Chapter Ten
When Retta opened her eyes the next morning, it took her a moment to figure out where she was and why she felt so groggy.
She moaned and brought her hand up to cover her face. She’d had a great time with the girls last night, but she’d definitely had more wine than she needed. Travis had been a sweetheart, coming to pick her up – it was a long way to that restaurant from here. And he’d let her chatter away to him for the whole ride home.
When they’d arrived back at the house, he’d carried her inside and brought her straight to bed. He hadn’t bothered with the chair. He fetched the crutches and then hovered in the doorway, wanting to know that she was all right while she visited the bathroom and got undressed.
She’d been tempted to tell him that she couldn’t manage to get undressed by herself, but she hadn’t had that much wine. Instead, she’d called to him once she was under the covers, and he’d come and sat on the edge of the bed. He’d held her hand while she chattered some more about how much she liked Libby, and Ari, and Candy.
She blew out a sigh. He’d been great about it all last night, but she wouldn’t be surprised if he was now wondering what he’d gotten himself into. From what he’d seen of her until now, her behavior last night was totally out of character. She struggled to sit up. She wanted to say that it was out of character for her, but she had a feeling that if her life had been different, she would have been the kind of woman who went out with her friends, got giggly, and talked too much.
She held her breath when he tapped on the door and asked in a low voice, “You awake, darlin’?”
“I …” She cleared her throat, but her voice still sounded croaky when she tried again. “I am.” She just hoped that he wouldn’t open the door. She never looked great first thing in the morning – who did? – and after all that wine last night, she was probably a mess.
“I brought you a fancy-ass coffee. Is it okay if I come in?”
A rush of warmth filled her chest. She might not want him to see her in her current state, but she wanted coffee. More than that, she wanted to see him.
“Please,” she croaked.
The door opened slowly, and all her breath caught in her chest at the sight of him. He was wearing gray sweatpants – and nothing else! She finally got her first look at the broad, muscular chest that felt so good whenever he held her against it. His tattoos didn’t just cover his arms – they covered his chest, and stomach, and back, too. And as much as it surprised her, they added to his appeal.
He came in slowly, carrying a tray that held two cups of coffee, a glass of water and a plate full of pastries. Instead of coming to her, he went to the other side of the bed and set the tray on the nightstand.
“Are you comfortable sitting there?” he asked. “Do you need more pillows or anything?”
“I’m good.”
He winked. “Mind if I join you?”
She swallowed as she let her gaze travel over him. What woman in her right mind would tell him that no, she didn’t want him in bed with her?
When she finally looked back up at him, his eyes twinkled as he smiled. “I’m only offering coffee and a cuddle – for now.”
She had to laugh. “You’re something else!”
“I like to think so. Does that mean I can come in?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
He climbed in beside her and sat with his back against the headboard. When she looked up at him, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and dropped a peck on her lips.
“G’mornin’, darlin’.”
She snuggled against him. “I have to hand it to you, Trav. It is a very good morning. The best morning I’ve had in a long time.”
He grinned. “Me too. And you’re going to call me Trav, huh?”
“Unless you don’t want me to.”
“I do. I like it. It’s what my friends call me.”
She held his gaze; she wanted to say something about them becoming more than friends, but she didn’t know what words to use.
He leaned down and rested his forehead against hers. “Not saying I want you to be like my other friends, but whatever we do, friendship is the basis of it.”
She tilted her chin so that she could press her lips against his. “I want to be your friend no matter what, but I hope … I hope …” She needed to do better, she needed to start thinking in advance about what she wanted to tell him – how she wanted to express her feelings.
As usual, he made it easy on her. He pressed another quick kiss to her lips and said, “I hope so, too.” He straightened up and reached for one of the mugs. “But first, coffee. You ready?”
“Oh god, yes!”
He laughed. “Damn. If you’re that enthusiastic about getting your coffee, I can’t wait to hear what you have to say when …”
She tilted her head to the side. She didn’t understand. Then it hit her – she’d sounded as though she was … making sex noises. She could feel the heat in her cheeks as her hands came up to cover her face.
“Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you – I’m only playing with you, darlin’.”
“I know. You don’t need to apologize. I just – it took me a second, and that’s exactly how I sounded, wasn’t it?”
“Sure was. I can’t wait to hear it for real.”
