Chapter 27 #2
She and Hector exchanged a look, and I felt totally out of the loop.
“I’m sorry…I’m obviously missing something,” I added. “What does that mean exactly?”
“On his podcast, Steve only mentioned seven other women, not nine,” Andrews pointed out, “which had him digging into it more. Plus, then he asked Diden more about Jennings and where he had lived. Once she gave him the backstory of how he’d moved around a lot, Stanton started to put the pieces together. ”
Wow.
Hector leaned forward, his elbows landing on his knees with his hands clasped together.
“Now, on the topic of your cabin,” Andrews said, looking sympathetic. “The good news is it’s not a complete loss. The bad news is you won’t be able to move back anytime soon.”
I turned to look at Hector, but his face was as stoic as ever. Still, I placed my hand on his forearm, squeezing gently.
“It’s just a cabin,” he said. “It can be rebuilt.”
I knew he was right, but I still felt bad. Not just because it was his home, but because I loved it there. It gave me peace and serenity that I had only ever felt in one other place in my life—the O’Haras’ farm.
“You got a place to stay in the meantime?” Andrews asked. “I know the fire makes it unlivable, but even if it was, being that it’s part of a crime scene, we wouldn’t let you back in for a few days. So I can help you get a hotel for a few days until you figure something out.”
“You can stay with me,” I told him.
I knew my place was smaller, but I liked having him there, and Sarge too.
“Thanks,” he said to me and then turned back to Andrews. “I’ll be with Iris if you need anything.”
Andrews just smiled at the two of us and then started listing off a few procedural things.
The adrenaline must have finally worn off, because the next thing I knew, Hector was waking me up.
“Iris,” he said softly to me while stroking the side of my face. “Wake up, babe. It’s time to head back to your place and get some sleep.”
“Mmmhmmm,” I mumbled groggily as I slowly woke up.
Hector helped walk me to a silver sedan that Agent Andrews apparently was loaning us for the night until we could make arrangements to get new vehicles, since both of ours were goners.
I must have fallen asleep again, because I came to as Hector was trying to lift me out of the seat to carry me up the stairs.
“I can walk, Hector,” I told him.
“You sure?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I told him, and he held my hand as we walked up to my unit.
While Hector made one last phone call to his boss, I hopped into the shower, needing to get rid of the smoke smell and bad juju from the day.
I had been standing under the hot water for a few minutes when Hector climbed into the shower with me, naked and gloriously good-looking.
Needing a pull from his energy and strength, I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around him, pressing my forehead to his chest.
“You doing okay?” he asked, rubbing his hands up and down my back soothingly.
“Yeah, why?” I muttered, enjoying the comfort that he gave me.
“Because you’re going through an adrenaline dump, and sometimes that can stir things up in people after a traumatizing event,” he mentioned, and I realized he was right.
I hadn’t really given myself the time or space to think about everything we had been through, but the thing my mind seemed to focus on first was the cabin fire.
“Hector, I’m sorry I didn’t think to grab some of your important things from your house to save.” My voice strained as guilt washed over me that I hadn’t grabbed at least some photos or something.
“The only things in that house I wanted to save were you and Sarge,” he said, tilting my head back to look at me. “Nothing else matters—nothing.”
He leaned down and kissed me, gently but with conviction, as though he knew he’d almost lost me tonight.
Pulling back, he looked down into my eyes. “Did you wash your hair yet?”
I shook my head, and he reached down to grab my shampoo bottle. “I’ll do it. Tilt back.”
He lathered his hands up and began to massage it through my hair and scalp in a way that sent tingles through my whole body.
“Oh, my God. Why are you so good at that?” I asked, tilting my head back and enjoying the feel of his fingers kneading my scalp.
“I used to have longer hair, remember?” he said, and I vaguely remembered that, but then my mind blanked as his fingers continued to work their magic through my hair.
“Woman, you keep making those noises, and we’re never gonna leave here,” he said in a gruff, throaty tone.
I hadn’t even realized I was making any noises, but that was what Hector did to me. My brain ceased to function whenever his hands were on me.
“Iris,” he said, but it was a warning. “Let’s finish up in here, and we can go to bed.”
I hope he didn’t mean to just sleep. I wanted sleep, but I also wanted his hands and mouth all over me.
With that thought, I hurried up in the shower. After drying off and brushing my hair and teeth, I climbed into bed to wait for Hector, who was taking Sarge out for the last time.
Despite my best efforts, exhaustion overtook me, and moments later, all snuggled in bed, I was lulled into dreamland.
That dreamland was a wonderful place that included snuggling with Hector and Sarge. Being lost to that dreamworld—as good as it was—was how I almost missed hearing Hector tell me he loved me for the first time as he drifted to sleep with me tucked up against his side.