Finally, he let out that breath he had felt like he’d been holding all day.
Then, he slept.
Chapter Seventeen
Rose had never had a problem falling asleep. She had never felt fear at waking up either. For all her life, she had been fortunate enough to not worry about the before and after of something she had clearly taken for granted.
When she opened her eyes the next morning, Rose felt appreciation for the warmth in her. Because of the warmth next to her.
James Keller was a big, scary man at first glance. Tall and wide and muscled, eyes sharp and clear, words low and often concise. He wore coveralls coated in oil and grime, lived in an isolated old house, and when he wasn’t smiling, he looked like he was forever uninterested.
But boy, how different he was to Rose now.
She looked up at the sleeping face resting next to her. She had fallen asleep facing him, hand in his, and now she woke up in the same position. James was on his side, facing her, his arm outstretched and resting softly on her hip while the other was tucked beneath his cheek.
Despite his intimidating appearance, Rose saw the softness in him.
He cared and he was loud with it. He was quiet with it.
He held her, carried her and stayed by her side.
This man whom she had known less than two weeks.
This man whom she had continuously endangered.
But had he ever complained?
Had he ever blamed her?
Not even when his family’s shop had burned down.
Not when he’d been hurt getting her out of the debris.
And definitely not when he had waited at her side in the hospital to wake up after.
Rose felt her cheeks heat at the memory.
“I have a thing about hospitals,” he had told her then. “When I was a kid, I woke up in one alone and it really did a number on me. Now I try to make sure that it doesn’t happen to others if I can.”
Rose had heard about James’s backstory enough to know about the fight that had landed him in the hospital, but that had been it. She hadn’t known that he had woken up alone, in the dark, feeling unloved. And that was why he had stayed with her then, a stranger.
He didn’t want her to wake up alone.
The warmth in Rose’s cheeks spread to her chest. She became less aware of how intimate they were in their closeness and instead focused on how she felt.
A few minutes later, she finally understood.
But when James started to stir, she decided to keep it to herself for a while.
As much as she appreciated the soft and warm, the last twenty-four hours—and honestly, the past several days—were still sitting heavy.
Especially now that she had a safe space to think on it all.
“You know, we could sleep in, and no one wouldcare.” James’s eyes were still closed but his lips twitched like he wanted to smile.
Rose rolled her eyes on reflex. She eyed the window on the other side of the room.
“Tell that to your lack of blackout curtains,” she said. “I may be able to do a lot of things but sleeping in the sun only works for cat naps.”
