Chapter 23
HALLIE
I was floating in a sea of warmth. Everything about it was wonderful. Like a cocoon of safety, comfort, and heat. I let out a moan, trying to burrow deeper.
An arm tightened around me, and I froze. An arm? My eyes flew open. The living room filled my vision, credits rolling on the screen. But Charlie, Drew, and Luke were nowhere in sight.
I shifted slightly and realized why I was so warm and comfy. I was lying on Lawson. Practically using him as a mattress and blanket all in one.
Slowly, I pulled back, meeting his gaze. “I’m so sorry.”
He chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. You’re cute when you sleep. You burrow like a kitten.”
I flushed. “I practically accosted you.”
A grin spread across Lawson’s face. “I’ve taken self-defense. I could’ve extricated myself if I wanted.”
What the hell did that mean? I knew what I wanted it to mean.
What his hands on my face had meant in the kitchen.
But I feared it was simple kindness and nothing more.
He’d told me straight out that he wasn’t equipped for relationships.
Only I knew there wasn’t anyone else I’d rather try to find normal with.
Lawson’s thumb glided up and down my arm, sending pleasant shivers coursing through me. “Good nap?”
“I don’t think I’ve slept that deeply in years.” Not since I took pills to knock me out in the hopes of getting a single decent night’s sleep.
He frowned. “Have you been having nightmares?”
I shifted in place, but it only brought me closer to Lawson. Too close. That scent of sage and bergamot wrapped around me.
Lawson lifted his hand, sliding it along my jaw until his fingers tangled in my hair. He tipped my head back, so I was forced to meet his gaze. “Talk to me, Hallie.”
“They’ve been worse since the missing woman was found,” I admitted.
A curse slipped out, almost under his breath. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s just the way things are.”
But I could see from the look on Lawson’s face that he was taking my nightmares on the way he took on everything else. As if it were his personal responsibility to fix it.
I shifted my hand, placing it on his chest. His heart beat in a steady rhythm through the muscle. “Don’t take this on.”
Lawson’s jaw clenched. “I hate the idea of you being scared and hurting.”
My breaths came quicker, but not because of anxiety. Because Lawson cared. Because he was so close, it would only take the smallest of movements to close the distance between us. To finally know what he tasted like.
“I’m not scared now,” I whispered.
It was an invitation and a challenge.
Lawson’s gaze dropped to my mouth, his eyes tracing my lips. He moved the slightest bit, coming closer, so close I could practically feel the heat of his mouth and taste the promise of him.
“Daaaaaaad! I can’t find my toothpaste,” Charlie yelled.
Lawson dropped his hold on me as if he’d been burned. He quickly stood, clearing his throat. “Better go find that before we have cavities on our hands.”
Disappointment coursed through me, my body still tingling from his touch. “Go on. I’ll clean this up.”
I got to my feet as soon as Lawson disappeared. I tidied the living room and turned off the TV, but the whole time, I did it imagining what it would be like to kiss Lawson Hartley.
Laughter came from down the hall as I pulled a baggy sweatshirt over my leggings.
The sun was streaming through the window, bright and strong.
I’d tossed and turned all night, my dreams alternating between ones that had me fighting not to scream and others that left a throbbing pressure pulsing between my legs.
The latter were always of Lawson. His face. His hands. His tongue.
I buried my face in my hands. “Get it together, Hallie.”
Pulling my hair into a topknot, I blew out a breath and headed toward the sound of chaos.
“Daaaaaad, come on,” Charlie whined.
“We’re waiting for Hallie so she can have first pick,” Lawson chastised.
“This is cruel and unusual punishment, bruh. Isn’t that against the law?” Drew asked.
I rounded the corner to find all four Hartleys converged on the kitchen island, hovering over two bakery boxes.
“We can’t have anyone going to prison,” I murmured.
Drew raised his hands to the sky. “Hallelujah! Please come pick a donut so we can eat.”
Luke stifled a chuckle. “Drew might never forgive you for having to smell donuts a full fifteen minutes before he could eat them.”
“It’s brutal,” Drew shot back.
“You didn’t have to wait for me.” I glanced at Lawson and immediately regretted the move as images from my dreams filled my mind.
Lawson moved in closer to me so his heat seeped into my side. “Wanted you to have first pick.”
Charlie opened one box and then the second. “The chocolate sprinkles are my favorite!”
My eyes went wide. There had to be almost two dozen donuts in various shapes, sizes, and flavors. “Who is going to eat all of these?”
“These’ll be gone in probably an hour or two tops,” Luke informed me.
“Pick one! Pick one!” Charlie chanted.
Lawson leaned in closer, his breath ghosting over my ear. “What flavor do you want?”
A shiver coursed through me, one I never wanted to end.
I scanned the options and settled on a pink frosted donut with rainbow sprinkles. Plucking it from the box, I straightened. “This one.”
“How’d I know you’d be strawberry?” Lawson asked with a grin.
“Good guesser,” I mumbled, nearly dropping my donut.
“Me next! Me!” Charlie yelled.
Lawson chuckled. “Pick a number between one and ten but don’t say it,” he instructed me.
“Okay…”
Drew immediately shouted, “Five!”
“Nine!” Charlie cheered.
Luke grinned. “I’m going with…two.”
“It was three,” I admitted.
“Aw, man!” Charlie complained.
Luke snatched up a Boston cream. Then Drew went for double chocolate. And Charlie got his chocolate sprinkles.
I turned to Lawson, who wasn’t touching me but was still closer than he normally was. “What about you?”
He reached in and snagged a bar with golden frosting. “Butterscotch all the way.”
“Gross,” Drew muttered.
“Your tastebuds are malfunctioning,” Lawson shot back.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a butterscotch donut,” I admitted. Donuts hadn’t exactly been a staple around the Astor home. French pastries, sure. Donuts, never.
Lawson held it out to me. “Try a bite.”
I sucked in a breath as my eyes locked with his. I leaned forward, taking a small bite of the confection. Sweet and almost caramelly flavors played on my tongue. “That is delicious.”
Lawson’s gaze heated. “Told you.” And then he took a bite right from where I had eaten.
My stomach dipped and rolled as heat pooled low. I forced my gaze away and back to my donut but didn’t miss the look Luke gave me and his father. Crud.
A phone rang, and Lawson pulled his cell from his pocket. “Hartley.”
He quickly straightened, setting his donut on the counter. “When?”
There was another pause. “Okay. Call in everyone else and get Roan, too. I want word getting out to Fish and Wildlife in case they spot something. I’ll be at the station in fifteen.”
He tapped the screen, ending the call.
“You gotta work?” Charlie asked, sounding bummed.
Lawson ruffled his hair. “Sorry about that, bud. I’m still going to try to make dinner at Grandma and Grandpa’s.”
“I can take them and drop them off if you’re late,” I offered.
“You sure you’re okay watching them on your day off? I could call Grae and see if she and Caden can come over.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. I don’t have any plans today. We’ll figure out something fun to do.”
Something passed over Lawson’s eyes. “Stick close to the house or in town.”
My stomach dropped. “Okay.”
Lawson moved then, grabbing his wallet and keys. I followed him to the door, pitching my voice low. “What happened?”
His deep blue eyes locked with mine. “Another woman’s missing.”