Searching for Hailey Bradshaw

Chapter 17

Daniel was in the middle of having a dream about Heidi when he woke. Body straining against the sheets, he frowned as he opened his eyes.

"Dang," he muttered, glaring up at the ceiling. "I can't even go all the way with her in my sleep."

Feeling decidedly moody, he twisted so he could check on his brother. Connell was out like the dead across the room in his own bed.

Seeing how peacefully he was resting, Daniel's scowl only deepened. "Lucky twerp," he growled as he sat up and scratched his head. It was clear Connell didn't have a sexy girlfriend who was driving him completely out of his mind and making him lose sleep.

To be honest, though, he really didn't believe his brother was the lucky one of the two of them. He had Heidi and Connell didn't.

Pleased about that fact, he hummed contentedly in his throat. Man, he loved being with her. But every time she was around, he wanted more.

He wondered why his feelings were so obsessive. Was love always like this? She was on his mind more than anything he could ever recall. Not even his affection for news-reporting had so fully caught him like this did.

Just imagining her sleeping a floor below him made him antsy. He could picture her vividly in his mind's eye, all warm and cuddled in her own bed. He wanted to be there with her. Now. He could already see himself crawling under the covers and spooning his body around hers.

Daniel looked down at himself and then it struck him. Why didn't he go and do just that? Sasha was gone eighty percent of the time, bunking with Tony. Heidi was probably all alone down there, needing some company.

"So, what the heck am I still doing up here?" he asked himself and leapt into action.

He had his shirt and jeans and shoes on in record time. Feeling a surge of adrenaline, he hurried down to the second floor. If she was still asleep when he got there, then maybe he could more easily coax her into letting him go a further than he'd ever gone before. Hmm. Maybe she'd let him see a different pair of her panties this morning.

Shivering in excitement, Daniel knocked on her door and waited. Thirty seconds later, he frowned and knocked again, a little longer and a little louder this time.

Gee, how deep of a sleeper was she?

Finally, he heard the chain on the lock being undone. Body tensing in anticipation, he was ready to bound inside and start kissing every inch of skin he saw.

But as the door cracked open, he stumbled to a halt and gaped at the sight that met him. The tawny-haired male that stared back looked to be the same age, if not a little younger than him. He was bare-chested and without pants or shoes... or socks. To be frank, the only thing adorning the guy was a pair of navy blue cotton boxers.

Eyeing Daniel, the stranger yawned and blinked a few times before he sleepily slurred out, "Who're you?"

And wasn't that a great question. Yes, Daniel wanted to say. Who the devil are you? But he restrained his temper, keeping it in check before he found out what was really going on here.

"I'm Daniel," he bit out, giving Boxer-boy a slaying look.

Don't kill him yet. Just hold back until you know for sure what's going on here. Don't kill him yet, Daniel kept telling himself.

At hearing Daniel's name, the guy actually smiled. "Oh, right" he said and stepped back, letting the door fall open. "Come on in. She's in the shower."

Daniel stepped slowly into the room. He glanced around as the stranger turned and started toward Heidi's bed. Sasha's side of the room was empty and her bed was made. Heidi was nowhere in sight. It was just this guy, whoever he was, making himself right at home on the bed that belonged to Daniel's woman.