Very few people actually liked me.
I wasn’t exactly a likeable guy.
Honestly, the fact that Lauren had never looked at me like she was afraid of me had probably ramped up my attraction to her even more.
She obviously didn’t believe that Asher and I had killed my father all those years ago, and that had made me like her as much as I was capable of liking anyone.
So, I’d drawn the line at trying to seduce Lauren Collier.
Hell, I wasn’t sure when I’d decided to grow a few morals.
I certainly hadn’t learned them from my scumbag father.
I definitely hadn’t found them during my career as a billionaire tech mogul and investor.
But for some fucking reason, I didn’t want people to talk shit about Lauren because they suspected that the local murderer wanted her.
She didn’t deserve that, and the talk around town might bother her, even if it didn’t bother me.
“You’re awake,” Lauren said sleepily and rose from the chair. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” I grumbled. “Is it still Saturday night?”
My gut clenched as she sat on the edge of the bed and smiled at me.
Those damn dimples got to me every single time.
“It’s Sunday night,” she corrected. “You slept all last night and all day today. It’s almost midnight.”
“Shit!” I growled. “I lost a whole day.”
“That’s not unusual. I think you had a pretty high fever. You were a little out of it.”
“You’ve been here with me this whole time,” I told her. “You’re going to end up sick, too.”
She shook her head. “Reese swabbed your throat to do a flu test. It was positive. I got the vaccine this year. I couldn’t afford to be down with the flu earlier in the winter. I was too busy with work. The shot was a good match with the circulatingvirus this year. It’s pretty effective. I haven’t gotten sick, and I’ve been exposed. The flu is rampant in town right now.”
Yeah, now that she mentioned it, Ididremember Reese doing that test.
I’d fallen back to sleep before she’d gotten the results.
“That’s good,” I said, feeling weirdly relieved. “But you don’t look good. You have dark circles under your eyes. Have you slept?”
She shrugged and put the back of her fingers to my face. “Here and there. I’m not going to die from losing a little sleep, but thanks for reminding me that I look like crap. Do you want some water? I think your fever broke, but you should probably still take the pills for the body aches.”
I frowned at her. “I’ve had so much water that I’m pissing way too often, and I took the ibuprofen already. I didn’t say that you look like crap. I said that you didn’t look good. You look tired.”
She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. “I guess I’m just not used to sleeping in a chair. All of the other bedrooms are upstairs, and I didn’t want to be that far away in case you needed something.”
I tossed back the covers. “I’m sweaty, but the other side of the bed is clean. Sleep.”
Her eyes widened as she looked at the large space on the other side of the bed and then back at me.
I smirked at her as I added, “I’m not going to rape you and slit your throat. I’m not sure I’m strong enough yet to find a place to get rid of your body right now.”
She sent me an annoyed glare. “That wasn’t what I was thinking about,” she said in an irritated voice. “I’m not and never have been afraid of you, Cole.”
Instinctively, I knew that, but I still wondered about something…
