The Alpha Queen's Mate (Book 5 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 7

Nick opened the bathroom door and walked out, his gaze darting over to Noelle. She was still sitting in the chair, her legs pulled up, her arms wrapped around them, and her head resting on her knees. He wasn't sure how that was comfortable, but she was asleep.

He walked across the room and sat his bag down, then settled carefully back in the chair next to her and began to read over what she'd wrote.

She'd done a good job, he realized with surprise. He knew she'd spent a lot of the time they'd been in Mason's office on her phone and he figured she'd been bored out of her mind with Mason's talking. Nick couldn't remember the last time he'd met someone who talked as much as Mason did. The kid droned on and on, and he really couldn't blame her for tuning him out. He'd wanted to tune him out too.

But to his surprise, she'd paid close attention and had noted down everything they'd discussed. He added his own thoughts to it, but there wasn't much more to add. She'd covered most of it.

She moved, turning her head towards him, even though she was still asleep. He watched her for a long moment, not sure how she could be comfortable in that position, but then she made a soft sound and he realized he was staring at her while she was unaware and it was kind of creepy for him to be doing so.

He stood and put his laptop away, then turned back to her. He needed to wake her up, so she could go to bed. He highly doubted she'd want to sleep in that position all night. He wouldn't. Not when there was a bed a few feet away that he could stretch out on. "Noelle. Hey."

Noelle opened her eyes and looked up to see Nick standing over her, gently shaking her. "Hey," she murmured.

"You dozed off in the chair. I already read over the report you did and added some to it. You did a good job. I'm impressed," he said softly.

She glanced around the room and frowned. She was sitting on the chair still, her laptop closed. Nick's laptop wasn't even there anymore. "Thanks." She looked up at him again. He was wearing his sweats and his T-shirt, the smell of soap clinging to his skin from his shower. "What time is it?"

"It's after ten." He walked over to the bed closest to the door and pulled the blankets down, then stretched out across the mattress. "I didn't think you'd want to sleep in that chair all night."

She stared at him as memories of the erotic dream she'd just had flooded back through her mind, making her blush. What the...

"You okay?" he asked her when he was comfortable. She hadn't moved yet, and she seemed embarrassed about something. He wasn't sure what. Maybe because she'd fallen asleep in the chair?

"Yeah, just a bit out of it." She stood and walked over to the other bed, pulled the blankets down and crawled in. She flipped off the lamp, then laid there, staring at the ceiling. 'What the heck was that?' she asked Holly, her mind going over the dream. She was glad it was dark and he wasn't looking at her. She was sure her face was bright red.

'Your mind telling you that you need sex I guess,' Holly responded lazily.

'With Nick of all people?' Nick was.. Nick. She hadn't really ever thought of doing something like that with him before. Yes, she'd always thought he was hot but she hadn't fantasized about him. The dream was rather shocking to her, and so far out of reality. He would never respond to her like that. Or at least she didn't think he would.

'Would it be so bad?' Holly asked her. 'We have been around him a LOT over the last few days.'

No, she supposed not. Nick was a very good looking man, and she knew him pretty well, but he wasn't her mate and she would have never considered such a thing. Not with him. He was part of her father's pack leadership.