And now it makes me just wonder, should I have tried this before? Should I have opened myself up to something more?

The answer is resoundingly clear in my mind.

I’ve absolutely never wanted this before and this isn’t something you can fake.

No, Lexi Robertson is the only woman I’ve been with where something like what I’m doing right now—morning cuddling—is even possible.

Who knows?

Maybe I’m growing up. Maybe I’m realizing there’s more.

Whatever the reason, I know it just feels right and I’m going with it to see where this will lead me. I like Lexi enough that I’m willing to open myself up to something new.

Lexi moves slightly against me and makes a cute little sound in the back of her throat. I hold perfectly still as her body stretches against me in her sleep, and then burrows in a little tighter. Her arm over my stomach curls and tightens, and she rubs her cheek against my chest.

“What the hell?” she mutters in a groggy voice as her head flies up and her arm releases its hold on me so she can swipe her hand over her mouth.

I angle my head so I can see her, and grin when I see she looks confused over the wetness there, and then her eyes slide down to my chest.

“Oh good God,” she mutters as her hand wipes her saliva away. “I freakin’ drooled on you. Can it get any sexier than that?”

I laugh and her head turns so she looks at me with a sheepish grin. And how is it possible someone can look that utterly fantastic in the morning, despite the fact she had just drooled on me in her sleep?

“Sorry about that,” she says, not really looking apologetic at all, and I love that about her. That confidence that says, “I’m a woman who can slobber on you and you’d still want me.”

“You can drool on me anytime,” I tell her honestly. “I know I most definitely have parts of me I’d love to have you drool on.”

“Mmmmmmm,” she says in contemplation, licking her lips for effect. “That could most definitely be arranged.”

My dick jumps at the thought of her mouth on me, and I’m a bit surprised it’s even got any juice left, because Lexi and I sort of went at it pretty hard last night. And multiple times. “I’ll take you up on that, but for now, how about lay your pretty head back down on me.”

“A man who wants to cuddle,” she says dreamily, although there’s a hint of exaggeration in her tone.

Lexi snuggles back down onto me, wrapping her arm tight around my stomach again and wedging her leg deeper between mine. I know she doesn’t miss my morning wood as her thigh brushes against it, and while the thought of rolling her over and taking her again is a fantastic idea, I’m actually content to lie here a bit.

“So what are your plans today?” I ask her casually, my hand back at her hip so my fingers can play along her skin. My time with her is limited, as we have an afternoon flight to catch out to the West Coast.

With an almost pained sigh, she says, “I need to talk to Gray. I’m thinking about a surprise visit to her house so she can’t avoid me.”

“About us?” I hazard a guess.

“About my decision to disregard her advice,” she clarifies. “Which obviously will include you.”

“She doesn’t like me,” I point out. “Be prepared for her to try to talk you out of it.”

“She can’t,” she maintains. “And frankly, I don’t expect her to. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and think her desire for her sister to be happy will outweigh the other stuff.”

I can’t help the skeptical snort that comes out.

Lexi raises her head and looks up at me. “What? You don’t think that?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think about Gray,” I hedge, but there’s no hiding my dislike of my boss in my voice.

“Well, yes it does,” she says, and then to make it clear this is a serious conversation she intends to have, she rolls over and lays her body right on top of mine. Her pelvis traps my cock, which can’t help but lengthen even more now that it’s pressed against her pussy.

She ignores that, though, bringing her arms to cross over the top of my chest as she looks down at me. “Why don’t you like Gray?” she asks curiously, with no condemnation.

“I like her just fine,” I say evasively. “She’s a fantastic general manager. One of the best.”

“No,” she says firmly. “There’s something about her you don’t like. Or maybe it’s that you don’t respect. I can hear it in your voice.”

“Look, I don’t want to get into it,” I reply just as firmly. “She’s your sister.”

“And you probably know her better than I do,” she throws back at me. “Please tell me so I can understand.”

With a sigh, I bring my hands to Lexi’s hips and squeeze them as I tell her, “Gray doesn’t like me. Not personally, and sometimes not professionally. It’s just one of those things, and frankly, because she doesn’t like me, I kind of don’t like her.”

“I don’t understand,” Lexi says, her eyes filled with concern. “How do you know she doesn’t like you?”

“You remember the day we first met?” I ask.

She nods.

“Gray brought me in to tell me that I needed to change my ways or I could potentially be benched or even released from the team,” I tell her bluntly.

“By ‘change your ways,’ you mean—”

“I mean everything,” I tell her grimly. “On the personal side, lay off the partying and loose women, quit making a public spectacle of myself. On the professional side, rein it in…stop getting suspended.”

“Are those unreasonable requests?” she asks me hesitantly.

“Not on their face,” I admit with candor. “But it’s more than that.”

“Explain it to me,” she says softly, and I can tell by the tone in her voice she’s not holding any judgments about Gray or me.

So I try to put it in terms she can understand, not wanting to paint Gray in a bad light, but also making my feelings clear. “I get the personal stuff. I’m a bit of a hellion and always have been. I’ve never answered to anyone, Lexi, not since I was a young kid. I grew up alone with absentee parents and have made my own rules for forever and a day. And as long as my actions don’t hurt anyone, which I never intentionally try to do, then I just don’t see how it’s any of Gray’s business what I do on the personal side.”