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“We’re not going to freeze.” Gently untangling myself from him, I stood then gave him a hand up. “But you’re right. It’s late. Thank you. I…I’m not always good with words. But thank you. I mean that.”
“Anytime.” He kissed my cheek. “And I mean that.”
“Thanks.” I led the way into the house.
“Night, Cash.” He patted the blanket in my arms. “You keep this one tonight. There are plenty of quilts up in the loft for me.”
“You…uh…” I wasn’t sure if there was a graceful way to say I was a little surprised he wasn’t proposing we sleep together.
“You need more thinking time.” He stroked my jaw, fingers ruffling my beard. “If you come to bed with me now, we’re going to end up not sleeping, and that’s not what you need.”
“Yeah.” Yet again, he was right. Part of me wanted to lose myself in more of those drugging kisses, block everything from my brain other than how good it felt when I was with him. But the other part of me knew it wasn’t fair to either of us to fall into more sex when my mind was such a mess.
“Don’t worry.” He brushed a kiss over my lips, then retreated to the ladder to the loft. “When you’re ready, I’ll be here.”
Ready. Would I ever be ready? I watched him scramble up the ladder before burying my face in the blanket that still smelled like him. Maybe ready was the wrong measure. I hadn’t been ready for my first parachute jump. Just had to do it, nerves and all. I might never be ready in the sense Daniel meant, but for him, I at least wanted to get to the place where I was willing to make that leap into the unknown.
Chapter Fifteen
Danny
When the first sunbeams through the attic window woke me, I lay in bed a while longer. Hiding. I didn’t know what mood Cash would be in that morning. I wasn’t sure whether Cash would ever want more kissing, but I did know that I’d done the right thing by not inviting him to sleep in the loft. He’d asked for time to think, and I didn’t want to take advantage of his raw state after our conversation.
Eventually, though, I smelled food. My growling stomach won out, and I climbed down the ladder.
“Pancakes?” I hopefully guessed after a quick trip to the bathroom to take care of my contacts and other morning needs. I found Cash at the small stove, skillet in hand. He was already in jeans and a black T-shirt, no pajamas or ready-for-more-yoga shorts for him.
“Yeah. There was a mix in the supplies.” He pointed at a bowl of batter next to a box on the narrow strip of counter. “Harley threw in some oatmeal packets too, but I figured the least I owed you was some decent breakfast.”
“Thanks. You don’t owe me, but I’m not going to turn down pancakes.” Not wanting to hover behind him, I took a seat at the nearby tiny table. “The housekeeper we had who ordered me the fun soups was so good at pancakes. Made them into different shapes and stuff.”
Cash laughed and flipped one of the pancakes in the skillet onto a plate. “I’m not that good at the fancy stuff, but it will be edible at least.”
“I’m sure.” I gave him an encouraging smile. What I wanted was to ask him if he’d had any deep thoughts about last night, but prodding him would not be in keeping with my whole give him space resolution. I stayed quiet while he cooked, but when he slid a plate in front of me, I couldn’t help but make a happy noise. “Look at this! You can do shapes! It looks kind of like a bear head.”
“That was the general idea. It’s silly, I know.” After giving us each a mug of coffee, he took the chair opposite me with his plate of ordinary round pancakes.
“I love silly.” That he’d made a special effort for me made my chest almost too full to eat.
“I know.” He gave me a lopsided smile back. “There’s milk, but I couldn’t find sugar. None of your brother’s fancy creamers either. Sorry.”
“We could get some sugar and creamer at that store. In town.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You angling for a field trip?”
“Please?” I leaned forward, absolutely not above batting my eyes at him. “I’ll wear whatever hat and ratty clothes you want for a disguise. But I need more saline solution for my eyes, and I’d kill for some berries.”
“Save the bloodthirstiness.” He shook his head at me like I was a little too much. I was, but he seemed good with that. “I’ll take you into town.”
“Yay.” Happy at my win, I finished my food. I even managed to smile my way through chores—washing the breakfast dishes with Cash wiping down the counters and stove, followed by a fast tepid shower and getting dressed. Then we had to secure the cabin and outbuildings before finally taking the curvy mountain road back to the nearest town. The place was so small it only had a single parking lot for the store, diner, and couple of other businesses. As usual, Cash parked in the back of the lot, backing into the space. His gaze was suspicious as he looked around the lot before declaring it safe to get out with my disguise on.
