She sighed, but a smile danced at the corner of her lips. “Yeah, dragons are good protectors.” She turned to her side and yawned. “That’s why I’ve always liked them.”
He ran his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp gently as he reached over and turned off the lamp. This left only the fairy lights she had strung along her headboard glowing.
He guessed she didn’t like the pitch-black.
Lots of people don’t. Doesn’t mean anything.
No, but things were adding up.
A small snore escaped and he had to grin. His baby was tired. He leaned in and brushed his lips across her forehead. He liked that she felt comfortable enough to fall asleep with him here. It worried him that she might be too trusting, she didn’t know him anymore.
He sat and just watched her sleep. She let out a low murmur, her forehead crinkling. He knew he should leave. He had to get up early. He needed to get some rest himself. But it was hard to tear himself away from the gorgeous image she made. Making a sudden decision, he reached under the pillow next to her and grabbed out her blankie, tucking it in next to her hand. He froze as she moved, hoping he hadn’t woken her.
But she simply grabbed the piece of blanket and tucked it in under her nose, rubbing it back and forth in a gesture that made the hard wall around his heart melt slightly. He had to harden it back up.
Her thumb slipped into her mouth and his heart nearly stopped. All right then. Suddenly, he realized exactly what he was doing. She wasn’t going to be happy if she woke and found him watching her like this.
He slowly stood and leaning down, lightly pressed his lips to her forehead. “Sleep well, baby girl. Daddy will be back tomorrow.”
Calling himself Daddy felt right. More right than he should let it be until he knew for sure that was what she wanted.
6
She was a mess.
She’d been a bundle of nerves all day. She hadn’t been able to sit still. So instead of getting any work done, she’d spent the day cleaning and tidying.
She didn’t want him to think she was a pig after seeing her bedroom last night.
But he’d have to actually turn up for him to see how tidy the house is.
She stared at the clock. It was after six. He wasn’t coming. Something had turned him off. Maybe it was falling asleep while he was still in her bedroom. Crap. Had she done something while she was sleeping? What if she’d snored? Talked in her sleep? Sucked her thumb?
She froze at that thought. Shit. Why hadn’t she thought of that until now? She paced up and down the living room, her hand on her rolling tummy. When she’d woken up this morning, she’d been holding her blankie, her thumb in her mouth as usual. What if he’d found her blankie? Seen her acting like a child?
No man wanted that.
Yep, she’d totally fucked this all up. She was such a dork. An idiot.
She sunk down onto the sofa feeling completely dejected when the doorbell rang.
Maybe it was the sexy bras and panties she’d ordered. She’d never owned anything sexy in her life, but if she was going to start dating, she couldn’t exactly wear her princess panties and white cotton bras.
She opened the door without looking, expecting the delivery man to be on the other side.
But there stood Jed. Two bags of groceries in his arms and a scowl on his face.
“What are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly.
His eyebrows rose. “Did you forget that I was coming over tonight?”
“Uh, no, I just, I thought that maybe you weren’t. . .it’s after six.”
He nodded. She noticed then that behind the scowl he was wearing that he looked tired. “Sorry. I should have called. I worked later than I thought I would. Have you eaten?”
“What? No, I haven’t. Oh, come in.”
Daisy, get yourself together.