This is all wrong!
16
SARA
My eyes peel open like pieces of Velcro. Fuck, that’s uncomfortable. I roll over in my bed, scrubbing my hands over my face to clear the sleep away. Why does my head hurt? And why am I still wearing regular clothes?
Flashes of the night before come barreling into my brain. Almost getting kidnapped, Archie’s surgery, losing my shit on Ben.
Yikes.
Did I really sob my heart out on Ben’s lap? My crusty eyes and throbbing head would say that’s exactly what happened. I don’t think I’ve ever been this embarrassed. What am I going to do at work today? I don’t think I’m prepared to interact with a man who’s seen me at my very lowest point and pretend like it didn’t happen.
God, this sucks.
Okay. Time to buck up and get this over with.
I jump out of bed, making Koda lift his head from the floor next to me. He never sleeps in my room. He prefers to be out in the living room so he can keep an eye on things. I guess with my crying jag, he was probably worried about me. I give him some love to thank him for protecting me, then walk out of my room to go to the bathroom.
“You’re up,” a man’s voice says from the kitchen, startling me so badly I make Koda flinch.
“Fuck!” I whirl around to find out who’s in my house, only to see Ben leaning against my counter. He looks adorably sleep-ruffled. His hair is sticking out everywhere, his eyes still have the haze of sleep in them, and holy shit, he’s shirtless. My eyes roam across his muscular shoulders, the small smattering of blond chest hair, and his abs.
Sweet mother of God.
He clears his throat, pulling me out of the haze of lust that took over my body. When my eyes make it back to his face, a satisfied smirk tilts the corner of his mouth.
“What are you doing here?” I ask in an attempt at distraction.
“After last night, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving you here by yourself, so I slept on the couch. You also don’t have your car. Figured I could give you a ride to the clinic.”
“Right.” I sigh. There’s a lot of shit I’m going to have to deal with soon. “I’m going to shower and get ready. Then we can go pick up my car, since it’s still early.”
“Sounds good. I made coffee but wasn’t sure how you’d like it.”
“Black is fine.”
“I’ll have it ready when you’re done.”
I stare into those denim blue eyes, unsure of how to convey my feelings right now. He’s seen me at my worst, and he’s still standing there.
I’ll add it to the list of shit I’m not prepared to tackle just yet.
I turn to walk into the bathroom, hoping a shower will ease the weight sitting on my shoulders. I carefully avoid the mirror. I feel awful, so it’s a guarantee I look just as bad. If Ben was able to handle my snot wiped across his shirt, he should be able to handle my crusty eyes, bedhead, and dark circles.
The hot water feels incredible, better than I thought it would feel, and I stay in there longer than I probably should have. If we end up late to work today, I can blame it on the fact thatmy boss spent the night at my house.
Wrapping myself in a robe, I walk back out into the living room. I’m going to need at least three cups of coffee if I want to make it through this day. Ben is now sitting on my couch, still shirtless, watching the news. His gaze flicks over to me as I walk around the sofa. Nowhe’sthe one staring. Which admittedly makes me feel better about my own ogling.
He swallows hard before shaking his head and then hands me the mug sitting on the coffee table. I sit down on the couch, enjoying the companionable silence between us as we both sip our coffees.
I feel oddly comfortable with Ben. If we’d been sitting on this couch last week, there would have been so much tension in the air I doubt either one of us could have withstood it.
Now, I feel as if I know Ben on a much deeper level than ever before. Sharing a traumatic experience with someone will do that, I guess. I look over at him; the dark circles under his eyes make me wonder how much last night affected him. He intervened in a kidnapping. That’s not a small thing. It takes an especially strong person to have the guts to jump into the middle of something like that.
“Thank you.”
He looks at me, his brows furrowed.