Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
S ky sank deeper into the warm sheets.
Mm. Bed felt good this morning. Warm and cozy. Far too comfortable to get up.
She rolled to the side and an ache between her thighs had the previous night slamming back to her mind.
Her eyes sprang open.
Becket. She’d had sex with Becket. But he wasn’t in the bed with her now. Her room was empty. Not a huge surprise. He’d woken before her every morning for the last week, usually to make them coffee.
She bit her bottom lip, nerves fluttering in her belly.
Was he down there? What was he thinking? Did he regret anything?
She sat up, pulling the sheet over her chest.
If someone had told her a few months ago that she’d have sex with her stubborn, tree-destroying neighbor, she’d have thought they were insane. But now? He felt like a different person. They felt like two different people. He wasn’t her stubborn, tree-destroying neighbor anymore. He was the man who’d jumped into a reservoir to save her life. He was the guy who’d refused to leave her side for a week to help her recover.
Now, he was just Becket.
She threw back the covers. She needed coffee. A big, gigantic mug of coffee to wake her up.
Maybe he’d run home and she’d have a chance to down a coffee and feel semi-human before they saw each other and had the post-sex chat.
Wishful thinking?
She grabbed a shirt from the floor and threw it over her body. Becket’s shirt. His pine scent hit her nose, making her lower belly give a funny little kick and memories of the previous night once again play in her head.
She scrunched her eyes, her body growing hot just thinking about it.
She was halfway down the stairs when she heard the sizzle of something frying. The shuffle of footsteps.
He was still here…and not just to make coffee.
She stepped off the stairs and turned to see a very bare-chested, very sculpted Becket making breakfast. And man, oh, man, that profile looked good, with his low-hanging track pants and day-old stubble.
He turned his head, and the sexiest grin she’d ever seen immediately spread across his face. “Morning, Peaches. Nice shirt.”
“You’re making breakfast.”
The smile widened. “Bacon, eggs and waffles.”
She moved slowly into the kitchen, looking at the array of food. “I didn’t have any of those ingredients.”
“Actually, you supplied the eggs. And fortunately, I live close.” He winked before turning back to the frying pan. “I’ll make you coffee.”
She rounded the counter. “You’re actually making waffles?”
“You sound surprised.”
“You don’t look like a waffle-making kind of guy.”
One side of his mouth lifted, showing off a sexy dimple. “What do I look like?”
A million things, and all of them good, but her brain wasn’t working well enough to articulate any of them. “There are too many options to name one. Thank you.”
“And thank you for wearing my shirt.” He turned from the coffee maker, his arm curling around her. Then he lowered his head to her neck while his other hand went to her thigh, pushing up the material of the shirt. “It looks better on you than me.”
She ran her fingers down his chest. “I like you in this shirt…but I like you better without it.”
He growled, his teeth nipping the bottom of her ear. “Tell me you’ve got today off.”
“I’m working.” But suddenly she wished she wasn’t.
“Be late.”
She groaned as he kissed a sensitive spot beneath her ear. “I can’t. I’ve already missed too many days.”
“You’re the boss. You can do whatever you want.”
“Nope. Some of our dog owners are fussy about certain things.”
He kissed down her neck, then nudged the shirt aside before kissing her shoulder.
“Becket…when you do that, I can’t think.”
“Good.” Before she knew what was happening, he’d boosted her onto the counter and his mouth crashed to hers.
She gasped, and his tongue plunged inside her mouth, tangling with hers. The shirt was now bunched at her waist, and he stood right between her thighs, his hard cock pressing against her core.
And suddenly she wanted him all over again. When he kissed her, she didn’t care about work or breakfast or anything outside of the two of them. All she cared about was holding him tighter, pulling him closer. Prolonging the kiss.
She rocked her hips, rewarded with a deep growl. His fingers tightened on her hips before one hand slipped beneath her shirt and trailed up. When he cupped her naked breast, she had to swallow a cry.
He’d just found her nipple with his thumb when he stiffened and pulled away. The sound of his curse pulled her out of her haze, and she followed his gaze to the stovetop.
Flames. They were bright as they rose over the frying pan.
The flames were too hot. Too bright.
Charlie…where was he?
She glanced around her bedroom, searching. He wasn’t there. She looked at the bedroom door again, where the flames were alive and angry. He was out there.
“Sky.”
She blinked.
The fire in the pan was gone, and Becket was in front of her again, concern in his eyes.
“Are you okay?”
Instead of answering his question, she swallowed. “You put the fire out?”
“Yeah, I turned the heat off and threw a lid on.” His brows flickered. “Where’d you go?”
“I—” She stopped, the words not making it out. Her heart was beating too fast and her stomach was still doing little rolls. She hadn’t had a flashback for months. “I should get ready for work.”
She slid off the counter and took a step toward the stairs, but Becket gently caught her wrist, stopping her. It took her three long seconds to turn back toward him.
His brows were still slashed together. “You didn’t answer my question. Are you okay?”
No . But if she told him that, she’d have to reveal other things. Things about fear creeping inside her. But not for her safety—his.
“I just need to get ready for work.”
* * *
Becket’s fingers were tense around the wheel as he made his way to The Tea House. He was meeting his brother and sister for coffee, but he couldn’t get Sky off his mind.
