Chapter 9
Amy
I groaned awake, every inch of my body aching, with a dull headache thumping in my head.
Slowly, it all filtered back in.
The sexy mountain man.
The bad bull ride.
A hospital visit.
“Oh, I feel like shit.” I groaned.
My cat purred and inched closer to me.
“Tell me. Did I dream that hot mountain hunk, or does he really exist?” I asked Noodles, rubbing his soft belly while I tried to open my eyes.
I finally managed to flutter them open, staring at the ceiling with a satisfied smile on my face.
I might feel terrible right now. But none of that mattered.
The only thing that mattered was Dawson. I couldn’t stop thinking about the man.
He’d been so gentle, taking care of me all night long, then bringing me home, and feeding my cat. A woman could get spoiled with a man like that around.
And he just happened to be the hottest thing I’d ever seen before in my life. That was just a side-bonus.
But then reality started to filter back in.
He’d only gone with me to the hospital because he felt guilty for daring me to ride the mechanical bull.
And he was soo good looking. He was a full ten, and I was a six and a half on the best of days.
Men like that? Well, there must be a reason he was single right now. Otherwise, fifty other women would have snatched him up already.
I glanced around the room while I tried to muster the stamina to sit up. I felt like I’d been hit by a truck, and my broken arm was aching.
That’s when my eyes landed on six feet of mountain man scrunched up in a chair, trying to nap.
Did he stay here the whole time I slept?
The chair was from my living room, and he had his legs slung over one arm of it, curled in on himself. It was like looking at a bear trying to fit onto a tricycle.
The man was too big to fit.
Slowly I sat up in bed, groaning the whole way up.
I felt like I could sleep for another ten hours. But I definitely had to run to the bathroom first.
Shifting myself out of bed and getting myself upright took a few minutes, but I managed.
Then I slowly shuffled over to where he slept, resting a hand on his arm. “Dawson, wake up. You’re going to hurt your back sleeping like that.”
He groaned awake. “What’s wrong? What can I do? Why are you up?”
I laughed lightly and stroked his arm. “Nothing’s wrong. But you don’t fit in the chair. If you’re going to be silly and insist on staying, then you should come sleep in the bed.”
Bleary eyes blinked up at me. “Are you sure? You don’t mind if I take a nap with you?”
I had the feeling he hadn’t slept at all the night before. Every time I’d woken up in the hospital, he’d been perched in an uncomfortable-looking hospital chair by my bedside.
Wrinkling my brow playfully, I asked. “Are you ready to sneak into my bed, Mountain Man?”
The look he gave me filled me with satisfaction. “I don’t know. Is this the only bed you’ve got?”
I nodded.
He looked at it longingly. “Sure would be nice.”
“And on this day, I slept with a complete stranger,” I quipped. “All right, Dawson. You can nap here with me. I’m tired too. Oh, you should be forewarned that Noodles sleeps here, too. He’ll probably come up any minute to see us.”
“Mmm. I like kitties,” he rumbled as he headed to my bed. Then he said, “I think he’s already here.”
Looking where he pointed, I saw that Noodles was indeed stretched out on the other side of the bed, deep in a catnap.
“You can shift him over if you want. I’ll be back in a minute. You get comfortable.” Then I toddled off to the bathroom, trying to walk as normally as possible.
I heard him stretch behind me, his back popping as he did it.
By the time I got back, he was spread out on one side of my bed, snoring lightly with Noodles cozied up next to him.
A woman could get used to the sight of that. I crawled back into bed beside him, curling my head against his chest.
Yep, this confirmed it. The man was real. He had a heartbeat.
I listened to its comforting beat as I drifted back off to sleep again.
I woke up to the smell of bacon.
Blinking my eyes open, I saw the hottest man in the universe delivering breakfast to me.
“All right, Amy. Look what I’ve got for you. Breakfast in bed.”
Where had this man been all my life?
“You’re going to spoil me rotten, Dawson.”
“Naw. That wouldn’t be possible,” he said as he set down a tray with eggs and bacon on it.
I tucked in to the food, surprised at how hungry I was. But then I realized I hadn’t eaten all day. In fact, I hadn’t had anything since last night at dinnertime.
As I devoured the food I asked, “Where did you find eggs? I didn’t think I had any.”
“You didn’t. Your fridge looked like it was on an active starvation diet. I ran to the store and picked up a few things.”
“Did you keep the receipt? I’ll pay you back.”
I’d been trying to save money lately, so I’d reduced my grocery budget down to the bare necessities. I had about a thousand ramen noodle packets and a big tub of oatmeal in the kitchen, but not much else.
“Naw, that’s not necessary. I’m eating the food, too.”
I looked the man up and down. He didn’t have a plate of food for himself.
“I mean, I already ate. Actually, a couple times. You slept forever, and I got really hungry.”
“You look like you could eat a lot. You’d probably make my grocery budget double.”
His face lit up as I realized what I’d implied.
“Oh. I didn’t mean—”
“Naw. I know what you meant. You meant if you replaced the Boinkacorn with the real thing.”
My mouth dropped open. “How do you know the name of my…”
Dawson looked absolutely delighted. “You don’t remember? You told me last night. We had a long conversation about your vibrator.”
I tried to think back. The pain medication they’d given me in the hospital had wiped me out. I wasn’t used to taking anything stronger than aspirin.
But I remembered enough, embarrassment flooding through me. I let out a low groan, then asked, “I hit on you, didn’t I?”
His eyes took on a warm glow as he stared back at me contentedly. “You might have flirted a little. But I can assure you that I didn’t mind.”
I was getting too used to having him around. But I needed to keep in mind that despite his flirty words and happy eyes, we didn’t know each other well yet. And this arrangement was just temporary.
When I finished my meal, he asked, “Any interest in taking a bath and getting a fresh change of clothes?”
