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And just like it happened every time I came within hugging distance of this man, I ended up wrapped in his arms for a long, heavenly moment.
His head dipped. “You did so well tonight, Rosie. So well.”
It felt like I hadn’t done a single thingrighttonight. Or lately.
I shook my head and turned around, making my way to the bed.
“Rosie?” Lucas’s hushed voice reached me from where he was, still at the foot of the sofa. “I think that if you help me”—his features hardened as he seemed to think about something—“maybe we can get your brother into the bed.”
“Come here,” I whispered back, throwing open the covers of the bed. But he hesitated, not moving. Turning that tender spot in my chest even softer. “Leave Olly. You sleep here tonight. With me.”
His jaw tensed.
“Lucas Martín,” I said, hearing the edge in my voice, even if hushed, “if you don’t get in this bed, with me, right this second, you’re going to break my heart. And I don’t think I will be able to take it. Not tonight.”
I wasn’t even joking.
Because only a few hours ago, I’d been in his arms, and he’d beenkissing me. And as much as we hadn’t talked about it, something had… opened between us. Somethingmore.
All of that must have been written all over my face because Lucas’s hesitation melted away.
Choosing not to ask him for the hundredth time if he was in pain, I joined him in bed and threw the covers over us. I rolled on my side with a long and deep sigh, and faced him while he remained on his back, his head turned toward me.
“Are you comfortable?”
“As much as I’ll ever be,ángel.”
I swallowed, searching his face for the meaning behind that. Was he hurting? Did he regret coming with me tonight? Did he regret kissing me?
“I’m sorry you got hurt, Lucas. I hate that you did, but…” I trailed off, hating myself a little bit for what I was going to say. “Does it make me a horrible person to say that despite everything, I’m glad you were there? With me?”
He shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for, okay?” He looked at me as if he was waiting for something. “I would have never let you go in there alone, Rosie. Never.”
I shifted, moving a little closer to him.
Lucas reached out a hand, the pads of his fingers brushing the corner of my lips lightly. Too quickly. “I can’t believe you were ready to hit him with your purse. For me.”
He wasn’t smiling. Or laughing. And I didn’t want to, either, because I had been dead serious about that. “And I can’t believe you stopped me from doing that.”
“You’re always beautiful,” he shocked me by saying, and my heart sped up. “But seeing you like that? Ready to claw your way forward to protect me?” He paused, his eyes filling with something that would have been awe if not for the heavy and sultry quality that coated them. “You were breathtaking. Like an avenging angel. I had to stop myself from kissing you there and then.”
My lips parted, and my face flushed. Not from embarrassment, but from the wave of need that in that moment washed over mywhole body. Because Lucas was not only saying he’d wanted to kiss me, but he was also looking at me like he’d die if he didn’t.
“We shouldn’t,” he breathed out. “It’s late, and we should get some sleep.”
Reluctantly, I nodded.
Lucas added, “My leg will be better tomorrow, I promise.”
I didn’t believe him. But I loved him for still trying. “You told me I could ask you anything, always, so I want to know about something.” He nodded. “Why do you have nightmares?”
Lucas tried to roll on his side and winced in pain.
“The accident,” he admitted, falling quiet for a full minute. “It’s ironic because I’m drowning in those nightmares. And that was not how it happened. It’s as if my head has come up with new different ways to haunt me in my sleep.” A long and shaky breath left his lips. “I haven’t been able to bring myself to talk about it, not since it happened.”
I scooted closer to him. “Why?”
“There hasn’t been anyone I’ve… wanted to tell, until now. Someone who wouldn’t want to fix me. Because there’s nothing left to fix, Rosie.”
