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I smiled and carded my fingers through Luna’s soft coat. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Great.” Harris jumped off the sofa and headed toward the kitchen. “I even have a bag of M&Ms from the last time I went to the movies. Want me to throw those in too?”
“M&Ms in popcorn?” I’d never heard of such a thing. “Won’t they melt?”
He looked at me over his shoulder and winked. “That’s the best part. A few will open up and make a mess, but the majority of them will stay whole and explode in your mouth when you bite down on them.”
A shiver ran down my spine at that visual…not of the candy-coated chocolates but of an explosion in my mouth of an entirely different kind. “Um, yeah. That sounds perfect.”
I grabbed a throw blanket from the back of the sofa and covered my lap, just in case the movie got sexy. Or more likely, in case my eyes drifted from the screen and landed on the sexy man who had been treating me like royalty, nursing me back to health, and showering me with attention since the moment we met.
I was strategically positioned on one end of the sofa when Harris returned with a bowl and two cans of Coke. Luna had her head on my lap, and her body was stretched out across the other two cushions when Harris handed me a can.
“Seriously, dog.” He sighed and then lifted her back half up high enough that he could slip beneath her. “Must you claim every inch that we want to be in?”
There was nothing inappropriate about what he said, but I couldn’t help grinning at the innuendo. Harris caught my smile and smirked. “You’d think she was trained to be a weighted blanket.”
I tilted my body so I was angled in Harris’s direction. “I’ve always wanted one of those heavy blankets. I think she’s an excellent alternative.”
He wedged the large bowl between the back cushion and Luna’s elbow. “Well, she makes a good table, if nothing else.”
Harris hit the play button on the remote and The King began to play. The guys on the screen were all pretty hot, but my attention kept wandering over to the much hotter man beside me.
Now and then, our fingers would brush against each other when we were grabbing chocolatey popcorn at the same time. And every time it happened, my breath would catch and I’d freeze in place, wondering if he’d be mad or glad or…anything.
But his stoic expression didn’t break.
It was so hard to read him. Sometimes, I could practically feel the lust and desire in the air when Harris was helping with my bandages or brushing stray hair from my forehead. But other times, moments like this, I had no idea what he was thinking.
Did he have the same impure thoughts about me that I had about him? If I made a move, would he be open to it or disgusted? He knew my secrets and had seen me at my absolutely lowest moment in life. Why would a man like him stoop so low as to be interested in me romantically?
There was no way it would happen.
But that didn’t stop me from wanting it. Imagining him pulling me into his arms as more than a caring friend but as a lover. A man who wanted to take care of all my needs…not just the medical ones.
The movie was two hours long, and about halfway through, my eyelids grew heavy. I tried to stay awake, but I kept dozing off, so I lay down with my head on the armrest and my legs curled up in a tight ball. Luna groaned and stood up, stepping around me as she tried to find a new comfortable position.
To my shock and surprise, Harris grabbed my socked feet and placed them on his lap so Luna could sprawl on the cushion in front of me, locking me against the back of the sofa.
I wanted to say something, thank him or otherwise acknowledge his gesture, but no words came. I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the way his big hands softly rubbed the balls of my feet, warming them up and lulling me into a deep slumber.
11
HARRIS
By the time the credits were rolling, Jesse was fast asleep.
His soft breaths were barely audible, but his whole chest moved with each inhale. For several minutes, I just sat there and watched him. Somehow, throughout the movie, my hand ended up rubbing his socked foot. I wasn’t sure if he even noticed, but just having that small connection to him made me want more.
I briefly considered leaving him on the couch with Luna and a few blankets to keep warm, but I was afraid he’d wake up in even more pain. I’d fallen asleep on that couch a few times and always regretted it the next day. So, after carefully standing up, I slid my arms underneath him— one right under his ribs while the other hooked below his thighs—and lifted him up.
Jesse began to stir, but instead of resisting, his face nestled underneath my chin, and he seemed to curl into me.
I wondered if he had woken up when his palm flattened against my chest and then closed around the fabric of my cotton shirt, but his breathing was slow and even, confirming that the movements were merely instinct and not a reflection of his interest in me.
Moving as smoothly as possible, I took him into his room and managed to pull back the covers so I could lay him between the sheets without jarring him too much.
“Mmm, that’s nice.” His whispered words startled me, but when I looked at his face, his eyes were closed and he was still asleep.
