Chapter 14
REBEKAH
I took a deep breath as I snuggled into Beau’s arms. I loved being carried, but there have been very few men in my life who have been able to do it without making it seem like it was such a hardship.
He placed me on the front seat of his truck and tucked the blanket I stole from his house around me snugly.
I didn’t mean to break into his home, not technically.
I was missing him, though, and I was stressed that something was going to happen to him while he was gone.
I was seeking comfort, and I wouldn’t apologize for that.
I must have fallen asleep again because when I woke up, we were in the driveway of Beau’s house and not mine. “What are we doing here?” I sleepily mumbled as he reached across to unbuckle me before collecting me into his arms once more.
“I’m not ready to let you out of my sight yet, so I hope it’s okay that I brought you here instead. If you don’t feel comfortable, I can take you home.”
“No, it’s okay. I would love to stay with you.”
He closed the door of the truck before walking into the mudroom on the side of the garage. I might have done some snooping when I snuck over here and stole the blanket I was still bundled up in.
Beau didn’t waste any time heading into his bedroom and dropping me on the bed. I bounced a few times before I crawled up to the top and wrapped myself up again. He walked around the room, performing what seemed like a routine.
It was mesmerizing to watch him do whatever it was that he was doing, so I sat back and just enjoyed the show. “Having fun there, Sweets?”
“Uh… yeah. This is great.”
“You look real snug tucked up in my bed with my blanket. A blanket I know for certain was on my couch when I left four days ago.”
My cheeks flamed, and I faked a yawn. “You know, I’m really tired. I should probably try to go back to sleep. Yeah, I think it’s my bedtime.”
“Mhm, I see. Since we both know that you should have been asleep hours ago, how about you answer my question instead? How did the blanket that was on my couch end up wrapped around you at the office?”
“Maybe you forgot that you brought it into the office.”
“No, I don’t think that was it.”
“Finnnneee. I might have accidentally unlocked your front door and accidentally found the blanket lying lonely on the couch. It needed a friend.”
“Accidentally? Is that so?”
“Yep! That’s totally it. An accident, really.”
“Rebekah Leigh! You can’t just break into people's homes.”
“Why not Beauregard?”
“Because you can get into trouble, or worse, get hurt doing something dumb.” There was a pause, like his brain was running on dial-up internet. “Wait, what did you just call me?”
There was no holding back the giggle that bubbled in my chest. I might have brought his mail in while I snuck in to borrow the blanket. I’d noticed that the envelope had Beau’s full name on it, and I couldn’t help but tease him about it.
“Beauregard.”
“You don’t get to call me that, you Little brat.”
“Why not? It’s a great name, really.”
“The only person who calls me that is my mother. The only name you need to worry about calling me is Beau or Daddy. Nothing else.”
“Daddy?”
“If you want. I know we haven’t had a chance to talk about it, but we will, don’t worry about that. But I wanted to throw that out there. It would mean the world to me to hear you say that name.”
I didn’t know what to say. I would love to call him Daddy, but it didn’t feel right to do that without having a conversation about us. I just nodded and pressed my lips together, giving him a small grin.
“No more talk tonight. It’s late, and we both need some sleep. Come on, slip under the covers and get comfortable. I’m going to make sure the house is locked up. I’ll be right back.”
Beau didn’t wait for me to respond before he turned and left the room. I took a moment and stole a shirt from his drawer. After quickly stripping out of my clothes, I dropped them on the chair in the corner before diving under the covers and pulling my stolen blanket up to my nose.
My eyes were drifting shut and sleep was taking over as the door opened and Beau walked back in. I felt him slip under the covers, but I didn’t want to make a move. I let out a sigh when Beau pulled me close, snuggling against me. It didn’t take long before I gave in to the pull and fell asleep.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I yawned then stretched my arms above my head.
It didn’t take but a moment for me to realize where I was lying.
His room smelled just like the blanket that I had been cuddling since Tuesday.
The smell was a little fainter now on the blanket, but I knew it wouldn’t take long for it to recharge again.
That was, if he let me keep the blanket.
It might have been slightly naughty for me to steal it, but who could blame a girl?
I was stressed as more time passed and I hadn’t heard from him.
I knew that he was okay, at least, because Seth had told me, but that didn’t convince my brain for long.
Since learning about his time in the Army, I was even more worried about him being out there.
Was it safe for him to do this kind of work with a TBI?
Did one just heal from those with no repercussions? Panic was starting to sink in again.
Jumping from the bed, I went to search for the man in question. I needed to see for myself that he was okay. If I didn’t, I would continue to spiral, and that would be a terrible start to the day.
It wasn’t hard to find him. Lifting my nose to the sky, I took a big sniff and followed the delicious smell coming out of the kitchen. Beau stood at the stove, flipping something on the stove. Aware of my presence, he turned and gave me a warm smile.
“Good morning, Sweets. I see that it’s not only my blankets that you like to steal.”
It was at that moment I remembered that I was still wearing a shirt I had borrowed when he left the room. Turning quickly, I tried to dash back to his room when his stern voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Don’t even think about it, Little brat. I like seeing you in my shirt. Might just make it a requirement that you have to wear them all the time.”
“I don’t think that would be appropriate for the office, Sir.”
