He squatted in front of me, setting the candy on the table and holding the glass out to me, his hand resting on my thigh. “Tell me what happened.”
I grabbed the glass, taking a large swallow, unable to look away from his piercing gaze. “Well, my house is ruined, and the clinic is unusable. Which means I don’t know what I’m going to do. Just because I don’t have a working clinic anymore doesn’t mean animals stop needing care. April canceled twelve appointments from this week alone! There’re still all the appointments that are already on the books. Besides figuring out all that, I also need to deal with insurance, I have to replace my driver’s license, call all my credit card companies and get replacements—but first, I need to make a list of all the cards I had. God, I don’t even remember half of them.” A hysterical laugh bubbled free, and I swallowed another gulp of wine. “And it feels like things are weird between us after last night and then the shower, and I hate that. Oh, and I still need to check in and get a cottage, though I don’t have a reservation, so—”
“Not happening,” he said sharply.
“What?”
He blew out a long breath. “The resort’s booked through June.”
I stared at him for three seconds and then promptly burst into tears. Everything I’d been suppressing came pouring out of me, and all I could do was allow it to. I didn’t often have a soul-baring cry, but when I finally reached the point of this level of tears, there was no holding them back. No minimizing or containing them. It was like a waterfall on my face.
Beck’s eyes widened the tiniest fraction, and even through my tears, I could see the panic written on his features. He made a gruff sound in the back of his throat, set my glass on the table, and then scooped me into his arms. He flipped our places, sitting down in the chair with me draped over his lap.
He held me as I soaked his shirt with my tears, his arms banded around me so tightly I couldn’t feel anything but safe and secure. Just like I’d felt in the shower when he’d been surrounding me, his body blanketing mine. Just like I’d felt last night before the kiss and in the ambulance when he’d found me. Just like I always felt with him.
“You’re staying here,” he said, his lips barely moving from where they rested against my forehead.
I sniffed, tipping my head back to look up at him, tears still pooling in my eyes. “What?”
He reached up, swiping away my tears with his thumb, though it was no use because more just followed. “The resort’s full, but it wouldn’t matter if it weren’t because you’re not staying there. You’re stayinghere.”
“But you only have one bedroom,” I said like he hadn’t seen me naked just hours before.
“Sunshine,” he said, his voice just a low rumble. “I came all over your pussy this morning. I think we can probably share a bed.”
“Beck…” I bit my lip, my memories of what’d happened slamming into me and effectively taking my mind off the clusterfuck that was my life. “We should probably talk about that, too.”
“Will it stop you from crying?”
“Maybe?” It would certainly help to focus my attention elsewhere.
“Fine. Great. Let’s talk about it, then.”
I breathed out a watery laugh. “I know we didn’t have sex, but you”—I gestured with my hands as if that could encompass what I meant—“all over my, you know…”
“We’ve established that.”
“Well, we haven’t established if we’re, you know, being safe.”
“Why would we need to establish it? You just got your IUD replaced last month.”
I should’ve probably remembered he knew that, considering he’d glowered at me the whole night while aggressively feeding me grilled cheese and pain relievers. “Pregnancy isn’t the only thing to worry about, you know.”
He furrowed his brow, his eyes hard. “You think I would’ve done that with you if I weren’t completely sure I was safe?”
I blew out a long exhale and shook my head. Beck would rather cut off his own dick than put me in danger, regardless if we were talking about life and death or a paper cut. “Well, I’m clear, too.”
“I figured since the asshat staying at your house was your brother.”
“He’s not—”
“And I don’t want things to be weird between us.”
I sagged against him and shook my head. “I don’t either.”
“Then they’re not,” he said with finality, like his word was law.
Considering how stubborn he was, it didn’t seem entirely implausible. And I was just going to roll with it because it was one less thing I needed to worry about.
