“I’m not going to touch you. Just breathe, teeny. Look around you. You’re not with Tiger. You’re with me. Linc.”
The calmness of his voice combined with the fact that he wasn’t trying to touch her finally got through to her.
“L-Linc?”
“That’s right, Mari-girl. It’s Linc. Can you open your eyes up and look at me?”
Shudders worked their way through her body as her breath heaved in and out of her lungs. She looked up at him, taking him in.
Relief flooded her body. Linc. She was at his house. Nowhere near her aunt’s place or Tiger.
“Oh God. I’m so sorry.” She wiped at her cheeks as she realized she was crying. “I was dreaming about . . . about what happened and then I woke up and saw you there. Sorry. I didn’t hurt you, did I? I’m so sorry.”
“Hush,” he told her gently as he sat on the floor. Then she realized she was in the closet. Crap.
“Come on. Come out of there.” He stood and held out his hand, helping her out. Then he led her to the bed. When she was sitting on the mattress, he grabbed some tissues from the box on the nightstand. Kneeling on the floor in front of her, he grasped hold of her chin and wiped her face free of tears with an expert touch. “Of course you didn’t hurt me. And it was my fault for standing over you like that. No wonder you woke up screaming.”
She drew back and he let her go, studying her intently.
“Wait. What are you doing in here? Were you watching me sleep?”
Red tinged his cheeks. Was he embarrassed? Wow. She hadn’t thought someone as confident and together as Linc would blush.
That was sexy.
“I came in to check on you and you weren’t in your bed so I went looking for you. Sorry.”
“Oh God. Please don’t tell me I was doing anything embarrassing,” she moaned.
He raised his eyebrows. “What could you possibly do that would be so embarrassing?”
Any number of things. Drooling. Talking in her sleep. Sucking her thumb.
“I was worried that you might be sleeping too long. Why were you in the closet?”
She shrugged. “I often did that as a kid. I guess it feels safer to me somehow.”
He frowned. “You feel unsafe here?”
“No, no I don’t. It’s just . . . with everything that happened, I suppose I was feeling anxious. So I crawled in there.”
“No more sleeping in the closet,” he commanded.
“I was fine in there. It was comfy.”
“Not happening. Remember, I’m the boss.”
Oh yeah. She wasn’t forgetting him telling her that anytime soon.
“I should
have stayed with you until you fell asleep.” He studied her. “You still look tired. You might need a nap later.”
She didn’t know why, but him telling her she might need a nap made her want to squirm. It also made her want to pout like a three-year-old who was certain that they definitely didn’t want a nap. No matter how tired they were.
You’re not three. You’re an adult. Act like it.
“Did you have any other nightmares?”