That was thanks to Carter. Who knew how she’d be doing right now if Kayla hadn’t called him. If he hadn’t come right out to the hospital to get her.
It was nice. To have someone to rely on.
And he hadn’t seemed to mind being stuck with her too much.
SHE MUST HAVE DOZED off, although she hadn’t even thought she was sleepy. It was dark in the room when she opened her eyes. She breathed in the scent of lavender and citrus. The essential oils were still going.
She repositioned herself and gasped when her arm connected with something beside her.
Carter.
She couldn’t see him in the dark, but she knew it was him. It felt like him. Smelled like him.
When her eyes adjusted enough, she could see that he was dressed for bed in pajama pants and a T-shirt. He was lying on top of the covers with a throw blanket draped over him. And he was sound asleep.
It made her happy. That he was there. That he was sleeping.
She rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom as quietly as she could, relieved when she returned to bed afterward and hadn’t woken him up.
She really liked having him there. She wouldn’t mind if he’d go to sleep beside her every night.
In fact, she would like it a lot.
THE NEXT MORNING, SHE was half-asleep when Carter slipped out of the bed. The vague recognition made her want to grumble, but she couldn’t wake up enough to do it for real. She heard the bathroom door close. Then a minute later she heard the toilet flush and the water in the sink. He came back to bed then, so that made her happy.
She stopped trying to open her eyes, wanting to go back to sleep, but she couldn’t really. Now she was too aware of needing to pee. And too aware of Carter’s presence beside her. After a while, she peeked out her eyelashes at him, just to see what he was doing.
He was watching her.
She smiled groggily.
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
“I feel good. I think I’m all better.”
“Is your wrist hurting?”
“It’s sore if I move it the wrong way, but with the brace on it’s not a problem. But I really need to go to the bathroom.”
When she didn’t move, he drawled, “It’s vacant, you know. You can go anytime.”
“But that means I have to get up.”
“It’s a sad state of affairs but unfortunately the way it works.”
She made a face at him and managed to find the energy to roll out of bed and limp to the bathroom. She didn’t know why she was limping, but her body still felt a little sore.
“It’s only seven o’clock!” She said that as she was returning to bed afterward and happened to see the bedside clock.
“I know.”
“It feels like I slept forever. How is it so early?”
“We went to bed kind of early last night.” Carter was stretched out on his side of the bed, his head on a couple of pillows. His hair was sticking up in all directions, and he had two days’ worth of a beard, which was quite a lot of stubble for him.
He looked sexy as hell. And somehow adorable at the same time.
She’d never had particularly good walls around her heart, and the car accident had managed to topple the ones she’d had. She got into bed and crawled over toward him, unable to resist the urge to touch him.
Carter went very still when she rubbed her hands up and down his chest. His eyes scanned her face urgently. “Ruth?”
“What?” She leaned over and kissed the crook of his neck, just at the neckline of his T-shirt. Then she kissed his stubbly jaw. Then she kissed his lips.
Carter still hadn’t moved. His body felt very tense. “What’s happening here?”
“I’m kissing you.”
“I thought you wanted me to back off.”
“I don’t want you to back off,” she mumbled, pressing little kisses around his mouth. “That’s the last thing in the world I want.”
“Are you sure?” One of his hands had finally moved to cup the back of his head. “Ruth, baby, are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” She tried again to kiss him.
This time he returned the kiss, his lips moving against hers and his tongue darting out to tease the tip of hers. But he was still holding back. After a minute, he pulled her head back slightly so he could see her face. “You’re not sleep-walking or something, are you?”