“Yeah.” That sounded like the next step back to normalcy for me. The doctor had recommended that I bathe instead of showering while I had the cast on.
“Can you handle it on your own?” he asked as his eyes drifted down to my t-shirt.
I nodded. “I think I can do it.”
“Maybe I’ll just stay right here, and if you need something, holler out,” he said as he laid back down on my bed looking like a tasty treat.
I hobbled into the master bathroom and started running the water for my bath, then used my good arm to tug my t-shirt up.
Hm. Easier said than done. The t-shirt was tight, and I only managed to hitch it up on one side.
Okay, I’ll start with the jeans.
It was a struggle, but I managed to get them unzipped and down one hip before I got stuck again.
Getting the clothes off the left side of my body was proving to be more difficult than I’d imagined.
“Damn it.” I needed to watch a YouTube video on how people managed this.
I was already envisioning my wardrobe for the next six weeks involving loose dresses that would be easier to get on and off.
“You all right in there?” Dawson rumbled on the other side of the door.
He must have heard me struggling.
This was not how I wanted to get naked with this man. But I didn’t see much option.
“Um… if you promise to shut your eyes, could you help a little?”
A throaty chuckle made it through the door. His voice was low and gruff, like rusted steel. “Yes, ma’am, I’d be more than happy to help.”
He opened the door and looked at me sitting on the toilet seat, my clothes half-on.
“You’re supposed to shut your eyes,” I told him as he studied me.
“Sure. I just needed to get the lay of the land first. So you want your clothes off, right?” he asked as he closed his eyes.
“Yes, please.”
I had to admit that he looked absolutely delighted to have this task.
He stepped forward and reached out for me, misjudging. His big hands landed on my shoulders, then one explored its way up my neck to caress my cheek.
“All right. Now I know where I am,” he rumbled.
Then his touch grazed back down, and he accidentally ran a hand across one of my breasts.
I gasped as a shiver of heat raced through me.
“Sorry, Amy. I might have grabbed the wrong spot.” He made it to the hem of my t-shirt. “Okay, hold your arms up.”
I lifted my arms while he inched the shirt up over my head.
To say that I felt exposed would be accurate. And while I did feel vulnerable, I also felt like I was in safe hands.
He got the t-shirt off and sucked in a breath, his voice deeper than I’d heard it before. “Do you need any help with the jeans?”
Was it just me, or had the temperature shot up by a thousand degrees in the last two minutes?
In a squeaky voice I said, “That would be very kind of you.”
His eyes were still shut as he found my waist, hands settling on my hips. “This is definitely the best first date I’ve ever had.”
“Is that what this is? Did you tell me to ride the bull just so you could end up in my house?”
He grinned as he hooked a finger into the band of my jeans and tugged the left side down.
“Yup. You’ve uncovered my evil mastermind plot. This whole thing was just a ruse to get you in bed.”
He tugged my jeans lower until they were down to my ankles. “Lift one of your legs, Amy.”
I lifted my left foot until he got the jeans off, then my right.
And then I was standing here in my bathroom, in just my bra and panties, with this big, rugged mountain hunk.
This proved that I needed to listen to Dee more often. Because this never would have happened if I’d stayed home and watched my favorite show on TV last night.
Dawson was grinning, his hands slipping back up my body now, rubbing across bare skin, setting off fireworks between my thighs.
“Do you need any help with your undies? Or your bra?”
He seemed more than hopeful. He seemed a little ravenous.
“I think I’ve got it from here.”
“Mmm. Too bad. I’ll just wait outside the door for you.”
With his eyes still shut, he found the doorknob and let himself out, closing the bathroom door behind him.
I let out a series of fast breaths the second he shut the door.
That man was going to do me in. Streaks of need filled me as every inch of my skin that he’d touched tingled. I realized I’d gone wet for that man, my pussy throbbing and begging for the real thing.
Silicone can only get you so far.
But I put all those rabid thoughts aside and worked on unhooking my bra. It was a challenge, but I got there in the end. Then I managed to get my panties off.
Turning off the water, I stared at the tub.
It was funny how much we take things for granted. With only one arm, and the other one needing to stay dry, I wasn’t exactly sure how to get in the tub.
I stepped in and tried to lower myself down, but it didn’t work. I held on to the rim with one hand, but it still didn’t work.
One thing was certain. I was not going to have that hunky man help me get in the tub.
So, I just went for it. I lowered myself as much as I could, balancing on one arm, then I let myself fall the rest of the way in.
Water splashed over the rim, and gravity came quicker than I expected, but I had done it.
I was used to being independent, so I felt a surge of pride.
“You all right?” Dawson asked with a hint of worry in his sexy voice.
“Yeah. I’m fine. That was just me getting in the tub.”
“Mm. All right.”
I soaped myself down, excited to get clean again, then tried to figure out how to wash my hair.
I got the shampoo worked into my scalp, but I couldn’t rinse it out.
Shit.
After a few minutes of trying, I swallowed my pride and called out, “Dawson?”
“Yup.”
“This is asking a lot. Could you help me with my hair?”
He chuckled, a deep happy rumble, and said, “Yes, ma’am.”
A second later the door swung open, and he came towards me with mostly shut eyes, but I could see him peeking a little.
He kneeled down next to the tub and ran a hand up my back while I held an arm over my breasts.
Dawson started massaging the shampoo into my hair while he rumbled, “So I’ve got a question to ask. Why didn’t you want anything to do with me at the bar last night?”
I moaned in satisfaction as his big, strong hands gently rubbed my scalp, drifting down to massage my neck and then my shoulders.
Dawson was going to ruin me for any other men. I didn’t want to wake up and have this fairy tale end, but I knew it was too good to be true.
So I told him the truth. I didn’t have anything to lose.