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“Easy, tiger.” James’s low voice startles me. “You can’t move so quickly.”
I crack one eye open. “Why do I smell bacon?”
“Is that a cop joke, or do you actually smell bacon?”
“As much as I’d love to take credit for a joke like that, I’m not that quick first thing in the morning.”
He chuckles, and it’s raspy with the sound of the morning still wrapped around his voice. “I’ve got your bacon right here. Just take it easy.”
I blink, looking around the room to clear my vision. My eyes fall on James’s smooth broad shoulders and sculpted arms. “You still don’t have a shirt on.”
He shrugs and sets a plate on my lap.
Realization sets in. “Did you not go home?”
He holds out two pills in his palm. “Once you eat, you can take these for the pain.”
“You didn’t have to stay all night.”
His bloodshot eyes flick up to mine, dark-purple crescents staining his under-eye skin. “Google said to watch for signs of a seizure in your sleep.”
My heart skips a beat.He was worried about me. “I’m fine. Go home and get some rest.”
He digs the heels of his hands into his eyes. “I actually have to go get ready for work.”
I balk. “But you were up all night.”
He waves me off and rises from the bed. “Leo will be over to check on you when he wakes up. Make sure you take those pills.”
“Wait.” I grab his hand as he turns to leave. “James.”
He stops and looks down at me.
“Thank you. That was scary last night, and I’m glad you were here with me.”
The corners of his lips turn up, and I make a mental note to figure out how to make him smile more.
He leans down and presses his soft lips against my cheek. “I’ll be back to check on you later.”
Butterflies go wild in my stomach. I watch him leave my bedroom, the low-slung sweatpants that mold perfectly to his muscular ass, accentuated by the wide span of his smooth, bare back.
But more than his physical appeal is the fact that he cared for me last night. He handled mewith care, as if I’m this valuable thing. The way he made me feel in the bathtub wrapped in his arms as he washed my wounds, and again in the safety of his embrace in the bed after—I’ve never felt that secure, that important, that… good. I’ve never been able to give my pain to someone else and let him help me through it.
And it makes me want to be that forhim, whenheneeds it. Because we all need it. We all need someone we can let our guards down with.
Maybe James and I can be that for each other.
The doubtful voice in my head whispers,He would’ve done it for anybody. He was just being nice.But my stupid, hopeful heart doesn’t want to believe a single word.
I stab the omelet with my fork and shove a huge bite into my mouth. My hand shoots up to my jaw as an aching pain slices through my face as I try to chew. What the hell do I even look like? I slide the plate off my lap and scoot in slow movements to the corner of the mattress. I grit my teeth and breathe through the pain in my ribs until I’m standing, and hobble over to the mirror above my dresser.
Jesus. Puffy purple skin surrounds one eye, and a bandage covers what must be a gash above my eyebrow. There’s a decent cut in my bottom lip too, and some bruising along my jawline. I guess it could be worse.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see James walk into his bedroom. I avert my gaze from the window on instinct, but then it slowly travels back as curiosity takes over.
If he can look, then so can I, right?
He slips on the shirt to his uniform, his large fingers working the buttons one by one. He shucks his sweatpants, and I’m reminded of how good he looked in his boxer briefs last night. Strong, thick thighs, big calves, large feet.Everythingabout him is large. A massive fortress of a man. He combs through his hair, styling it just so, and he even takes his time tying his shoelaces in perfect, even bows. He’s so careful and cautious ineverythinghe does, but the memory of him losing control when he beat up his brother flashes through my mind. James holds it all together until it explodes, and I wonder just how much he’s suppressing under the surface.
