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“Please don’t tell me you’re calling me whilst fucking your hook-up.”
“I can multi-task,” he laughs back.
“Really?” I ask incredulously.
“You should try it sometime.”
“You know what Dalton, you need to take a long hard look at yourself. This conversation is over.” With that I hang up, slamming my phone down onto the counter.
“Mama?” Toby whimpers, and I curse under my breath as he sits up in bed, blinking sleepily. My stomach drops at the terror on his face as I rush to his side.
“Hey, kid. Your Ma’s just in the shower,” I say, perching on the edge of the bed, not entirely sure what I’m going to do if he projectile vomits again.
“I want Blue Bear,” he says, his bottom lip trembling.
“Here he is,” I reply, grabbing the teddy from the far side of the bed and handing it to him. He takes it from me, wrapping his arms around it tightly. “Better now?”
Shaking his head, Toby’s eyes fill with tears, and on instinct I draw the kid into my arms, hugging him. When he doesn’t protest, I kick off my shoes, and shift myself on the bed, propping myself against the headboard and resting my jean clad legs on the mattress. “There we are, kid. You just sleep, as soon as your Ma’s done with her shower, I’ll leave you both in peace.”
Toby snuggles against me, turning his face to look up at me. “I like you,” he murmurs.
My fucking heart squeezes in my chest. “The feeling’s mutual,” I whisper as his eyes droop shut and he falls back to sleep once more.
Ten minutes later, as Lia enters the suite, my own eyes are heavy with sleep. Stifling a yawn, I give her an apologetic smile. “He was a little unsettled, so I thought I’d…”
My voice trails off as she frowns, her cleanly washed hair dripping onto her white t-shirt, the water seeping into her top and sticking it to her ample breasts. She’s not wearing a bra.
Fuck.
My gaze lifts, and I clear my throat as my eyes rest upon her face, and despite the dark circles ringing her eyes, and the long cotton pyjama bottoms she’s wearing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more beautiful. Forcing myself to look away, I shift on the bed. “I should really go now.”
“Do you live far from here?” she asks, placing her wash bag and dirty clothes on top of the overnight bag she’d left beside the bed.
“About a fifteen minute drive away. Not far.”
She looks over to the window, her frown deepening. “It’s snowing pretty heavily.”
“It is? I hadn’t even noticed,” I reply, turning my attention to the drift of snow already piling up on the windowsill outside.
She chews on her lip, looking between me and her son. “Perhaps you should stay? I can sleep on the sofa,” she offers.
“Absolutely not,” I shake my head, gingerly trying to lay Toby back down on the bed, but he whimpers in his sleep and Lia holds her hand up.
“No, don’t. He seems… peaceful in your arms,” she whispers, a look I can’t interpret fluttering across her face.
“I can’t let you sleep on the sofa,” I protest.
“Believe me that sofa looks a thousand times more comfortable than my car.”
“Which is precisely why you need to sleep on the bed. Lia, please…” I say, grabbing one of the plump pillows and laying it down beside me, building a wall between us. “Now you’ve got some protection.” I smile, but she doesn’t.
“Do I need protection from you?”
“Fuck, no. That’s not what I meant. I just… Fuck, I’m not good at this.”
“Good at what?” she asks, approaching me. Her wariness slipping into weariness as she stifles a yawn.
“I don’t need to know what kind of trouble you’re in, or why you’re running, but I do want you to know that I won’t hurt you or Toby. I swear on my sister’s life, my own.”