She shook her head at him. “That was for real – I get a lot of pleasure out of my morning coffee.”
He chuckled. “Well, just as soon as we can go there, I intend to make sure you get a lot more pleasure out of your morning …”
She burst out laughing. “My morning what?”
He shrugged. “Cuddle? Or … something. Anyway, if you enjoy it so much, here you go, take your coffee.”
She took the mug from him and closed her eyes as she breathed in the wonderful aroma before taking her first sip.
“You really do enjoy it, don’t you?”
“I do. You’ll probably think I’m pathetic when I tell you this, but my time with my coffee in the morning is usually the best part of my day.”
“Aww. I don’t think it’s pathetic, but it makes me sad.”
“I don’t mind. I really do enjoy it.”
“Then I won’t try to outdo it – how about I try to add to it?”
“How?”
“Instead of trying to come up with something that you might like more than your morning coffee, I’ll just have to find things that add to your enjoyment.” He reached for the plate of pastries and offered it to her. “You like Danish, right?”
“I do, thank you.”
He grinned. “So now, you can have a little something sweet with your coffee.”
She reached up and touched his cheek. “And I hope soon, I can have a big something sweet with it.”
His eyes widened, and that big smile spread across his face. “You mean me?”
“I do.”
He looked down at her coffee. “I want to take that away from you so that I can kiss you, but I’ll let you drink it first.”
She laughed. “Wise man.”
~ ~ ~
They didn’t go over to the cabins until after lunch – and that was just fine by Travis. If having Retta stay with him meant that he’d get to start his days having coffee in bed with her, then he was all about it.
When he’d knocked on her door, he’d intended to sit in the armchair in her room while they had their coffee. That idea had gone out the window when he’d seen her sitting up. She looked small, and kind of frail, in the big bed, and he’d just wanted to wrap her up in his arms and keep her safe.
“Trav?”
He shook his head to bring himself back from thoughts of what he’d like to do with her in the mornings once she had that cast off.
He met her gaze with a smile. “What’s up, darlin’?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing – you were a million miles away.”
He went over to where she was sitting in the kitchen and squatted down in front of her wheelchair.
“If you want to know the truth, I wasn’t all that far away – I was only half a mile down the road.”
She gave him a puzzled smile.
“I was thinking about this morning. I can’t think of a better way to start the day than the way we did today.”
She put her hand over his. “I can’t, either. I was a little embarrassed at first. I was a mess – I always am when I wake up, and even more so this morning. I don’t remember the last time I had a hangover.”
He chuckled. “It does you good every now and then.”
“Maybe.”
He was glad that she wasn’t apologizing. Yeah, she was a little embarrassed but not so much that she couldn’t laugh about it.
“And if you were a mess, you were a beautiful mess.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “You’re the beautiful one. Have you seen yourself in those sweatpants and nothing else?”
“What, you mean those old things?” he asked with a laugh. “I only wear them for knocking around the house.”
“You know damn well what I mean. The whole bare-chested, sleep-tousled hair thing works for you. And your tattoos?” She waved a hand in front of her face. “I didn’t think that I was into tattoos, but you’re proving me wrong about that. And it hadn’t occurred to me that you’d be covered in them – I thought it was just your arms.”
“You’re welcome to a closer inspection any time you want to check ‘em out.”
She laughed. “Is it weird that I don’t even feel embarrassed telling you that I look forward to it?”
“Nah, I don’t think it’s weird. We don’t need to play games with each other, and we don’t need to hide anything.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I don’t feel embarrassed telling you that I’m looking forward to seeing you bare-chested.”
She laughed and swatted at his arm. “I think this cast on my leg might have done us a favor in the beginning, but it’s going to slow things down more than either of us would like.”
“Yeah, but that’s okay. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
“I hope so.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. I hope that we won’t find out that we get on each other’s nerves now that we’re sharing space. I don’t know about you, but I’m used to being alone. Of course I’m around people all day at work, but …”
He smiled. “I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes. Do me a favor and tell me if I start getting on your nerves?”
“I will – I’ll have to. Will you do the same for me?”
“Sure. Is there anything that you’re not happy with so far? Anything that makes you uncomfortable?”
She hesitated before she said, “No” and that made him smile.
“I thought you were going to be honest with me.”
“I am.”
“But?”
