What she did care about was having to go out there and wake him up. That was just…awkward.
But she could hardly let him be late for work. She threw the covers off her. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to tame it as she moved around trying to find some clothes. She didn’t have a mirror in here. Why didn’t she have a mirror in here?
Six in the morning was never her friend, so running around grabbing random items of clothes and then rejecting them wasn’t what shewantedto be doing, but usually she didn’t have to actuallythinkbefore a cup of coffee.
She finally pulled on a pair of yoga pants and an oversized T-shirt. She was about to open her door when she stopped herself.
“Bra. My God, Franny, put on a bra.” Thank God there were no cameras in here. She backtracked, put on a bra, and then took a deep breath, let it out.
This was not the panic-inducing moment she was making it out to be.
Rolling her eyes at herself, she opened her bedroom door and stepped out into the hallway. She heard the faint sound of movement and edged into the main area.
Royal was standing, looking at something on his phone—the light from it and the hint of early sunlight from around the blinds were the only things illuminating the room.
Unerringly he looked up at her when she took one more step.
She held her hand up in the most awkward wave of all time then turned the main overhead light on. She managed a smile, hoped it didn’t read as awkward as it felt. “Morning.”
“Morning,” he said, his voice gruff. Which was hot. Because he was hot. And she could not be thinking aboutthatright now.
“I know it’s silly, but I sleptwaybetter knowing you were here, so I really appreciate your willingness to humor me.”
He shoved his phone in his pocket and put the pillow on the stack of blankets he hadn’t used. “I appreciate you not waking me up. Probably got a solid eight in. Your couch isn’t half bad.”
“Good.”
He made a gesture for the door. “I better get back to my place so I can be ready for my shift on time. Just text me if you plan on going somewhere. Sound good?”
She nodded.
Before he could move, or she could offer coffee or breakfast or something, a knock sounded at the door. They both looked at it, then froze. Neither making a move one way or another.
Maybe he was as little of a morning person as she was, because he didn’t immediately tell her what to do or do anything himself.
“Well, kidnappers don’t really knock, right?” She managed a shaky kind of laugh and moved for the door. “I’ll look out and see who it is.” She moved to her toes, looked out the peephole.
It was… Copeland. She fell to her heels. She didn’t dare look back at Royal. This looked… Well, surely Copeland wouldn’t jump to weird conclusions. He’d understand.
But she wasnervousnow. “Uh, it’s Copeland,” she offered. Then disengaged the alarm and unlocked the door.
“Franny, sorry for the…” His gaze tracked beyond her to Royal, his expression immediately hardening. “What the hell are you doing here at six thirty in the morning?”
“Protecting me,” Franny said firmly. She stepped between Copeland’s angry gaze and Royal. “Remember?”
“Yeah, how far is that going?” Copeland demanded of Royal.
“It’s not…going.” Franny couldn’t look at Royal or she’d turn beet red. “And even if it was, absolutely none of your business, Copeland.”
“Look—”
“I know you and Audra have a very sweet meet cute from protecting her, but this isn’t…that. So stop making thingsweirdand explain to me whyyouare here at six thirty in the morning.”
He was still glaring at Royal, kind of like the older brother she never had, which was almost sweet. If she didn’t feel so damn embarrassed. He stepped inside and she closed the door behind him.
Then his gaze moved to her, and there was an alarming kind of…regret there. “I just got some…disturbing news. I wanted to tell you in person. Both of you. Didn’t imagine you’d both be together, but—” He sighed. “There was a fire this morning at the library in Sunrise. The fire department called me once they saw what was being burned.”
“Which was?” Royal demanded, speaking for the first time since Copeland stepped in the door.
