9. Hallie
HALLIE
M y eyelids are heavy, and despite my best effort to keep them closed, I can’t ignore the fact that I drank an entire bottle of water before I crashed following my shift.
Dammit.
That extra shift had drained me, tipping my usual balance into delirium by the time I’d finally made it home.
With more effort than I’d like to admit, I throw back the covers and swing my legs over the side of the bed.
The wood is cool beneath my feet, sending a little shiver through my body, and because I hate sleeping in socks and I’m too stubborn to look for some, I hustle out of my room and down the hall.
My childhood home didn’t have air conditioning, and while I appreciate that Sawyer’s does, I’d rather not be navigating a meat locker to the bathroom.
Not bothering to turn the light on, I go quickly, my eyes adjusting with the help of the moon peeking in through the blinds.
It’s so quiet here, peaceful and almost eerie.
I thought it’d take some getting used to again but Starlight Bay is just home.
And, begrudgingly, I still love it here.
The feeling surprises me, but it’s not something I can delve into tonight.
Stifling a yawn, I wash my hands and dry them before easing the door open as silently as I can. The floor creaks beneath me and I cringe, spinning on the ball of my foot to shift my weight and hoping I haven’t woken Sawyer up with my little excursion.
Pushing open my bedroom door, my whole body sags with relief at the dark outline of the bed and the promise of sleep in a few short minutes.
Stumbling forward, I reach for the covers and pull them back, my momentum landing me on the mattress with a small oof as I try to get situated.
It might be my mind playing tricks on me, but the bed feels firmer than I remember, the scent of the ocean and something spicy wrapping around me as I try—and try again—to get the pillow just right.
But it feels impossible. “These pillows are awful. What?—”
“They’re not yours,” a deep masculine voice rumbles behind me, my heart rate kicking up a notch because I know that voice and dammit .
Sawyer.
“Why are you in my bed?”
“I’m not in your bed.” He pauses but I already know what he’s about to say. “You’re in mine.”
The statement sounds pained but I’m not sure if I’ve just imagined it.
“I got lost on the way back from the bathroom,” I admit, while making no attempt to move.
“Okay.”
“It’s not my fault your bedroom is closer even though you have your own bathroom.”
“I offered you this room.”
He did in fact offer me this room specifically because I’d have more privacy with the en suite bathroom. But I didn’t think it’d be an issue.
And it wasn’t, until I got turned around when the floorboard squeaked.
“It’s fine.” I yawn, my eyelids heavy as I’m lulled closer to dreamland. “We can fight about it in the morning.”
“Hallie…” My name sounds funny, like a plea or maybe a warning, but I’m too tired to do this with him.
Too tired to move.
“Go to sleep, Sawyer.”
“You’re going to be the death of me.”
“At least I’m fun.”
“Like apple pie in a truck bed.”
“Is that a euphemism?”
Unleashing a weary sigh, I feel the mattress move as Sawyer rolls over, grumbling as he does before pausing. “Goodnight, Hallie.”
Snuggling into the pillow, I don’t try to hide my smile in the darkness. I may regret my decision in the morning, but for now, it feels better than any dream.
SAWYER
Walker is already seated at a table in the back, a beer in his hand and one waiting for me on the glossy wood tabletop.
Thank God.
“You look like hell,” he says as I sit and take a long pull from the beer.
It’s noon but I feel like I’ve run a marathon.
I didn’t sleep worth a damn, and despite her insistence that everything would be fine , there was nothin’ fine about the way my sheets smell like her, or the way she curled up with the blanket tucked under her chin.
I’d wanted to hold her.
And then fuck her and make love to her over and over again. Her hair spread out on the pillow had done something to me. The seemingly innocent pose had me imagining how she’d look with her head thrown back and her lips parted as she begs to come.
I’d eased out of bed just after five, my body jittery and my mind whirling with all kinds of unhelpful ways to make her beg.
Fuck.
“Hallie slept in my bed.”
Frowning, he cocks his head to the side and stares at me. “Shouldn’t you look more relaxed than that?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Hallie was in your bed and nothing happened?”
“She got up to use the bathroom and ended up in my room instead of hers.” Dragging my hand over my mouth, I let the prick of my stubble ground me. “It’s fucking me up.”
“I can see that.” Brows furrowed, he adds, “Have you talked to her?”
“And say what? Hey, I know it was a mistake and you were tired but I can’t stop thinking about having you in my bed and it’s making me manic.”
“I mean…maybe not that specifically, but I think you hit all the high points.”
Taking a pull of my beer, I glare at him because there’s no fucking way I’m doing that.
“I’m bein’ serious,” I snap and he chuckles—the bastard—and my accent gets stronger as my agitation grows.
“You picked the wrong friend if you want me to tell you not to go for her.”
“You’re my only friend.”
“Yeah, well, that’s a conversation for a different day.”
“Why do I need more than one when the one I have keeps giving me shitty advice?”
Walker snorts and shakes his head before leveling his gaze at me. “You’re scared that you want her and that you were, at one time, involved with her sister. No one cares about that but you.”
“It has nothing to do with Beth. Hallie isn’t staying here, so gettin’ involved isn’t what I need to be doing.”
He lifts a shoulder and lets it drop. He’s been out of the corporate world for a couple of years now, but he still looks like he’s ready to step into a boardroom at any given time.
“Then don’t get involved but I think that’s a mistake.
You like her and it seems like she likes you, so what’s the harm? ”
The harm is that I like having her in my space. I like cooking for her and I even like the damn cat.
She’s breaking down my walls.
This entire arrangement was supposed to be easy, but the dynamic has already started to shift and if that changes—if we change—there’s no telling how bad the fallout will be.
And I just can’t risk that.
We can’t.
Because having Hallie in Starlight Bay has been the best time I’ve had in a long time, but I’ll be damned if I lose it all.