“I do this type of thing all the time.” A lie. I hadn’t ever offered to stay in the room with clients until they drifted off. But with the combination of her forlorn look and chewed nail beds, I’d never forgive myself if I left her to chase sleep on her own.
“This is…a part of your protocol?” she asked.
I nodded. Octavia studied me. A part of me knew she sensed the thinly veiled lie. I expected a dismissal that didn’t come.
“I like to leave the bathroom light on,” she said as if it were non-negotiable.
I smiled and got up to turn the room light off. Octavia slipped under the covers, enveloped in the purple silk sheets.
“Give me a second.” I stepped out of the room and back across the hall.
“How are we looking?” I passed the portable monitor to Jonah, who gave me a curious glance.
“Good…” He brushed his hand across his mouth, clearly embarrassed about having listened to our conversation. “So, you’re actually staying in there?”
I let my hair out of its tie and grabbed a folded blanket from one of the twin beds. “I am.”
“Won’t that…I don’t know, skew the data?”
“You’re more than capable of answering that.” I tilted my brow up in a challenge. “Remember what I said before?”
Jonah straightened and nodded.
“Well?” I didn’t care if he disagreed with me; I was going to do what I wanted anyway and stay in the room with Octavia. But the point was to get him brave enough to push back.
“If you’re out of there before anything serious occurs,” he said. “The readings would still have a good chance of being accurate. You just have to be…fast.”
His gaze flickered to my ankle, but he didn’t voice that concern out loud.
“And so, I shall be.” I squeezed his shoulder before leaving him to monitor.
EIGHT
I hadthe cover of night to thank for helping me accept Rae’s offer. She didn’t take up much space, sitting in a chair shoved against my closed closet door.
“Will the light from my phone be too distracting?” she asked.
“No, that’s fine.”
The light wouldn’t bother me. Distraction came with her scent, the warm notes of brown sugar and vanilla. Rae’s slow, steady breath filled the quiet. Her presence was the ambiance of dreams. I should have clung to it; let it lull me into a sense of security. Instead, I stayed alert, imagining what she looked like as I wrapped her ankle in the stable. Despite being covered in mud and frustration when we made our way around the grounds, Rae glowed. I’d forgotten how thrilling it was to be the recipient of flirtation. Forgotten how buzzing nerves and warmth in my stomach combined in a beautiful overwhelm.
“Sorry,” I whispered when she readjusted, the chair creaking underneath the shift. “I’m usually faster than this.”
“Take as long as you need,” she murmured.
My heart drummed, enthralled at how sensuality soaked clean through her comment. I cleared my throat and shifted under my sheets.
“Should I tell you a bedtime story? Sing you a lullaby, maybe?”
There was a smile in her voice. The offer was a joke, but I hummed in approval anyway.
Rae placed her phone face down on her thigh. I tried my best to make out her outline in the dark. There was a bit of light filtering in from between the curtains. But it just barely kissed the edge of my bed, not reaching far enough to offer visual aid.
“A story would be nice,” I said.
“I should probably avoid the spooky ones,” she teased. “Right?”
“I’d appreciate that.” I tugged the blankets around my neck, relaxing now that her deep voice took up so much space.
