“You never sleep like this. I couldn’t wake you up. You didn’t take any sleeping pills or anything like that, did you?”
“Of course not. I’m pregnant. I would never do that.” Corinne’s words were drowsy and difficult to understand. Several times her lashes drifted down, and she turned on her side, curling deeper into the pillows. “I’m just tired, Lisa.”
“Rina!” Lisa commanded sharply. “Don’t you dare go back to sleep, or I swear I’m taking you to a hospital.” There was real alarm in Lisa’s voice.
Corinne sighed softly. “I’m awake, I promise. I’m awake.”
“Did you see Dayan last night?” With great determination Lisa perched on the edge of the bed, retaining possession of Corinne’s hand. She wasn’t certain she wanted Dayan anywhere around Corinne. Corinne looked fragile, pale, more vulnerable than Lisa had ever seen her, even after John had died. Lisa wanted to take Corinne and run home. She was suddenly very afraid of Dayan. He seemed to have some kind of mystical power over Corinne; how else could her behavior be explained? Corinne never was impressed by men, by fame or money or good looks. Corinne was always the rock, the logical voice of reason. Dayan was too good-looking and talented to be trusted, too wealthy, a foreigner, too charming with women.
She had to admit that Dayan didn’t have a reputation with women. Even the tabloids had been unable to exploit his sexual prowess in any way. His public appearances were not scheduled or publicized, and most reporters who had attempted to get interviews and pictures had written articles on how frustrating it was to find facts on him. Corinne had read every article she could get her hands on, because she had been such a serious fan, and she had shared that information with Lisa. Now Lisa wanted to go back and change the fact that she had taken Corinne to the bar.
Lisa frowned. But there was Cullen. She really thought Cullen was an exceptional man, not at all dangerous or mysterious, not the type to steal a woman’s heart and leave her cold.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Corinne whispered. Her voice was slumberous, drowsy, very sexy.
Lisa had never noticed that about Corinne before. She didn’t think of Corinne as being sexy. She looked down at Corinne’s face, really looked at her. Corinne had her eyes closed and she looked serene, her long lashes two thick, dark crescents on her face. Her abundance of silky hair spilled around her like a halo. She looked innocent in her repose, yet Lisa thought her so beautiful, it was almost as if she were seeing Corinne for the first time. Seeing Corinne the way Dayan had seen her.
“I want to go home. You scared me, Rina, when I couldn’t wake you up. I want to go with you to the doctor and hear his prognosis about the pregnancy,” Lisa said as firmly as she could.
“I’m too tired,” Corinne said softly. “Let me sleep for another couple of hours, and then we’ll decide what to do.” She pulled the covers up to her chin.
Lisa glanced up at Cullen. “She never sleeps during the day. Corinne must be sick, really, Cullen. Maybe we should take her to a hospital.”
Corinne roused herself enough to lift her long lashes and peer at Lisa. “I’m not sick – in fact, I’m breathing easier than normal. I stayed up all night, that’s all. What time is it?”
“It’s nearly six-thirty.”
Corinne groaned. “Why are you waking me up, then? No one but a lunatic gets up that early. I think I went to bed at six.”
“It’s six-thirty in the evening,” Lisa emphasized. “You’ve been in bed all day.” She didn’t admit she had slept most of the day snuggled right beside Cullen in the other bedroom. Lisa just wanted to go home and shut her front door, closing out the entire world.
Corinne’s eyelashes fluttered in surprise. She forced herself to sit up, blinking as she looked around the unfamiliar room. “I can’t believe it’s so late.” Shoving a hand through her thick, dark hair, she glanced over at Cullen. “Lisa worries endlessly about me, but really, I’m perfectly fine. I don’t know why I slept so long.” She was still exhausted, her arms and legs, heavy. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep.