Chapter 9: Bedmates
moana
As soon as I saw Edrick sleeping on the other side of my bed, I immediately averted my gaze down at myself to make sure that I was still dressed.
I was still fully clothed… And this time, I knew for a fact that I hadn’t h***ked up with him. I was completely sober when I went to bed, so I would’ve remembered.
So, why was Edrick in my bed?
While I was still processing what was going on, Edrick’s eyes suddenly opened and he stared right at me. I yelped and jumped out of the bed, running to the other side of the room.
“What are you doing in here?” I asked, my voice shaking.
Edrick slowly sat up and looked around, looking equally as confused as I was. “I have no idea,” he said, looking down at himself in the same manner I did; no doubt to also check to make sure he was fully clothed. “I was really drunk last night. I guess I confused your room with mine.”
“Your room is all the way on the other side of the penthouse,” I growled. “And it’s an entirely different layout. You weren’t so drunk that you would have made such an obvious mistake in your own home.”
Edrick was silent for several moments before throwing the covers off of himself and swinging his long legs over the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry,” he said, standing and splaying out his hands with his palms facing outward in a display of surrender. “I really don’t know what happened. Last I remember…”
His voice faded and his brow furrowed.
“What do you remember?” I asked incredulously. I was appalled that he would have me sign a contract stating I wouldn’t get romantically involved with him, only for him to violate those terms within the first week by crawling into my bed in the middle of the night.
He shook his head, frowning as he stared down at the floor. “I was awake for quite a while after you went to bed. I couldn’t sleep… But suddenly I started thinking about you, and the night we spent together in the hotel.”
My frown deepened. “So, after all of the fuss you made with the contract and making me promise not to get romantically involved, you got sentimental over our one night stand and climbed into my bed while I was sleeping?”
Edrick shook his head again, this time more vehemently. “No,” he said, his face turning slightly red. “It wasn’t like that. There’s just something about you that helps me sleep. I remember when we slept together in the hotel, I slept like a baby that night for the first time in years. I don’t know what it is, but it must’ve drawn me to you last night. But I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. Unless–”
I c****d my head to the side, partially frustrated by Edrick’s back and forth attitude and partially intrigued by it. If he wanted to become involved with me so badly, why didn’t he just say so without beating around the bush?
“Unless what?”
“Unless… I’ll pay you to sleep with me. With clothes on, of course. Nothing sexual.”
I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest. “Wouldn’t that go against the contract that was so important to you?” I asked. “What, are you trying to make me break it so you can weasel a fine out of me or something?”
“Moana, I’m a billionaire,” Edrick said with a laugh. “I don’t have any desire to ‘weasel’ any sort of money out of you. But I do need to sleep, and you seem to be the cure for my insomnia. We can write up a supplemental agreement — in exchange for a salary increase, we’ll share a bed. Just until I can get back into a normal sleep schedule, and then maybe I won’t need to do it anymore. It won’t hurt your contract at all. ”
I narrowed my eyes and thought back to the image in my mind of the drawer full of pills in the kitchen, followed by the image of Edrick drunkenly swaying in the living room while his daughter slept just a couple of rooms over.
“If you really promise not to make it sexual…”
“I promise,” Edrick said. “I’m only thinking about what’s best for my daughter. Who, by the way, can never know about this.”
I paused for a moment, still feeling hesitant about agreeing to something like this, but a salary increase for simply sleeping next to someone was tempting. I could just see it as a way to pay off my student loans more quickly, and maybe he was right about it only needing to be temporary.
“Alright,” I said with a pensive nod. “I’ll do it.”
…
I spent the remainder of the day feeling distracted by my new agreement with Edrick. Ella didn’t seem to notice that my mind was wandering a bit as I helped her get ready for the day and attend her lessons, and if she did, she didn’t say anything.
Was this a bad idea? The last time Edrick and I slept together, it had turned into a one night stand and a subsequent argument. I couldn’t deny the feelings that arose in me when I woke up to find him unexpectedly next to me, even though we were fully clothed…
Would we be able to go through with this new arrangement without things getting too hot?
Later that night, once Ella was sound asleep in her bed and Selina and the maids were asleep as well, I quietly made my way across the penthouse to Edrick’s room. I made sure to put on an extra layer over my pajamas as an added barrier, just in case.
I quietly knocked twice on the door before opening it and slipping inside.
I had only been in this room once, very briefly, when Ella gave me her tour. While Ella’s and my rooms were both light and airy, Edrick’s room was more dimly lit. He seemed to like keeping the curtains shut, and there weren’t any decorations inside. The furniture had a minimal feel to it, and everything was a dark color. It made the large room feel empty and desolate, especially with its high ceilings. As I walked over to Edrick with the signed copy of the supplemental agreement in my hand and gave it to him, I pulled my cardigan closer around my body and shivered. I wasn’t sure how I was going to sleep well in here.
“Are you cold? I have extra blankets,” Edrick said when he saw me shiver, eyeing my extra layer of clothing.
I shook my head and walked around to the other side of the bed. “I’m fine.” I pulled back the black blanket and hesitantly climbed into the bed, making sure to stay all the way over on the edge.
“You know, I’m not going to touch you,” Edrick said with a scoff. “You don’t have to be so far away. And there’s no need for the extra layers of clothing.”
“I’d like to take my precautions,” I replied coldly, and stuffed an extra pillow between us as a barrier before turning away and going to sleep.
When I awoke the next morning, it was almost as dark as it was when we went to sleep, save for a few slivers of sunlight peeking through the dark curtains. Instead of feeling cold as I expected, however, I felt surprisingly warm and comfortable.
Still half asleep, I nuzzled into the strong arms that were wrapped around me, hardly noticing that the pillow between us had fallen to the floor.