That wasn’t the first time she’d reacted like that to flames. The fear had been so palpable that he’d almost felt it. And damn if her skin hadn’t gone pale. Because of her house fire in Cheyenne? Because it had caused her to lose Charlie?
He wished she’d talk to him about it. Was it a flashback she’d experienced? Did she get them often? He had so many damn questions.
Last night had been… Fuck, it had been everything. And he’d thought it would bring them closer.
So why couldn’t she talk to him about what she was feeling this morning?
He pulled into the parking lot of The Tea House and took out his phone to text her.
Becket: Hey, Peaches. You get to work okay?
Her three dots appeared immediately.
Sky: I did. No thanks to you.
He chuckled, because she wasn’t wrong. Once breakfast was ready, he’d gone upstairs and found her in the shower.
Becket: I’m pretty sure you’re the one who told me to get in the shower with you.
Sky: You opened the door and stood there shirtless… You set me up.
His dick twitched at the memory of her naked and wet beneath the spray of water.
Becket: I’d do it again.
She responded with an eye roll emoji. He chuckled.
Becket: Have a good day, Peaches. If something makes you unhappy, just think of me naked in the shower and it will turn your day around.
This time her reply was three eye rolls, and he laughed before shoving his cell into his pocket and climbing out of the car.
He was halfway across the parking lot when he spotted his sister getting out of her red Volkswagen Beetle. He fucking hated that thing. It was too small and not safe enough. She needed a Mazda CX-90 or a Toyota Highlander. Something big enough so that if she crashed, her car wouldn’t compress to fucking nothing. But was she receptive to any advice from him?
Hell no.
She hated him or Jesse giving her any advice. And yeah, after she’d gotten sick, they’d been pretty overbearing anytime they were home from the military. But fuck, when you got told your sister had stage four cancer, everything changed. It was natural to then want to keep her as safe as possible.
He stopped beside her car. “Still driving this cardboard death trap, I see.”
Yep, there was the glare. “If by cardboard death trap you mean Sally the Beast, then yes, she is still my ride or die.”
“You named your car Sally the Beast?”
“Or just Sally for short.”
He shook his head as they headed toward the café. Since her diagnosis, his sister had changed. She didn’t take life so seriously. In fact, she took a hell of a lot more chances. Just last year she’d gone skydiving, and the year before that she’d gone snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
“No Sky this morning?” Clara asked.
“No, she has work. So just me and our charming brother.”
“Well, charming compared to you.” She laughed, nudging him with her hip before stepping into the café.
Becket tried to grab her, but she knew him too well and slipped beneath his arm like a damn ninja. She dropped into the booth opposite Jesse and Aspen, and her “I win” grin was too damn wide.
Jesse frowned, though humor danced in his eyes. “Everything okay?”
“It’s great,” Clara said, lifting the menu.
Becket slid into the booth, shuffling Clara over and getting an elbow to the ribs. “Our sister thinks she’s a comedian.”
“Please, I’m far funnier,” she corrected.
Aspen grinned. “I find you funny.”
“See?” Clara bumped his shoulder.
Women. They were always ganging up on him.
Mrs. Gerald stopped at their table. “Hi. Would everyone like their usual?”
They obviously all came here too often, but it was the only place in town that sold decent coffee.
“Actually,” Clara said. “I’ll have an affogato.”
Jesse frowned. “That’s a dessert. It’s not even nine yet.”
Clara lifted a shoulder. “Life’s short. I may as well eat dessert in the morning.”
“Actually,” Aspen parroted. “I’ll have one too.”
Jesse sighed.
Mrs. Gerald nodded. “Coming right up.”
Clara watched someone across the café, and Becket followed her gaze to see a woman with short brown hair, red-rimmed glasses, and a laptop bag slung over her shoulder standing near the counter.
“Who’s that?” Becket asked.
“Scarlett.”
Aspen turned to look also. “The roommate who doesn’t talk to you?”
Jesse frowned. “She doesn’t talk to you?”
“Nope. But that’s her loss.”
“Why do you keep her if you don’t get along?” Jesse asked.
“We don’t not get along. We just don’t talk,” Clara clarified. “And I need a roommate because I make a conscious effort to only work the number of hours I want, so financially, I need her. Plus, she’s quiet and always out, so it suits me.”
The woman turned, coffee in hand, and as she headed toward the door, she glanced Clara’s way. His sister smiled and waved, but the woman only gave a brief nod before stepping outside.
That was a bit cold.
“What did you do to her?” Becket asked.
“I told you, we’re just not friends. It’s fine. Life’s too short to care about who likes who, and it’s certainly nothing either of my big bad brothers needs to intervene in.”
Jesse lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. I could pull her up on some technicality and scare her.”
Clara snorted. “You? Mr. Play by the Book?”
“It’s true,” Becket confirmed. “I’m the intimidating one out of the two of us.”
Jesse shook his head, a hint of a smile on his face.
Becket chuckled, but the smile dropped when he spotted Teddy and Kristina by the counter. Teddy looked his way but didn’t smile, just gave a small chin lift, and Becket returned it.
They’d barely talked since the argument after the bridge incident. And yeah, Becket needed to find a way to move on and let it go. Maybe even apologize to Teddy. Because what had happened hadn’t only been his fault. And they worked together, for Christ’s sake.
But, damn, it was hard. Sky had almost died that day, and it wasn’t something he’d be forgetting for a while, if ever.