Opposite the wall with the desks was a daybed that looked like it belonged in a little girl’s bedroom. Wrought-iron-steel covered in white paint swirled in a pattern resembling vines to create the back and sides of the day-bed. White enamel bed knobs with pink painted roses adorned the four corners. It was the sort of bedding that reminded Cesare of his Auntie Maribella’s guest room. Something ruffly and baby pink from the 90s.
He had no way of identifying how, but he knew without a doubt that this was Sabrina’s childhood bed. It suited her.
Her waders and purple Converse shoes lay on the floor. Cesare had removed them as carefully as he could before tucking Sabrina under the covers. He left her in the clothes she’d been wearing underneath the waders; a pair of black yoga pants and a faded grey t-shirt from the animal rescue.
A tall bookcase, filled with marine biology and various animal anatomy books, stood against the wall at the foot of her bed. Just past the bookcase was a door that led to the hallway.
Cesare gingerly straightened up and brushed a wayward lock of copper hair from Sabrina’s face. He resisted the urge to kiss it and left the room instead, with Sabrina’s waders in hand.He hung them up beside his own on the hook by the equipment closet. The visual of the waders hanging beside each other on the wall gave him an odd sense of déjà vu.
Frowning, he locked the front door. Had it been unlocked all night as she worked alone?
He unplugged the phone at the reception desk with zero hesitancy and returned to the office down the hall, bagged breakfast in hand.
Cesare stood for a moment in the doorway of the office and looked at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He frowned. Neglecting her own rest and health was, of course, unacceptable, and they would work on that. Sabrina clearly needed someone to look after her; someone to take care of her.
Cesare used a warm hand towel to wipe something that smelled suspiciously of fish off her face. He found a hair comb in the top drawer of a desk, and gently combed her hair, taking no small amount of pleasure from the soft moan that left her pouty lips.
The brooding Italian watched Sabrina’s eyes flicker open a few times, as if to check it was still him running a comb through her hair. She would then close her eyes with the softest damn smile he’d ever seen. Her trust and submission touched something deep and visceral within him. He wondered if she had ever let anyone else take care of her like this. When he was done with the comb, he braided her hair back into a long, single braid.
The intimacy of the moment made his blood rush, and he flexed his hands at the need to ensure the woman currently sleeping in his arms was protected. The depth at which he felt this urge was both new and staggering. Cesare was fairly certain that if someone took a photo of him at this moment, his expression would look nothing short of devastated. This girlwas destroying him from the inside out with feelings.And they hadn’t even fucking kissed.
It was just after seven thirty. Returning to Sabrina, he used her face to unlock her phone and scrolled through her contacts until he found Marie.
Sabrina: This is Cesare. Sabrina was up all night with a new seal. She’s not going to work today. She’ll call once she’s awake and can talk.
Marie: Thank you for letting me know! Tell her when she wakes up to keep her ass in bed and go back to sleep.
Cesare sent a thumbs up, and then, like a jealous ass, he scrolled through her messages with Travis. To his satisfaction, there was nothing that wasn’t platonic. For Travis’s sake, this was good.
With a deep sigh, he set an alarm on his own phone to feed Freckles at 9 o’clock and sat down at the desk opposite the bed.
He opened one of the breakfast burritos and bit into it with relish, enjoying the view of the harbor below. Then, unable to resist temptation, he turned once again in the chair, leaning back as he took the opportunity to simply look at Sabrina; uninterrupted.
Cesare scoffed. If he knew what was good for him, he’d leave Kittery now and never come back. Go home and marry some Auntie’s niece’s Italian sister-in-law, give her some goodCatholic babies, then find a girlfriend to fuck all of his frustrations out on.
Sabrina turned in her sleep, her hand reaching out as if looking for something in the bed. Her brow furrowed, and her lips moved into the saddest little pout. Unable to resist, Cesare reached out, gently taking her hand in his.
Sabrina took a ragged breath and released a shuddering little sigh, reminiscent of a toddler immediately soothed. Cesare watched as she curled up once more with a soft snore. It shouldn’t have been possible to be so damn adorable.
“You’re going to wreck my life.” Cesare whispered in the silence of the eclectic little room. “And I’m going to let you.” He all but confessed, placing a kiss on the back of her hand.
Eventually, Cesare reluctantly withdrew his hand from hers and dug his laptop out of its bag. He still had a few hours of case review in front of him.
The timer eventually went off, and he immediately silenced it. Freckles needed feeding again.
Cesare left the office and explored the kitchen. In the distance, he heard the door chime from the reception area, and he moved silently to the edge of the kitchen. Heavy footsteps came closer, and Cesare waited, unable to determine if it was friend or foe. He concluded that he’d locked all the doors, so whoever this was, they likely had a key.
Cesare released the hand that had automatically gone to his sidearm, but kept it close as he announced casually, “In here!” He tried to sound as friendly as he could, but the newcomer still jumped in audible surprise.
Travis popped around the corner a moment later. “Hey. What’s up?” Travis asked, eyeing Cesare with suspicion.
“Good morning, Travis.” Cesare nodded, unwilling to justify anything to the boy who had left Sabrina to fend for herself.
“I came to feed the seal pup.” Travis said after a moment.
“Freckles.” Cesare nodded.
“Yeah.” Travis nodded. “I told Sabrina I could help with feedings at nine and eleven. Where is she?” He asked.
