“Oh. Guys do that?”
“I don’t know about other guys, but we usually only carry so much stuff with us when we deploy or go to work.” He helped her finish rinsing off. “We tend to share what we’ve got.” He flipped off the shower and got out.
She followed his lead and grabbed a towel to wrap around herself. “That makes sense.”
He could feel her eyes on him as he fished in the laundry basket and came up with a pair of shorts he recognized as Rexar’s. “I’m just gonna pull these on and get out of your way.” He turned his back, allowing her as much privacy as the two of them in the small bathroom would allow, and made the fastest change of clothes in history while she dressed in the clothes Lily had provided for her. He grabbed a towel and dropped his wet clothes onto it. “I don’t want to drip water all over Lily’s floors if I can help it.”
“Take this, too.” She tossed him the wet t-shirt she’d been wearing, and he added them to the pile.
Keeping an eye on her in the mirror, he gathered the edges of the towel into a makeshift bag. “Ready when you are, baby girl.”
She took a deep breath, then nodded and took his hand. Caleb wasn’t sure which of them was more relieved when they found Rexar’s house empty. He paused and ushered her through the front door into the corridor. He winked at her when she gave him a watery smile as he ensured the door locked shut behind them.
Somewhere in the building, a door slammed, and Rose jerked as if that door had hit her in the face. She stepped close to him, and he squeezed her fingers gently. “We’ll be home in a minute. I promise.”
Home?
Yes, damn it. Home.
He realized that somewhere between leaving his bed this morning and right this second, he wanted Rose to see his home as hers. He wanted to be the one who fixed all that was wrong in her world. Now, he just had to figure out how to make that happen.
21
Mortified didn’t even come close to this. Rose sank into the couch. She’d lost her freaking mind and had a complete meltdown over a freaking alarm.
An alarm.
What the hell was I thinking?
They’ll all think I’m insane.
She huddled on the sofa, her hands covering her face. Caleb was doing something in the kitchen. She could hear drawers and stuff opening and closing. But she wasn’t sure if she wanted to look and see what he was doing.
“Hey.”
She jerked away from his voice and lowered her hands. He squatted directly in front of her with a wary look on his face. “I didn’t hear you coming.”
“Don’t worry, like I said, I tend to move kinda quietly at the best of times.” He pushed something cold into her hand.
Her hands gripped the bowl. “Umm…”
“Women need ice cream in times of crisis, right?” he asked sheepishly. “I’ll admit, I’m out of my depth here. If you want me to fix a crisis in war, then I’m your guy. I’m not really up to date on how to fix things when they go wrong for the woman in your life.”
He was so adorably flustered as he admitted that, and she blinked at him as he placed a spoon on the lid of the ice cream tub in her hands. “It’s eight in the morning. Um…”
He looked uncertain and totally out of his comfort zone as he’d told her he was. “I Googled, and Dr. Google says provide females with ice cream or wine in times of distress. I figured with the morning you’ve had, you deserve one or the other. I don’t have wine here, and I’ve never seen you drink… which makes this a job for ice cream.”
Wow.
“Thank you.” She wasn’t entirely sure if that was appropriate here, but his sweetness blindsided her.
He looked it up on Google.
On freaking Google.
That’s so fricking cute.
She’d probably always blush anytime she thought about this mortifying start to the day. But hopefully, the mortification of overreacting like an idiot, losing her mind, freaking out, and everything in between would be tempered with the memory of Caleb Hunt on his knees in front of her, offering ice cream to make it better because Dr. Google told him it was the right thing to do. Heat climbed up the back of her neck, and if she looked in the mirror, she was sure her face was flame-red. She tucked her chin down, lowering her gaze. He must think she was a complete and utter wuss.
