long. She’s probably too raw for anything deep. And while she doesn’t seem like the type who would be cavalierly cruel…I’ve been wrong before. Either way, I’m not eager to take a chance on getting my heart broken again.
But I can’t leave her in the chair. She’ll wake up with a terrible crook in her neck. And the minute Ranger stirs for his early-morning bottle, he’ll wake her.
“Hey.” I cup Masey’s shoulder and softly shake her.
She comes awake with a gasp and blinks up at me.
Her blue eyes are a gut punch.
“Sorry if I startled you.”
She sits up straighter and shakes her head. “You’re fine. Is everything okay with your mom?”
“Yeah. Her ankle isn’t broken, just sprained. She’ll need someone to come stay with her for the next couple of weeks because mobility will be a challenge, but as long as she stays off her feet, she should be fine soon enough.”
“Did you take her home already? Who’s with her tonight?”
“Noah. I texted him from the hospital. He came and he’s staying with her for now. In the morning, he’ll pack her up and take her to his place until she recovers.”
“There are so many stairs in that house.”
And not a single bedroom on the lower level. “I know. Tomorrow, he’s going to rent a hospital bed and put it in his downstairs office. But for now, he took her home so she could rest.”
“Good idea.” She rises to her feet. “I’ll, um…get out of your hair and let you get some sleep. Harlow already told me you have a booking tomorrow.”
I’ve been wracking my brain about that—and I still have no idea what to do. Makuahine is in no shape to watch Ranger, and Harlow has commitments. “Yeah. I’m supposed to be at the marina at nine a.m.”
“That’s in less than seven hours. I’ll be gone in two minutes. Just need to remember where I left my purse.”
I see it on the floor next to the glider and scoop it up for her. Then I hesitate. By the time she gets back to her rented digs, it will be nearly three a.m. I don’t like thinking about her driving home alone so late when she doesn’t know her way around. I also dislike thinking about her parking her car out front and walking into her rental alone. There are people on the island who take advantage of tasty tourists like her.
And if I’m being really honest, I’m not keen on her leaving.
“You, um…don’t have to go. You’re welcome to stay.”
“With everything that’s happened tonight, I don’t have any expectations that we’ll…well, you know. You need sleep, and I—”
“Sleep.” I should have been clearer. “Just sleep. It would be awfully late before you reached your rental and got into bed. Unless you’re jonesing to get back, if all you want to do is sleep comfortably somewhere, there’s a vacancy next to me. Your call. I promise you, I’m so wrung out right now, I don’t know if I’d have the energy for sex.”
That’s a lie. I can’t be in the room with Masey without wanting her. Still, I’m less than honest so she’s able to feel safe and comfortable beside me.
Then she bites that goddamn lip—and raises my blood pressure. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“All right. Thanks. I wouldn’t impose, but like I said I’m still not sure where I’m going on this island all the time. It will be harder to figure out in the dark. And…I’ve really been struggling with the time difference and the unfamiliar surroundings since I got here. I haven’t been sleeping that well.”
In a roundabout way, she’s saying she’ll feel safer sleeping next to me. It shouldn’t, but her implied admission thrills me. “Then stay.”
I may regret this tomorrow, but I’m glad she’s staying.
A shy smile breaks out across her face. “All right. Do you, um…have a T-shirt or something I could sleep in?”
If we were lovers, I’d want her to come to bed in nothing but her skin and a come-hither smile. But I can’t suggest that tonight or sleep will never happen. And I’ll be worthless tomorrow. Besides, she deserves more than the hit-it-and-quit-it Makuahine chastised me about earlier.
“I’ll find one.” I hold out my hand. “Come on, honey.”
When she takes it, I try not to think about how close she’ll be to me all night, how much I like being with her, or how domestic it feels as we approach Ranger’s crib and watch him breathe peacefully together.