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“We need to talk, Carys.” I reach for her, but she takes a step away, her sharp eyes questioning me.
“That doesn’t sound good, Coop.” She looks around as Rook escapes upstairs.
When I step closer, she stays put and allows me to wrap my fingers around her delicate arms. “I’m concerned Axel is going to use you to get to me. He’s already approached you at the hospital, and he—”
My girl doesn’t cower when she cuts me off. Her glittering green eyes dance between mine. “Why?”
“What?” I have no idea what she’s getting at.
“Why would he use me? I’m nothing, remember?” She dares me to correct her, and I take the damn bait.
My hands slide up her arms and neck, then into her hair. “You could never be nothing, Carys, and you know it.”
One side of her mouth tips up into a cautious smile. “I had my hopes.”
“He threatened you this morning.” I hold her head possessively and wait for her to freak out. But it doesn’t come.
“He threatened me at the hospital too, didn’t he? I might not have known it then, but I figured it out after you told me what was going on. I’m safe here with you. You won’t let anything happen to me.” She turns her head and kisses my hand. “I’ll go sketch in my room.”
“So you’re not mad then?” I wasn’t expecting her to take this so well, but like always, she continually surprises me.
“Mad?No. Do I have the heebie jeebies about this whole thing?Yes, I do. But it’ll be over soon.” Glad she’s so sure because I’m not there yet.
“Stay inside, okay?” I think of the picture, and my adrenaline pumps with fury. “Make sure your balcony door is locked.”
“You know how I love bossy Cooper.” Her teeth dig into her bottom lip, and the little brat practically skips up the stairs.
* * *
The rest of the night is uneventful.
Carys has decided to sleep in Emerson’s room to help her with Elodie.
So I chose to sleep on the couch tonight. She offered me her bed, but it didn’t feel right, and I’m not sure why. Hours later, as I lie here, staring at the ceiling, I realize it’s because I want to be lying in bed with her.
It will always be her.
Was I holding back to protect Carys? Or myself?
The thoughts consume me as I try to sleep.
I’ve only just closed my eyes sometime after midnight, when movement on the stairs wakes me up, and my eyes strain to see who it is. I sit up as my eyes adjust and realize it’s the woman occupying my thoughts. “Carys?”
She’s walking toward me in my old high-school football shirt, with Elodie curled into a tiny ball against her chest, and she’s singing softly to the baby.
She stops in front of me, and I reach a hand out. Unable to stop myself from touching her, I run it up the back of her bare thigh. “Is everything okay?”
“Shh... Everything’s fine,” she whispers. “Em just fed her, and Elodie was fussing, so I thought I’d give her a break and take the baby.” The moonlight filters in through the windows, bathing her in a silver glow. Her messy hair tumbles around her shoulders, and her green eyes sparkle. She looks angelic as she stands in front of me, swaying with an unhappy baby.
“Does she have one of those binky things the twins had when they were little? The things they suck on?” I try to keep my eyes on hers, but the shirt barely comes to the tops of her thighs, and there’s no way I can’t notice when those bare legs are right in front of my face.
“Oh, she does. Let me go find it... Here.” She lays Elodie against my bare chest, then steps back and sighs a sweet sigh. “I think my ovaries just exploded.”
“Is that bad?”Fuck.What if she gets sick now?
Carys giggles, and damn, what that sound does to me. “No, Cooper. It’s not bad.” Her eyes soften, and she licks her lips. “I’m going to see if the hospital sent home a binky.”
Her ass cheeks peek out with each stair she climbs, and my mouth waters.