He cocked an eyebrow at me before speaking. “You’re right. I would hate to beat up one of my men for seeing you dressed like that. We can just make it a requirement that you wear my shirts while you’re with me.”
I rolled my eyes at him. There was no way that we were making that a rule; I had too many cute clothes to be confined to just his shirts. I could be convinced to sacrifice my pajamas, though.
“Come sit. Breakfast is almost done. I made French toast. I hope you like it.”
“I love French toast. It’s the best breakfast food in the world. Only if you have powder sugar and syrup, too.”
“That’s a lot of sugar first thing in the morning, Sweets.”
“How do you think I get my sweet attitude and adorableness every morning? I don’t just wake up like this.”
He barked out a laugh as he slid my plate in front of me before bringing over his own plate and grabbing our drinks.
My mouth watered as I looked down. The perfect French toast sat covered in syrup, but no powdered sugar.
Not shocking since he was Mr. Greek God and probably didn’t have any on hand.
Something that we would need to fix if I were going to have breakfast here regularly.
Does Beau want me to continue having breakfast here? My stomach dropped as the thoughts swirled around my mind.
“Something wrong, Rebekah?”
“Nope!” I replied way too quickly.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Totally. I’m just bummed that I don’t have any powdered sugar,” I said, throwing him a wink.
He couldn’t fight the eye roll that escaped like he normally did. That man enjoyed my sass, and that helped calm the thoughts. If Beau didn’t want me to be around him and get to know me, I wouldn’t be at his kitchen table, dressed in his shirt and eating breakfast with him.
Using up my fork, I cut into the French toast and popped a piece into my mouth. It tasted just as delicious as it smelled. “Oh, you will have to make these more often!” I groaned, swallowed that bite, and took another.
I picked up on his slight shift in his seat and felt giddy that I had some kind of effect on him.
We continued to eat in blissful silence, just enjoying each other’s company.
I knew that we had a big conversation coming, so I wanted to take my time just existing with him before things changed.
Though, it was starting to feel like things had already changed between us.
After finishing my glass of grape juice, I leaned back and patted my belly. Breakfast was delicious, and I could have gone down for a nap now, even though I’d just woken up.
“All done, Sweets?”
“Yes, Sir. I can take my plate though!” I said as he reached for the plate in front of me.
“I’ve got it. You just go make yourself comfortable in the living room.”
Deciding not to argue, which was shocking because that was a favorite pastime of mine, I nodded and made my way to his room to grab my blanket. Beau had lost claim on it the moment I’d picked it up off his couch.
Once back in the lounge, I curled up into a ball in the corner of his couch, tucking my legs beneath me before throwing the blanket over my lap.
Finally comfortable, my head turned toward where Beau stood at the sink, rinsing the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.
Just like last night, watching him in the zone was entrancing.
Quickly darting my eyes to the TV, which sat turned off in front of me, so he didn’t catch me staring again, I began to pick at the skin around my nails. I didn’t like waiting, and I knew what was coming next for us.
I should have been excited to finally talk, but at the same time, I was terrified that Beau had changed his mind while he was on the case. Anxiety was a bitch, and mine loved to rear her ugly head at the worst times.
Beau came into the room a few moments later and sat beside me on the couch, just out of reach. “Ready to address the elephant in the room?”
“If you mean a literal elephant, we might need to go get your eyes checked, old man. If you mean the conversation we need to have, I guess we can go ahead and talk about it.”
“I know it was bad timing when I left for the case, but I’m hoping that the time apart made it easy for you to think about what you want with a clear mind.”
I nodded because I agreed that it had sucked that he had to leave, but a small part of me was grateful that I was able to think about what I wanted without having to be around him while I did it. It made my decision easy.
“I want to try. I don’t know what that means for us, and I don’t know how it’s going to work, but while you were gone, I felt like there was a small piece of me missing.
I haven’t felt that kind of connection with someone before, and that terrifies me because it’s so quick, but if I’ve learned anything in my thirty-four years, it’s that sometimes the scariest decisions are the best ones I’ll ever make. ”
Alicia’s face flashed in my mind, and warmth flooded my chest. It was like I could feel her there in this moment, cheering me on for chasing something that could have been the worst decision in my life, but also could be one of the best ones.
She would never get to know what it meant to fall for someone and grow old together, but that doesn’t mean that I should miss out on those opportunities.
She would be upset with me if I kept putting my life on hold. I mean, that was why I had moved to Shadow Heights to begin with. For a fresh start away from all the heartache and painful memories. There’s no reason why my fresh start couldn’t include the man sitting beside me.
“I would love that, Rebekah. I agree that it’s scary and feels like it’s too fast, but I want to take that risk with you. I would be honored to have you as my girl and Little.”
“Okay… Daddy.”
Beau sucked in a breath when that word left my mouth. I understood the feeling, though, because it felt natural falling from my lips. I gasped when a hand touched my foot before I was being pulled across the couch and onto his lap.
“Say it again, please.”
“Okay, Daddy. I want to jump as long as you promise to catch me.”
“Always, Sweets. I’ll always be there to catch you.”
The last word had barely left his mouth before I dropped my lips onto his. The final piece had clicked together, and my world felt settled for the first time in years.