See? Bam! He just kept hitting her with these moments of sweetness.
When he walked with her into the bedroom, she saw that he’d laid a blanket out on the bed. He laid her down on her back on it.
“Is this a new blanket?”
“Yep. I know how much you like soft things. I also know how cold you get.” He wrapped one side of the blanket over her, then the other. Her arms were trapped but she wasn’t held in tight. She knew she would be able to escape if she really needed to. Then he sat, leaning against the headboard with her on his lap. He reached over and grabbed a bottle from the nightstand. She hadn’t even noticed it sitting there.
She blushed a little. It was different seeing it in broad daylight than in the safety of darkness. But she’d told him this was what she wanted. She rested back against one arm and he reached up with the bottle, pressing the nipple to her mouth.
“That’s it, baby doll. You drink it down. Hopefully it will help rehydrate you as well. Then you can rest in bed while I make you something to eat.
Hmm. She had a feeling she’d be getting a lot of rest today. Well, it wasn’t like she was up to doing much. And if he really wanted to carry her around and take care of her…
Who was she to argue?
* * *
Doc picked up his phone as it rang.
“Hello, brother, long time no see.”
“Issy, how are things going?” Archer asked. There was an odd note to his voice. Doc walked over to the bedroom door and glanced in to find Caley was fast asleep. She’d protested having to take a nap when she hadn’t been up for long, but she’d been asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
After she woke up, he’d feed her some lunch then give her a check-up before he gave her the rest of her presents. He should have been taking better care of her before now. The guilt ate at him as he shut the door.
“Things are okay here. You all right?” Doc asked.
“Ahh, yeah, just came back to a full workload. You know how it is.”
Actually, to be honest, his workload was fairly light. Sure, the JSI guys got themselves hurt on a regular basis and living on a ranch meant there was often an injured cowboy around, but it was nothing like his work schedule when he’d been an ER doctor while in Dallas.
Which gave him plenty of time to dedicate to Caley. Once he convinced her to move home with him, that is. But he was determined that when he returned, she’d be by his side. Thankfully, Kent had given him the go-ahead to take some time off.
“How’s your girl?”
His girl. Yeah. He liked the sound of that. And if something felt like it was missing, he pushed that thought aside. What could possibly be missing?
“She’s better.”
“Better? Was she not well? Is she all right? Do you need my help?”
Doc frowned. “Whoa, man, calm down.”
“Sorry.”
“I’m a doctor, remember? If she’s not well, I’ve got it.”
“Yeah. She’s just…she means a lot to me too. Not like that. She’s your girl. But I got close to her while I was staying there.”
They had gotten close. And when she’d talked about Archer earlier, he’d seen a hint of sadness in her face, which he hadn’t liked. His girl shouldn’t be sad. He wanted her to have everything she desired.
“Issy? You gonna tell me what’s going on with Caley?”
“Oh, uh, sorry. Yeah. She’s fine. She just pushed herself too hard. Got home last night and she’d barely eaten anything or drunk any water. Ended up getting a severe migraine. She vomited.”
“Shit. Poor darling.”
“She’s doing a lot better today; I’ve just put her down for a nap.”