I could hear Eva talking and clapping her hands while Duke barked in enthusiasm, clearly far more excited by the company than me.
I turned my full focus on Daisy.
In discomfort, she shifted her weight where she stood in the cramped hall. I towered almost a foot over her, her slight frame appearing fragile in the bare glow coming from the kitchen.
I leaned in close to her, and the words left me like an accusation. “You need a good night’s sleep, considering you’ve been sleeping in a tiny tent for the last two days.”
A tinge of pink kissed her cheeks. “And in my car for two weeks before that.”
A bolt of rage blistered through my senses.
The urge to wrap her up. Hold her. Promise her I was going to fix whatever the hell had gone wrong in her life.
“And you didn’t think to come to my door when you got here?”
Her tongue swept across her bottom lip. “I’m sorry. I was…nervous.” Sadness flashed through her eyes, and she let go of a self-deprecating laugh. “It’s not like you’re excited to see me.”
She peered up at me, and I knew she was thinking about the way it used to be. The way I couldn’t wait to hear her tapping at my bedroom window.
“Don’t exactly get guests,” I admitted.
Those eyes creased at the corners as she studied me. Like she could see the loneliness scored inside me.
“You’re alone,” she seemed to surmise.
Anxious, I raked a hand over the top of my head. “For the most part. Have a few people…”
I stalled out, unable to actually say it.
People I consider family.
I thought Daisy heard it, anyway. Felt it.
Softness filled her features, and her voice shifted into a gentle tease. “And here I thought I was always going to be your best friend. I had some foolish notion that you might jump for joy when you saw me. You always said I was the light at the end of the day.”
Main fucking problem? Iwaselated to see her face.
And that was dangerous.
I blew out a sigh. “Why don’t you help the kids get cleaned up? There’s a bathroom through there.” I pointed at the door across the hall. “Then you can get yourself a warm shower. I’ll put your things in my room on the other side of the house, then I’ll see if there’s anything I can put together for dinner.”
“That’s not?—”
“You came to me, remember?” The words were gravel.
She fiddled with her fingers, gaze dropping before she peeked back up at me. “I don’t want to put you out.”
I gravitated even closer, murmuring far too close to her mouth. “Why do I have the feeling you’re going to do far more than just put me out?”
Apprehension vibrated from her, and she worried her bottom lip.
So fuckin’ cute and shy the way she used to be. But there was a boldness there that she hadn’t quite possessed before. Something that had been getting ready to bloom before our lives had gone to shit.
My Little Wallflower.
She lifted a brave, daring chin. “Because I’m going to ask something of you that I have no right to.”
I braced myself for it, only she pushed me back by the chest.
