That’s when my eyes landed on six feet of mountain man scrunched up in a chair, trying to nap.
Did he stay here the whole time I slept?
The chair was from my living room, and he had his legs slung over one arm of it, curled in on himself. It was like looking at a bear trying to fit onto a tricycle.
The man was too big to fit.
Slowly I sat up in bed, groaning the whole way up.
I felt like I could sleep for another ten hours. But Idefinitelyhad to run to the bathroom first.
Shifting myself out of bed and getting myself upright took a few minutes, but I managed.
Then I slowly shuffled over to where he slept, resting a hand on his arm. “Dawson, wake up. You’re going to hurt your back sleeping like that.”
He groaned awake. “What’s wrong? What can I do? Why are you up?”
I laughed lightly and stroked his arm. “Nothing’s wrong. But you don’t fit in the chair. If you’re going to be silly and insist on staying, then you should come sleep in the bed.”
Bleary eyes blinked up at me. “Are you sure? You don’t mind if I take a nap with you?”
I had the feeling he hadn’t slept atallthe night before. Every time I’d woken up in the hospital, he’d been perched in an uncomfortable-looking hospital chair by my bedside.
Wrinkling my brow playfully, I asked. “Are you ready to sneak into my bed, Mountain Man?”
The look he gave me filled me with satisfaction. “I don’t know. Is this the only bed you’ve got?”
I nodded.
He looked at it longingly. “Sure would be nice.”
“And on this day, I slept with a complete stranger,” I quipped. “All right, Dawson. You can nap here with me. I’m tired too. Oh, you should be forewarned that Noodles sleeps here, too. He’ll probably come up any minute to see us.”
“Mmm. I like kitties,” he rumbled as he headed to my bed. Then he said, “I think he’s already here.”
Looking where he pointed, I saw that Noodles was indeed stretched out on the other side of the bed, deep in a catnap.
“You can shift him over if you want. I’ll be back in a minute. You get comfortable.” Then I toddled off to the bathroom, trying to walk as normally as possible.
I heard him stretch behind me, his back popping as he did it.
By the time I got back, he was spread out on one side of my bed, snoring lightly with Noodles cozied up next to him.
A woman could get used to the sight of that. I crawled back into bed beside him, curling my head against his chest.
Yep, this confirmed it. The man was real. He had a heartbeat.
I listened to its comforting beat as I drifted back off to sleep again.
I woke up to the smell of bacon.
Blinking my eyes open, I saw the hottest man in the universe delivering breakfast to me.
“All right, Amy. Look what I’ve got for you. Breakfast in bed.”
Where had this man been all my life?
“You’re going to spoil me rotten, Dawson.”