She rolled her eyes. “I am being honest – I’m not uncomfortable, and I am happy. But …”
He raised his eyebrows and waited.
“I think I just want to head off any issues before they arise.”
“What kind of issues?”
“I’m starting to get irritated about being stuck in this thing.” She patted the arm of the wheelchair. “I’m used to doing for myself. I love to cook – it’s how I relax at the end of the day. I’m not used to having anyone do things for me. You’ve been doing everything. You cook and clean up after we eat. You carry me around – not that I’m complaining about that.”
He winked. “I was going to ask if you’ll need any help taking a shower, too.”
She laughed. “I’m going to need to figure something out.”
“This is me volunteering my services.”
She held his gaze. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Sure am.”
She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “We’ll see, but where I was going was that I can see myself starting to get crabby soon if I can’t manage to do more. I know it won’t be at you, but since we’re together so much, I might take it out on you.”
“It’d be weird if you didn’t.”
“Maybe so, but I don’t want to do that.”
“Any ideas on how we can stop it from getting to that point?”
“I could cook for us.”
He sat back on his heels. “Could you, though?”
She nodded vigorously. “I cooked for Callie and Kolby the other night. Callie wasn’t thrilled about it, but Kolby hovered the whole time and I was fine. And Callie soon came around when she got to eat my chicken and dumplings.”
He rubbed his hand over his chin.
“I’m not saying I’m some great cook or anything, but when it comes to comfort food, I’m your girl.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Of comfort food?”
“Of you being my girl.”
Her smile lit up her whole face. “Then we should find a way for me to cook for you.”
“I guess.”
A small smile lingered on her lips. “You make a great burger, and I enjoyed the pizza, but you told me yourself that you’re not much of a cook. I bet we’ve already eaten everything you know how to make, haven’t we?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, but I was thinking I could stop in and see one of the caterers up in town. I heard that they’ve started doing weekly deliveries. They cook everything, and all you need to do is warm it up.”
“Oh no! I’m not eating week old food that someone else made – not when I can make it for us.” She squeezed his hand. “Please?”
“Okay. But all I’m saying is, we’ll see how it goes. Having me hover over you in the kitchen might make you crabbier than staying confined to you chair would.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think so.”
“We’ll give it a go.”
“Tonight?”
“If you want to.”
“I do. I honestly think I should be spending more time on my feet and less on my ass.”
“We can talk to Trip about that. I don’t want you overdoing it, but I know you need to get moving at some point. When’s your appointment with him?”
“Next Tuesday. I wish I didn’t have to wait that long but …”
He grinned. “That’s the good thing about him being my best bud.” He took his phone out of his back pocket.
“No. You mustn’t. I don’t want you bothering him on my behalf.”
“I’m not,” he said as he tapped out a text. “I’m bothering him on my behalf – I’m asking him to set my mind at ease about how much you can do – and what you shouldn’t be doing.”
He put his phone away – he didn’t expect Trip to answer straight away, he’d be busy in the clinic.
“What do you think? Do you have your list of what this place is going to need? Are we ready to move on to the next cabin?”
“No. I want to go through the cabinets and see what’s here. The first couple of cabins were easy – the kitchens were bare, but this one’s better equipped. Some of it’s old and needs replacing, though. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to – I promise you I’ll stay in my chair.”
He checked his watch. “Would you be alright for an hour if I run over to the restaurant and check in with Ty?”
“Of course. I’m supposed to be helping you – not taking up all your time.”
He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I like spending my time with you.”
“I do, too, but that’s another thing – I don’t think spending every minute of every day together is necessarily a good thing.”
He chuckled. “I’m glad you said that. Since you’ve been honest, I’ll do the same. The last relationship I had, she thought we should be together every waking minute and …” He shuddered; he couldn’t help it. “She didn’t even want to go out with her friends like you did the other night. I … that felt claustrophobic to me.”
“It would to me, too. I enjoy your company, Trav, but I don’t want to be around you twenty-four-seven.”
He grinned. “Good.”
She laughed and made a shooing motion. “So, would you get your ass out of here and let me get on with it?”
“As long as you promise you’ll text me if you need anything – and you won’t try getting out of that thing.”
“I promise.”
“Okay then, I’ll see you in about an hour.”
She laughed. “Take all the time you need – it’s not like I’m going anywhere, is it?”