Sweet Dreams (The Sterling Brothers #5)

Chapter 1

Reina

"Reina! Reina!"

It must have been a dream, because my brother's best friend, Morgan Sterling, was calling my name, and he had no reason to be in my apartment.

I wanted to call out, but I couldn't seem to open my mouth.

It was hard to breathe.

There was smoke everywhere.

If I was having a dream, I needed to wake up.

"Reina! Tell me where you are."

I jerked awake, immediately sucking in smoke. "I'm here! In the bedroom," I called, but my voice was cracked and weak. I rolled to the floor, staying low, hoping I'd find fresher air here.

"Is there any fire in your room?"

All I could see was smoke. "No."

The door to my bedroom burst open, slamming against the wall. Morgan ran into the room, falling to his knees in front of me. "Can you walk?"

"I think so."

He helped me stand, and when I stumbled, he bit off a curse.

My lungs were burning, and it felt like I'd been breathing in smoke for a while.

"There's no time." Morgan swung me into his arms and carried me out of the bedroom.

That's when I realized. "The bakery—"

Morgan looked down at me with a pained expression. "I got you."

My eyes pricked from the smoke and tears. My home. My bakery. Everything was on fire. The door was already open, and there were several firefighters standing there in full gear.

My chest constricted at the site. Their presence made everything more real.

"I'll take her," one of the firefighters offered, but Morgan tucked me close to his chest, moved quickly down the stairs, and dropped to his knees on the grass.

As soon as he set me down, my body was racked with coughs.

He helped me roll to the side, and I was so grateful that he was there. He brushed my hair out of my eyes, and his face was etched with concern. "Reina—"

Before he could finish speaking, we were surrounded by paramedics shouting questions. I was rolled to my back and an oxygen mask went over my mouth. Panicked, I reached for Morgan's hand and held on tight.

"I'm right here. Not going anywhere." His voice was soothing, the anchor I needed in this moment.

His face was covered in soot, but I didn't want to see anyone else. He could have been hurt trying to save me.

I had been asleep, and I could have inhaled too much smoke and never woken up. If Morgan hadn't pulled me out, would the firefighters have gotten to me in time?

I could've died.

There was a lot of commotion with the firefighters battling the fire and the paramedics talking about getting me to the hospital.

"Reina should go to the hospital to get checked out," Maddox said to Morgan.

Maddox was the fire chief and appeared to be in charge of the scene.

Morgan nodded. "I'll go with her."

"You should get checked out too," Maddox said, but the stretcher lifted into the air, and I was being rolled around the building toward the ambulance.

I had a feeling there were people watching the scene play out, and I closed my eyes against the intrusion, feeling vulnerable and exposed.

I couldn't believe that there was a fire in my building. I had no idea what this would mean for my life going forward. If it was destroyed, I'd lose everything.

When the paramedics lifted my stretcher into the ambulance, Morgan's hand fell away, and my heart squeezed.

He stepped into the vehicle and sat next to me, his hand reaching for mine again.

I let out a breath when our palms touched. I never would have thought that I'd be seeking comfort from Morgan at a moment like this. Despite his friendship with my brother, I had very little interaction with him over the years.

He wasn't a firefighter. It wasn't even clear why he was nearby. But he'd known I was at home, and he'd broken into my apartment and carried me out. My heart rate picked up at the thought of him, holding me close, refusing to hand me off to a firefighter. What did it mean?

Morgan was my brother's best friend. The guy who'd hung around at my house, growing up. I'd watched him grow from an awkward, gangly teen to a man who was fit and strong. He hadn't bothered to tease me or give me a hard time like my brother had.

The ride to the hospital was short, and I was quickly moved into an exam room. Once we were alone, Morgan pulled up a chair next to the bed and asked, "You okay?"

I reached for the oxygen mask so that I could respond, but he said, "Keep that on until the doctor says you can take it off."

I didn't argue because my lungs were burning. My hands trembled as I lowered them to the bed.

He raised a concerned brow. "You want me to call your brother?"

I shook my head. My parents had moved to Florida a few years ago, and my brother was deployed. I never wanted to scare him while he was gone. He couldn't lose focus, especially since I was okay, or I would be.

Tom didn't need to know about a little smoke inhalation or the setback to my business. I needed him to come home safe. And to ensure that, he didn't need to know about my troubles. He wouldn't be able to come home now anyway.

Morgan scrutinized me, and I wondered what he saw. Was I covered in soot too? "I'm going to revisit that question."

I sighed into the mask as a nurse came into the room to take my vitals and ask questions. Morgan told her what happened, and I took the opportunity to pull off my mask. "Can you check him too? His arm is red."

My voice was raspy.

The nurse held his arm. "Let's get you into another room so you can get that looked at."

Morgan's jaw tightened. "I want to stay. She doesn't have any family in town."

The nurse's gaze flicked to me. "Okay. The doctor can examine both of you here."

The doctor came into the room and examined the information the nurse had inputted on the chart.

Then he moved around to my side of the bed.

"You're going to feel tired and weak for a while.

But your energy level will improve with time.

" Then the doctor looked at Morgan. "It will be easier for her to breathe if she's propped on pillows.

She's going to need plenty of rest and sleep. Keep an eye on her."

Morgan nodded. "Will do."

My stomach sank. I couldn't go back to my apartment, and I didn't have any family who could take care of me.

When the doctor left, I struggled to sit up, and Morgan moved to adjust the pillows. "I don't have anywhere to live."

My voice was hoarse, and it hurt to speak.

Morgan settled the mask gently over my mouth again. "You need to keep that on."

I narrowed my eyes because I couldn't talk with the mask on.

"You can stay with me."

