Or a nightmare.
“Baby,” I whisper, not wanting to startle her. But she doesn’t respond to me.
Fuck.What am I supposed to do? If I scare her, she’ll freak out.
“Jules,” I say just a little louder, and this time, she blinks, then looks over at me, and presses her lips together in a grim line. “What’s wrong, my love?”
I cross to her and squat down on my haunches, reaching up to brush a tear from under her eye. Her lower lip quivers, but she swallows hard and shrugs a shoulder.
“Just memories, I guess.”
“Of?”
She shakes her head, and her gorgeous blue eyes meet mine. “Just bad shit that you don’t want to know about. Trust me. It’s the rain. The car accident happened in the rain.”
Well, shit.
“You wanna know what sucks the most?” Another tear falls as she asks me the question, and I nod in response.
“Yeah, Wildfire. I wanna know.”
“I love storms. You know that.”
I nod again and brush her soft hair back from her face. “I know you do.”
“But now he’s ruined it for me. I was going to sit here and enjoy the storm and read my book, and all I could do was remember that horrible day, and?—”
“Okay, take a breath for me, baby.” I cup her sweet face in my hands. “Deep breath in for me.”
She takes that breath and slowly lets it out.
“We’re not letting him ruin one more thing for you. Never again. So come on.” I take her hand and pull her to her feet, then kiss her pillowy lips, sinking into her. She whimpers, leaning into me, as if she’s soaking in my strength.
“I’m so glad you came home early.”
I grin against her lips and pull away.
“Me, too. Now, let’s grab your candle and go out back on the patio.”
With her hand in mine, I lead us to the kitchen, where I carefully pick up her candle. She opens the door for us, and we walk out to the covered patio in the backyard. The rain is still coming downhard, pelting the metal roof above us as thunder booms between flashes of lightning.
“What are we doing?” she asks with a small smile. The color is already coming back to her cheeks.
After setting the candle on a little side table, I pull her to me for a big hug and kiss the top of her head.
“I’m going to fuck you out here in the rain.”
She looks up at me, her chin resting on my chest, and grins. “Oh really? Is this what you came home for?”
“Not necessarily.” My fingers ghost down her jawline. “I came home to be with you, no matter what that looks like. But I’ll be fuckingdamnedif every time it rains, you’re thrust back into nightmares. No way. Now, be my good girl and take all your clothes off.”
“It’s not exactly hot outside today, Brooks.”
I lift an eyebrow, and her lips twist to hide a smile.
“I mean, yes, sir.”
Christ, that’s hot.
