He took a half step toward her, making her breath catch in her throat. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before cupping her cheek. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
All she wanted to do was lean into that touch. And maybe she did, just a little bit. “No. But I will be.”
“You will be. Call out if you need anything.”
“I will.”
Don’t look at his lips, don’t look at his lips.The words whispered on repeat in her head. Because every time he stood this close, every time he touched her or she felt his breath against her skin, all she wanted to do was lift to her toes and see if he tasted as good as he had the first time.
He swiped her cheek with his thumb before dropping his hand and moving back. “There are fresh towels in the bathroom cabinet. Call out if you need anything.”
One more smile and then he was gone again. Suddenly, the room felt too quiet.
She wrapped her arms around her waist and scanned the room, wishing she had the courage to call him back. Or even ask him to sleep in the same room. But that was ridiculous. She was a grown woman and they weren’t in a relationship. They’d kissed once, that was it. It was not appropriate for them to share a bed.
After a quick shower—her second for the night—she turned off the lights and slipped beneath the sheets.
And just like she’d known it would, the bed smelled exactly like Noah, a mixture of sun-warmed bark and crushed sage.
Okay, time to sleep, Addie.
She closed her eyes, but the second she did, she heard the creak of floorboards like she was still in her house. It wasn’t real. It was in her head. But itfeltreal.
She scrunched her eyes, and this time she saw the shadow beside the house.
Stop thinking about it, Addie. It’s not going to help you.
She rolled to her side.
A few minutes later, she rolled to her other side.
It had to be close to an hour later before she finally drifted off to sleep.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sleeping when a sound woke her. At first, she wasn’t sure what it was. A voice maybe? A growl?
She lay still, waiting to hear it again. A few seconds passed and she wondered if maybe it had been in her head.
She was moments from closing her eyes again when a loud growl rippled through the house.
She shot up.
Noah.
Was someone out there with him? Had her stalker followed them to his home and broken into the house? No. He had an alarm. So what the heck was going on?
Quickly, she scrambled out of bed and ran down the hall—only to stop at the sight of Noah on the couch. His head swung back and forth, pain and rage melding together on his face to create an emotion so dark, she almost didn’t recognize him.
He was having a nightmare.
She inched closer, not sure what to do. It would be smartest to leave him. Let him wake from the dream in his own time.
He growled again, another scrunch of his face showing utter agony.
God. He was hurting. And she couldn’t physically force herself to step away. No part of her felt capable of that.
“Noah.”
Nothing. His head continued to move from side to side, his chest heaving, his breathing loud.