I shook my head. It was much harder to argue with someone when you couldn't use your voice.

"You can stay in the guest room. If Tom were here, he would insist you stay with us." Then he looked away. "I promised him I'd look after you."

My stomach twisted. Is that why he'd come to my rescue? My brother asked him to protect me? I pulled off my mask. "I don't need you to take care of me."

He sighed, replacing the mask. "You have to keep this on."

I appreciated that he'd gotten me out of the fire and had come with me to the hospital. But I didn't like that it was coming from some misguided obligation to my brother.

"Tom wanted me to look after you. He'd want me to help you when he couldn't be here."

I'd never been this close to Morgan or spent this much time with him. And I wasn't sure how it would be living together. And it was clear that this was something he was doing for my brother, not me.

But I bided my time. I'd have this mask off soon enough, and then I could tell him what I thought of his sense of obligation.

At the same time, I didn't want to be alone. What if there was another fire? Would I wake up in time? Would I be able to get out?

A nurse came in to look at Morgan's hand, applying ointment before wrapping it in gauze. She gave him instructions on how to care for his wound and for my smoke inhalation.

It was the middle of the night before we were discharged. I just wanted to sleep, but my eyes and my lungs burned. I was still shaky from the whole ordeal, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to fall asleep, not after waking to the nightmare of a fire.

The nurse wheeled me outside, and Morgan pulled up to the curb with his truck. He lifted me into the front seat and leaned over to buckle my seatbelt, making my breath catch.

"Maverick drove my truck here, and Belle took him home," he said as if that was what I was focused on when he was standing so close.

I was more enamored with the beard that lined his jaw. "That was nice of him."

"I'd just come out of the bar when I saw the fire. Belle told me you were upstairs asleep." He closed my door and rounded the hood.

The cab was clean and smelled good, surprising for a construction worker.

He got into the driver's seat and looked over at me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me."

He gave me a look. "You're Tom's sister, and he's not here. It's my job to worry about you."

I let out an irritated breath. "I'm sure he doesn't expect you to take care of me just because he's not here."

"Every time he’s deployed, he’s made me promise to look after you while he's gone. He worries about you, especially since your parents retired and moved to Florida. You don't have any other family here."

I wasn't sure what to say to that. It sounded a little ridiculous but, at the same time, sweet.

"He'd never hold you to that, you know."

He glanced over at me. "I wouldn't have made the promise if I didn't intend to keep it."

It was like he'd pricked my heart with a needle. I wasn't sure what it said about me, but I kind of loved that Morgan was a man of his word. I should be an independent woman, and I didn't like my brother interfering in my life. "I guess that promise extends to pulling me out of burning buildings."

His fingers tightened around the wheel. "I just happened to be there. Maverick said to wait for the firefighters. They have the gear, oxygen masks."

Everything he didn't have when he went into my apartment. "I appreciate your heroics. But I promise that Tom wouldn't want you to sacrifice yourself for me."

"I'd like to think I would have done that for anyone, but when Belle said that you were inside sleeping, I didn't think about anything else besides getting you out. I couldn't wait for anyone else to do it. Every second matters in those situations."

As soon as he carried me out of the apartment, firefighters were already on the scene.

I probably would have been okay, but I loved that he hadn't hesitated to rescue me.

It struck some primal part of me that enjoyed the white-knight-in-shining-armor tale.

The only snag in that fantasy was that he'd done it for my brother, not for me. I couldn't forget that.

"Are you sure you want me sleeping in your place?" I asked, giving him an out.

"Tom would want you to be safe, and everything in my house is updated. There are no fire hazards."

"That's good to know," I said, because it seemed important to him that the electrical was up to date. I appreciated that he was reassuring me, but it wasn't the state of the electrical in his home that would make me feel safe—it was him.

"I'm sorry that we weren't able to get it fixed before there was a fire. I don't know how bad it is—"

The pain shot through my chest at the thought of the bakery being closed tomorrow and for the foreseeable future. How long would it be out of commission?

"We'll go over there tomorrow. I bet Maddox will have more information for us then."

I rested my head on the seat. "I need to deal with insurance."

"Eve will be involved too. She's the town manager, and the town owns that building. I'm sure she'll want me to do a thorough inspection, and we'll get everything fixed for you."

"I don't even want to think about that tonight." I felt like I'd survived something big. I'd worry about the fate of my business tomorrow.

He pulled into a driveway in a neighborhood of newer homes on larger lots. "Let's get you inside. I'm sure you want to take a shower and grab some sleep."

I got out of the truck, then realized I didn't have anything with me.

He drew to a stop in front of me. "What's wrong?"

I threw up my arms. "I don't have a change of clothes or toiletries."

"You can use mine for tonight. We can grab things from your place tomorrow."

"I don't want to be a burden," I said

"You're not." He guided me toward the porch, unlocking the door and pushing it open.

Inside, he'd left a few lamps on that gave a warm glow. It was a nice home for a bachelor.

"You probably want to shower and get rid of the smoke smell."

He led me to a bedroom with a bed, dresser, and a desk. There weren't any pictures or knickknacks to give me an idea of the kind of person Morgan was, outside of rescuing women from fires.

"The bathroom's through that door. I'll grab shampoo and be right back."

I sat on the bed, wondering how so much had changed in such a short time.

He returned with a bottle of shampoo and body wash. "There should be towels in the bathroom."

I took the offered items. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

"I'd do anything for Tom." Then he patted the door frame and walked away.

In the bathroom, I found towels and turned on the water. I needed to get rid of the smell of smoke. But I had a feeling it would linger for a while.

The bigger problem wasn't the smoke or the damage to my bakery and home; it was living with Morgan Sterling. How was I going to live with him and not give into this attraction I felt for him?