“All right. Sorry for the misunderstanding.”
“No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed. I should be able to manage from here. Thanks.”
Taking that as his dismissal, he left and closed the door behind him. Gay? Holy shit. He’d never been accused ofthatbefore. If she only knew the truth. Which, he was determined, she not find out. It might be a little deceitful, but he selfishly didn’t want her knowing about his man-whore reputation. She’d remember once her memory came back, but until then, he’d let her think the best of him.
A half hour later, he heard the water draining. She must have managed to get out and dry off without incident, because after a few minutes, the bathroom door opened and her bedroom door closed.
Wearing sweats and a T-shirt, her hair still in the messed-up bun he’d made, she came out with a sheepish grin on her face. “Jake, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I won’t say I wasn’t taken aback. No one’s ever mistaken me for that before. But I guess I could see why you might have thought so. I’ll have to let my interior designer know she did a great job.” He laughed. “My mother also had a hand in some of this. It was all women that made this place what it is. I don’t even know what half this crap is.” He picked up a wicker ball that sat in a rustic, wooden bowl on his coffee table. “Or if there’s any purpose to it at all.”
“There’s not,” she said. “Other than to look pretty.” She giggled. “That explains why the candles are just bunched up on the table. And why the pillows and blankets are the only things that don’t match perfectly and are thrown around willy-nilly.”
“I told you. I have no fashion sense. You can take whatever you want to your room now and then take it all with you when you go. Otherwise, I don’t know what I’m going to do with it.”
“That was really sweet of you to do something so nice for me.” A tear slipped down her cheek.
“Hey, hey. Don’t cry.” He pulled her onto the couch to cuddle next to him. She curled up and put her head on his shoulder. “It’s all right.”
“What am I going to do? I don’t know you. I don’t know me. My life seems to suck, and I don’t know where to go from here. I can’t even get a hoodie over my cast, and I’m freezing.”
“We’ll figure it out, but not till tomorrow. How about we watch a movie and just chill for now? I happen to know you love old nineties comedies. And I have a spare blanket or two lying around.” She laughed at that.
“I do? Well, okay. That sounds nice. Let’s do it.”
Thanking God he’d dodged that bullet—crying women were not his forte—he got up to put in a movie.
She wrapped herself in fleece and stayed cuddled up next to him throughout the movie. If only she knew how many times he imagined her like this. Well, his thoughts involved a lot less clothing, but this was a close second.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Hannah woke the following day feeling ten times better. Her back was still sore and her arm throbbed a bit, but she’d slept long and hard and actually felt rested. Add that to having had a bath and getting her hair washed yesterday, and she was ready to face the day.
She and Jake had watched a movie that was supposedly one of her favorites calledTommy Boy. It was immature, but funny, and the laughter took her mind off things for a while. Being curled up in Jake’s arms didn’t hurt, either. Now that she knew he wasn’t gay, she had to wonder why she hadn’t jumped all over him a long time ago. Maybe she had, and he’d turned her down!
After struggling to get dressed, she came out to the smell of eggs frying.
“You cook, too? Geez, Jake. You’re the whole package.” She was dying to ask if they’d dated or, if not, why not. Then again, she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer. It must have been him that parked them in the friend zone, and she couldn’t take any more bad news about her lame, pre-accident life. Was she mean? Obnoxious? A bad kisser?
“I can cookeggs,” he said with a smile. “And spaghetti. Which is what we’re having for dinner. After that, I don’t know what we’ll do.”
“Well, apparently, eggs and spaghetti are a step up from my usual diet of cookies and pop. I’d like to help with the cooking and chores and stuff. I feel a lot better today, and I don’t want you to feel like you have to wait on me.”
“I’m glad you’re getting better. You wanna take a walk around the farm today? It’s cold, but not raining.”
“Yes. Some fresh air sounds wonderful and it’s so pretty outside.”
They ate their eggs and toast while discussing things Hannah needed to do, making a list as they talked.
“If I go through the files I brought back, I should be able to figure out my bills and banking stuff. I’ll do that first, so I don’t miss any due dates. Then I’ll figure out my school stuff. I may need to go to campus and probably start going to classes again as soon as possible. Would you be able to drive me?” she asked.
“Sure. I was thinking we should also get your cell phone up and running, so maybe we can get some clues from it.”
“Oh, yes. Good idea. It’s still in that bag of stuff they gave me at the hospital. If you have a charger, I’ll hook it up after breakfast.”
“Sounds good. I asked for a couple more days off next week to get you settled, but I can take more time if needed.”
“I know I keep saying this, but seriously, thank you. For all you’re doing. I don’t know if we were really great friends or if you’re just a really nice guy helping out a stranger.”
