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She wouldn’t press, wouldn’t ask, but she hoped that if nothing else came from these last couple days, he’d learned he could trust her.
He blew out a long, shaky breath, refusing to break eye contact. “My cousin, Julia, worked in the kitchen with me at Crossroads Mountain Retreat. She’d just graduated college and put in a dozen applications for jobs across the state, all resulting in rejection. She came to work with me in order to figure out her next steps. But things didn’t go as planned, and now she’s gone. One more person I should have protected.”
She had no words to offer, nothing to wipe away the misery threaded through his voice. So she sat and pet Otto while Chet stared into space. Neither one of them moved. Neither one of them spoke. She searched for something more to say, wanting him to stay longer. Needing the security he offered just by being near.
Chet rubbed his hands over his jeans and stood. “It’s getting late.”
Panic pushed her to her feet, and she stared up at him. “Please don’t go. I don’t think I can be alone tonight.”
His jaw dropped and brows rose. He rubbed the back of his neck, and a hint of pink tinged his cheeks. “I…umm…well…”
Laughing, she slapped at his chest, shocked at the direction his mind took. But the heat from his chest and the feel of hard muscles had her yanking back her hand and averting her gaze. “I’m scared that whoever is doing this will come back.”
Chet glanced down at the couch and cringed. “I can’t sleep on this thing.”
She wrung her hands, embarrassment flaming her face. Sleep would never happen tonight, but she wouldn’t ask him to stay again. She had a little bit of pride left.
“My couch is pretty comfortable. Hell, I could even sleep on it if you’d want to take my room”
The idea of sleeping in his bed made the flames of humiliation burn into something much deeper, much stronger. Tiny flickers of desire wiggled in her belly, and she mentally stomped them out. Chet offering her to stay at his place for the night was a huge step. Chivalry at its best and nothing more. Not like she wanted more anyway. After her break-up with Aaron, any kind of relationship was the last thing on her mind. “Are you sure?”
A tiny smirk tipped the corner of his mouth. “Why not?”
“Fine, but I’ll take the couch. Just give me a second to pack a bag.” She rushed away to grab what she needed for the night, making a mental note to find her most unattractive pajamas.
* * *
Chet flipped on his side,kicking away the sheets that had wrapped around his legs. Sleep never came easy, but last night had been torture. With his past colliding with this present, and Mia curled up on his couch, his eyelids had hardly stayed shut longer than twenty minutes.
It didn’t matter. He was used to functioning on fumes. He’d been doing it for years. He’d learned long ago it was better to stumble out of bed blurry eyed and exhausted than toss and turn to no avail. At least this way he’d catch the sunrise.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he stretched his arms above his head then padded over the plush carpet to his dresser. With Mia in the next room, stumbling to the kitchen in his boxers wasn’t an option. He scooped a pair of worn jeans from the bottom drawer then buttoned a red and black flannel across his chest before heading toward the scent of fresh coffee.
The sight of Mia standing in his kitchen with tousled hair and heavy-lidded eyes made his steps falter and squeezed his heart. She rubbed her bare foot over her calf, her skin exposed with checkered shorts that were barely visible under a baggy T-Shirt. She rose on her toes and reached into a cabinet. There was something intimate about a woman in her sleep clothes making him coffee. Even if the reason for her being there was innocent.
The tiny bursts of excitement in his gut terrified the hell out of him. This was why he’d held her at arm’s length since they’d met. Sure, some of it was misplaced anger and resentment at seeing someone else stepping into Julia’s shoes. But the bigger part had been the way his body had responded to Mia. Feelings that had laid dormant for a long time. Feelings that he didn’t deserve to have for Mia or anyone else.
Needing to stop acting like a creeper, he cleared his throat. “Morning.”
Otto sprang to his feet and ran down the hall.
Mia jumped, then pressed a hand over her heart. “You scared me to death.”
He fought to hide a smile. “How’d you sleep?”
Returning to the cabinet, she swiped two mugs and filled them each from the pot. “Okay. You?”
“Not great.” Forcing his limbs to work, he grabbed one of the mugs, making sure to give Mia as wide a berth as possible. “Thanks for this.”
She smiled over the rim of her mug. “It’s the least I could do. I was going to dress and watch the sunrise, but I don’t think it would be as magical with the crime scene tape staring at me.”
He hadn’t thought about that. Watching the sun climb above the mountains, casting an array of orange and pink hues across the sky, was his favorite part of the day. But Mia was right. Sitting on the porch with a reminder of last night practically smacking him in the face wouldn’t have its normally soothing effect. “How about the back deck? Won’t see the sun come up but the view’s still nice.”
Her foot raised to rub against her leg again. “You don’t mind the company?”
“Nope. Come on Otto.” He made his way to back door, surprised that what he said was true. Not wanting to give it any more thought, he stepped out into the brisk morning air. Otto trotted behind him, running for the stairs and onto a patch of grass to do his business.
Chet settled onto an Adirondack chair and placed his coffee on the thick arm. Condensation coated the white wood and crept into his clothes. Crickets chirped in the distance and the hum of a new morning buzzed around him. Thick fog rolled over the small pond, his boat bobbing in the water by the dock. Sparks of pink glowed through the dark clouds, pushing away the night sky.
