“Get some rest, Lily.”
She wanted to answer, but the pull of sleep was stronger.
Chapter Seven
Later—whoknew how long—Lily’s own teeth chattering woke her up. The fire in the stove had burned low. Now its warmth barely reached her, and she was shivering violently on the cold leather couch.
She curled into herself, pulling the blanket closer, but it did nothing to stop the deep chill that had burrowed into her bones. Across the cabin, Rush’s breathing was deep and even, completely undisturbed coming from the bed.
She was exhausted. Bone-deep tired from too many nights lying awake with a heavy sense of impending doom in her chest that she had chalked up to wedding jitters. But her body had other plans now, rattling her teeth together like a wind-up toy, making her convulse violently.
She clenched her jaw and tried to focus on her breathing. In through her nose, slow and steady, out through her mouth. Again. She visualized warmth spreading through her limbs, willing the tremors to stop, but even that didn’t help.
Still, she lay there, miserable, willing herself to stay quiet. The last thing she wanted was to wake him up. He’d already given up his week of solitude at his man-cabin for her. The leastshe could do was suck it up for the night. She owed him that much, didn’t she?
Lily hated being an inconvenience. Hated knowing she was imposing, even though he hadn’t said a word about it. She wasn’t going to be even more of a problem for him by complaining. She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut.
A violent shudder went through her, and her teeth clacked together so hard she wondered if she broke one.
“Jesus. You’re gonna freeze on that couch, and neither one of us is gonna get any sleep,” Rush said suddenly. His voice was rough, and somehow he looked even larger in the dark. “Get in. We need to sleep. It’s too cold in this cabin to sleep on the couch.”
“I’m f-f-fine,” she whispered, clenching her teeth around the lie.
Rush sighed, deep and exasperated, and she stiffened even more. Then, he lifted the blanket and held it open. “Get in.” That same bossy sheriff voice that made her a little weak in the knees.
“No, thank you,” she said primly. “I’m fine over here.”
“Lily,” he said with a patience she could tell cost him. “It’s body heat. It’s called survival. It’s not an invitation for anything else.”
She hesitated, looking at the warm, cozy bed, almost salivating at the thought of its warmth compared to the freezing leather. “Where’s your gun?”
She heard a flop back onto the bed and imagined the sound of his teeth gritting. “It’s put away, and the cuffs are, too, if that’s your next question.”
It absolutely was.
Still, she hesitated. He didn’t seem like a man plotting anything nefarious, but how would she know? She had never slept with anyone besides Tucker. Her entire experience withmen was limited to one less-than-stellar example, and she knew she could be a little naïve when it came to sex.
“How do I know you’re not a secret serial killer?” she managed to say, but it came out disjointed with her teeth clattering.
“Suit yourself,” he said. She could just make out his broad shoulders shrugging. He dropped the blanket back in place and settled back into bed.
Something in Lily snapped. For the sake of her sanity, and the health of her teeth, she told herself, she’d sleep in the same bed.
She gripped the blanket tighter around herself and padded over to place a tentative knee on the mattress. She could make out the glint of silver handcuffs resting on the nightstand, and she shivered again, less from the chill this time and more from the sight. She hesitated, half on and half off the bed.
A low growl rumbled from the floor, and she leaped the rest of the way in. The force of her jump caused her to collide against something solid and very warm.
She gasped again when strong hands gripped her waist, lifting her like she weighed nothing. In one swift move, she was flipped onto the inside wall of the bed.
“I sleep on the outside,” he said roughly.
Oh. Okay, then.
The bed dipped and let up as he got out. She listened to the sound of Rush putting another log on the fire and the jingle of Cujo’s tags as he followed his master. Rush’s deep voice gave a command to the dog, and then with a heavy flop and a deep, doggy sigh, the dog settled next to the bed.
The bed creaked, and she held herself stiffly until he settled behind her again. They weren’t touching, but she could feel his breath on the back of her neck, warm and minty, wafting overher shoulder, like the toothpaste she’d helped herself to before bed.
At home, she’d always slept closest to the door—for safety, Tucker had said. Because she was a lighter sleeper than he was and would hear anything before he did. The thought had never sat well with her, but when she’d suggested they get a dog for extra security, Tucker had just laughed. “You sleep so lightly, Lils. You’d hear an intruder before a dog even woke up,” he’d said, ruffling her hair without even looking away from the baseball game on TV.Asshole.
