Perish. The. Thought.
They hadn’t even talked about making their relationship exclusive. He was solitary and extraordinarily protective of his heart. He might never be able to love anyone the way that he’d loved Kayden.
Regardless, she loved him and couldn’t stop herself from loving him, even if it spelled her complete and utter doom.
Lifting her off the floor, he carried her toward the kitchen. He turned on more lights with his elbow as he passed sets of switches. “Were you having a late-night laundry emergency?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“That required blankets and pillows?”
“Yes.”
“You just wanted to see me,” he accused teasingly.
“I was having a very dire laundry emergency,” she insisted.
“Then how come the washing machine wasn’t going?”
“An excellent question.” She tightened her grip around his neck. “To be honest, I was planning to camp out in your laundry room tonight because I couldn’t fall asleep at my place. However, I intended to be as silent as a Navy SEAL so that I wouldn’t wake you.”
“You were very quiet. Luckily for me, I can sense you even when I can’t hear you.” He seated her on his kitchen countertop.
She coasted a fingertip down the side of his rugged face. The better she knew him, the more and more appealing he’d become.In his eyes, narrowed against the brightness, she saw his intelligence. In his forehead, she saw the creases that Kayden’s death had chiseled. In his olive skin, she saw the hours he spent working outside. In his blunt jaw, she saw his humility and his centeredness on the things that mattered.
A hundred painters could never do him justice.
“If I sense that you’re in my house, there’s no way I can sleep,” he told her.
“I’ll leave,” she offered, hoping he wouldn’t take her up on it.
“Not a chance.”
“You have that big order to fill for the school fundraiser tomorrow,” she reminded him. Ben and several of the other teachers at Misty River High School had helped the senior class organize a dinner and silent auction to raise money for an educational trip to Washington, DC. Sam had agreed to donate dessert for their event. “I don’t want you to be tired in the morning on my account.”
“I don’t care if I’m tired tomorrow. I only care about you.”
Joy plucked at the corners of her lips.
His hands gripped the front edge of the counter on either side of her. “I like your robe.”
She looked down at herself sheepishly. “And my lack of makeup? And my sleep ponytail?”
“Yes and yes. You look beautiful.”
“So do you.”
“How come you couldn’t fall asleep at your place?” he asked.
“Because I had a really awful thought about my dad today.”
He considered her. “Did you have anything to eat for dinner?”
“A Diet Coke.”
His grimace communicated extreme pain. He opened his refrigerator.
“I don’t need you to make me anything,” she hurried to say. “I’m not hungry. If I get hungry, I have all kinds of healthy things to eat back at my cottage—”
