CHAPTER SIX
Hank opened his eyes then broke out into a wide grin when he saw Gwen's beautiful brown eyes staring down at him.
"Hey."
"Hey." Gwen said her voice sounding as if she had already been up for a good while. "You slept over."
"Yeah," He said raising a hand to rub the sleep out of the corner of his eyes. "I didn't want to
leave until you fell asleep, but I guess ended up falling asleep along with you."
"Yeah, I guess you did." She said smiling down at him.
"How long have you been up?" He asked moving his hand to her face and gently moving a lock of blond hair
back away from it.
"About ten minutes or so."
"Why didn't you wake me?" He asked searching her eyes wondering what she'd been doing for those ten minutes
or so. Then a sudden thought occurred to him. "Were you watching me sleep, Gwen?"
"No, I was just... um, I was just..." Her voice cracked and his eyes went wide with amazement as her
cheeks began to rise in their color.
Well, I'll be damned, he thought feeling a warm sensation float through his veins, she had been watching him sleep.
He ran the knuckle of his right index finger across her cheek then smiled when she closed her eyes and tilted her
head into his touch. Her eyes locked onto his and he could feel them burning their way to his soul. "Gwen..."
"Yes." She whispered her head lowering just a fraction of an inch.
"I thought you wanted to slow things down." He said raising his head up off the pillow until her lips
were just barely above his own.
"Did I?" She asked casting her eyes downward until they rested on his lips. He sucked in a deep breath
as one of her hands slipped up his chest to the back of his neck. "I think I just changed my mind."
He began to lean in closer only to freeze when the phone rang. "If we ignore it maybe it will stop."
Gwen sighed then shook her head as she rolled away from him, the sheet still draped around her body, and reached
toward the nightstand by her bed. "Not if it is who I think it is."
She picked up the caller id then sent him a smirk. "It's mother and I can tell you right now that she won't
go away."
"Then you better answer it." Hank said frowning as he slid out of the bed and began to straighten his
shirt. "You know I could really use a shower. Would you mind if I...?"
"No go ahead." She said turning around and waving a hand toward the bathroom. "If I know mother
it will take me awhile to get off the phone."
Hank shook his head then turned and walked into the bathroom, quietly closing the door behind him. He quickly shed
his shoes, shirt, jeans, and boxers, flipped on the water in the tub and turned on the sprayer for the shower.
Once it was the right temperature he stepped inside and pulled the shower curtain closed, releasing a heavy breath
as the water washed over him.
He hadn't meant to fall asleep last night, but while he was holding Gwen waiting for her to fall asleep, he shut
his eyes and not long after he must have fallen asleep. She had said she wanted to take things slow, but then he'd
woken and found her looking at him, looking at him in way that had his heart speeding through his chest.
He grabbed the soap off the ledge beside him then began to lather up his skin. If he had known he was going to
stay over last night, he would have brought another change of clothes. Then again how could he have known that?
He hadn't known what was going to happen at dinner or what would happen when he agreed to come in for a drink.
Gwen was right about things moving a bit too fast, he knew it but his body didn't agree with him, especially when
he was standing in her shower wishing like hell she was in her with him. An image of Gwen opening the curtain and
joining him flashed in his mind, causing him to drop the soap in his hand and brace himself against the shower
wall in front of him.
He could feel her hands on his back as she moved the soap across his skin, her nails lightly scraping him. Then
she would run her soapy hands along his chest toward his.... He groaned as the images got more intense then reached
down to turn the water toward cold. He only prayed it was enough to cool his heated body. Something told him it
wouldn't be.
Gwen replaced the receiver in its cradle then turned to stare at the closed bathroom door. She knew what she wanted
to do, but she also knew she couldn't do it. She had told him last night that she wanted time to digest what was
happening between them and she meant it, but at the same time she wanted to see where things between them would
lead.
But you can't have it both ways Gwendolyn Hotchkiss, a voice scolded. She sighed. What was she going to do? She
had told Hank she loved him then tried to take it back. She couldn't blame him for being upset with her last night
when she'd asked him to forget that she'd told him she loved him. She would have been upset too.
She knew deep down that he loved her but she wasn't at all ready to hear him say it yet. The last man that said
those words to her ended up breaking her heart in the end. She knew Hank was nothing like Ethan, she knew that
but it still didn't stop her from being afraid that eventually he would hurt her. She knew he would never purposely
hurt her, but wasn't that what Ethan told her too? Right before he called off their wedding?
She shook her head then got up off the bed and pulled her white silk robe out of the closet then put it on, tying
the belt around her waist. She walked toward her window on the other side of the room, knowing she couldn't look
at the bathroom door any longer because Hank would be coming out soon and she had to get control of her emotions
before he did. She might be resolved to not rushing things but she couldn't control herself when he was staring
into her eyes. His eyes were the window to his heart. She could always tell how he was feeling by how he looked
at her.
She leaned a shoulder against the windowpane then raised a hand to the glass, wondering why she couldn't just allow
herself to get lost in the way Hank made her feel. She loved him. She knew that. But she couldn't allow that love
to cloud her judgment. Not right now.
There were too many things she needed to figure out first. She needed to know if risking her friendship with Hank
was worth it. He was the rock she had clung to over the last six months and she didn't know if she couldn't handle
it if something went wrong between them and he was no longer there for her.
Granted, it was a bit late to think about that since they'd already slept together, but last night all she had
seen was the look in his eyes when he said he was dying to kiss her. She hadn't really thought about what it would
mean.
But she was thinking about it now. What if last night had been a mistake? She didn't think it had been but she'd
been wrong before. What if she and Hank...
Her thoughts were cut off as Hank opened the bathroom door and their eyes connected through the glass of the window.
Her heart began to race at the desire she read in his eyes. God she wanted him, she thought moving her hand away
from the glass and placing it over her stomach, but she knew it wouldn't be fair to either one of them if she gave
into to that feeling before she was ready.
She turned then sucked in a deep breath when she saw a drop of water fall from his hair and drip down his chest
toward the waistband of his zipped but unbuttoned jeans. She licked her lips then let out a rush of air as he slowly
began to make his way toward her. "Hank..." |
