Chapter 185 - A brother and nothing more

Leo walked into the room where Claire lay sleeping like a baby; his steps faltered as he approached the bed. She had cried throughout the night and had refused to eat a thing. She did not want to go home so he took her to his house and stayed by her side till she fell asleep.

Watching her cry yesterday tore him apart; he wished he could stop her pain but all he could do was hug her and hold her and listen to her whimpers. From what she told him that happened he knew it wasn't Tiana's fault, they had a misunderstanding and they came back together, but he understood why she was sad, she liked Nicklaus and the fact that Tiana did not tell her about it hurt.

Leo couldn't say if he was happy or sad about the whole issue. A part of him was sad, sad because he didn't like to see her hurt, but another part of him was a little glad. He had already bashed all hopes of getting together with her, but now there was a slither of hope. He had kept his feelings hidden away for the longest time, but he wasn't going to let her go to another man without letting her know how he felt about her. Even though she rejects him, at least he would stop guessing a thousand things that could have happened in his mind, and maybe he could finally move on.

Claire m.o.a.ned in her sleep and opened her eyes slowly; her eyes glanced at the strange lights and she creased her brows when she remembered she had slept over at Leo's place, she blinked.

''Good morning sleepyhead, it's past eleven. ''

Leo said, sitting down on the bed beside her. Claire's eyes glanced at him and she smiled, sitting upright on the bed; ''Eleven? I slept for too long, why didn't you wake me up? '' she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, stretching her limbs,

Leo dressed her tousled hair with his hands; ''you were very exhausted after yesterday so I didn't want to disturb you. '' Even when she had cried and slept for over ten hours, she still looked very cute. He didn't know how someone could still look so stunning even after a terrible day. She could do a runway looking like this and nobody would tell she just woke up from sleep.

''Thank you for yesterday; '' Claire smiled when she remembered how she had been a cry baby but he had put up with her all through the night.

'' don't even mention, what are best friends for? Now get ready, let me prepare your bath. '' Leo stood up from the bed, kissing her temple before turning to the bathroom to prepare her bath. Claire smiled as she watched him leave. She didn't know what she would have done without him. He had always been there for her, through her hard times, and through her pain, it was rare to find someone with such a pure heart.

When Leo stepped out of the bathroom, his whole body froze; Claire was tying a towel, which stopped just underneath her bum when she heard the door creak, she turned to him.

''Leo, I didn't see my body towel? Do you know where it is? '' She asked with her cute baby eyes staring at him with a light frown, oblivious of what she was doing to him.

Claire slept over at his place sometimes, so she basically had her room in his house, but when she went to take her towel, she didn't find it where she left it the last time she was there.

Leo forced his eyes away from her luscious legs and brought it to her face;

''I… I had it washed, forgot to bring it back, will go get it now. ''

He spoke hurriedly and walked out of the room with the quickest speed he could muster. Claire watched his reddened expression, a puzzled look on her face.

What was wrong with him?

She wondered as she stepped into the bathroom, closing it behind her.

Leo panted heavily once he was out of her room, he never thought that she would wear something so revealing in front of him. What did she think he was, some log of wood?

Does she even know what she does to him? Even looking at her when she was fully dressed, made him want to kiss the life out of her, not to talk of when she was half-n.a.k.e.d.

He ran his hand through his hair; she was making it harder controlling his urges for her, he didn't want to make a mistake with her, he had held on for a very long while, he wasn't about to ruin things now.

Leo took in a deep breath calming himself; before going to get her towel. Now he thought about it, she acting like that in front of him only meant that she saw him as a brother and nothing else. She didn't even think twice because she firmly believed that he had no feelings for her whatsoever.

Leo's heart sunk for a moment; even if that was the case, he was going to change what she thought about him. He was going to make her see how much he loved her, and then he would confess to her. If after everything she still didn't want him, then she was never his, to begin with.

Claire's eyes fell on the towel lying on the bed when she stepped out of the bathroom, and a smile tugged on her lips; Leo had always been so sweet and thoughtful. Although she had always warned him not to, he always did her laundry and made sure she didn't do a thing whenever she slept over. It's been over three years now and still, he hadn't changed a bit. She wondered why he didn't have a girlfriend yet, he was the perfect gentleman any woman would ever want, or maybe he had a childhood sweetheart he was waiting to come back so they could get married, Claire chuckled lightly at that thought. As she stepped out of the room, the sweet aroma of beef made her lips stretch into a beautiful smile.