of sleeping next to Jason...

I ran my hand up and down the hard chest, realizing it was a human male's body, not a teddy bear.

But if it wasn't Jason...

Crap. Was I snuggling Tobias?

I froze, listening to his perfectly timed and quiet breathing. It was nothing like Jason, who always did this cute snoring thing that had never failed to comfort me.

I looked up at the face that was so close to my own, examining his features.

His skin was so smooth, all the usual creases from his constant frowning gone, making him so much hotter. His eyebrows were dark and thick, the same for his eyelashes, which rested on the top of his sharp cheekbones in his sleep. His lips were a perfect berry color, plump and so soft looking but somehow still incredibly manly, maybe because of his ridiculously sharp jaw.

He was so different from Jason in every way. Where Jason had always been extremely good looking in a way where he was just beautiful and angelic and rugged, Tobias was a drop-your-panties, cookie-cutter obvious type of attractive. When Jason got angry, he got violent, but it was always to protect others. He never did anything for his own benefit, but Tobias was cold and ruthless and all for himself. But the biggest difference: Jason was dead and Tobias was alive.

Feeling the sudden urge to cry, I unwrapped my arms from around Tobias and flipped over, but my body missed his heat.

I flipped over again to get closer to him, but changed my mind and turned the other way.

"Stop moving," a voice said and I jumped, turning back to Tobias.

His eyes were still closed and if he hadn't spoken I would have thought he was still asleep.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"So you decided to sleep on the bed after all."

"Yeah, ah, the bathtub wasn't very comfortable." I flipped over again, finding it too hard to stop looking at his face.

"Stop moving or get out, Talia."

"Sorry, sorry." I turned back to him but kept my hands firmly to my side even though part of me wanted to snuggle into him again.

He fell asleep again and I managed to as well; something about this was comforting.

I woke up again after a couple of pings. What was that?

I saw Tobias's phone vibrate on the desk. It rang again.

I sighed and got up to shut it up, but couldn't help glancing at the text messages displayed on the screen.

There were a few from Amelia that were obviously sent when she was drunk; there were some men texting him about some papers or a meeting or various other business-related things; there was one from Penelope asking how the trip was going and another with two heart emojis.

And then there were two from Julia Steinway.

Julia: I miss you, baby.

Julia: I know she doesn't mean anything to you, but I hate it when you're with her.

I put the phone down, not wanting to see anymore. My morning bliss was gone.

I got into the shower and enjoyed the hot water until it was finished. Ha. Let's see how he likes freezing cold showers.