“I know.” He lifted his head and sighed.
He looked so tired. His face was lined with fatigue. His shoulders were slumped, and she suspected that only sheer willpower kept him on his feet. She placed her hands on his chest. So warm, so hard, she thought, her fingers spreading wide to touch as much of him as possible.
With a husky murmur he leaned on her.
“Go lie down on the other couch,” she said softly. “while I cook.”
“Mmm. My bed sounds better.”
“You’re going alone.”
“That’s not as much fun.”
“I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”
With a tenderness that never failed to surprise her, he stroked her cheek. “There isn’t much to work with,” he warned.
“I’ll figure something out,” she promised, pushing him from the room. “Just go rest.”
She watched him leave, then opened the freezer and realized he wasn’t kidding.
It wouldn’t be too hard, however, to whip up a meal of pasta and cheese bread. Stone’s kitchen wasn’t too stocked, but he had the basics.
She glanced at the breakfast dishes still piled in the sink. It made her smile to picture him and Sara here this morning, rushing out the door together.
A tide of warmth filled her, tinged with bittersweetness for what she’d lost. No, that was wrong. What she’d purposely walked away from.
When she’d set the table, she went out to get Stone.
She found him crashed out on the couch opposite Sara. He was too long for it, and as a result, he looked incredibly uncomfortable. Yet he seemed to sleep soundly. His feet hung off one end, his head the other, and she knew he would have a kink in his neck from that horribly cramped position. One arm was tucked awkwardly beneath him, the other flung wide over the side. His chest rose and fell rhythmically with his breathing.
As she watched, his face tightened, as if even in sleep he could find no peace. Moving closer, she kneeled at his side, gratefully using this time to have her fill of simply looking at him.
He’d changed clothing, and now wore faded jeans on those long muscular legs. Soft snug denim that outlined his every contour and, oh, his contours were nice.
It felt so good just to gaze at him. All those years when she’d had only her dreams, she’d missed him so much.
He was warm to the touch, she discovered, so she didn’t worry about covering him. She kept her hand on his arm, stroking, then ran her fingers up and over his shoulder, over his wide chest. Some of his tension seemed to dissolve at that connection. When she cupped his jaw, he turned his face into her hand, remaining deeply asleep. But his frown faded and the lines in his face softened.
Tenderness nearly choked her.
What was she doing? God, she couldn’t believe it, but she was falling hopelessly irrevocably in love with him for the second time. He was everything she’d ever wanted-and the person she’d hurt most next to her daughter.
He could never forgive her, never, and just the knowledge of that made her want to run away. But she was done running,
Stone rolled slightly, trapping her hand between his warm body and the couch. “Don’t go,” he mumbled.
Though she had no idea who he thought he was talking to, she blinked back tears and shook her head. “I won’t,” she promised, her heart hurting from just watching him. “I won’t leave you ever again.”
But eventually she had to; she was too tired herself to remain upright another second. She took the only remaining piece of furniture left in the room, the chair.
Sighing as she curled her legs beneath her, Jenna relaxed for the first time in far too long and watched the two people she cared about most in the world. There was something so peaceful, so… freeing about watching them as they slept out their exhaustion.
Her own eyes drooped. Just for a minute, while the pasta was cooking, she told herself, giving herself permission to close her heavy eyes.
The dream was the same as it had been every night since her horrific accident.
“Easy, sweetheart,” a low male voice murmured close to her ear. When she whimpered, a big gentle hand stroked her face in time to the soothing rumbling endearments he was whispering.
Jenna strained toward that voice, eyes clenched shut, unable to shake the dream.
“You’re going to be all right,” the voice told her, still stroking, and somehow, miraculously, some of the pain became bearable. Her fear receded.
And he became Jenna’s entire world.
“Wake up now. I’m right here.”
She jerked the rest of the way awake to find Stone kneeling at her side, staring worriedly down at her.
“Just me,” he said lightly, concern deepening the lines in his face. “Just a dream, sweetheart,” he said calmly, though his eyes were anything but. “Okay?”
“Okay.” She drew a deep breath. “Just a dream.” Closing her eyes, she savored the moment.
“It was a doozy,” he noted.
She felt him stroke the skin on her neck, her jaw. Felt his other hand on her body, firmly establishing contact so she wouldn’t feel alone.
“Want to tell me about it?”
He had enough to deal with, yet was still willing to carry her burdens, too. She grasped his hand, overwhelmed by how much room he had in his heart. “I’m okay,” she said, and sat up. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“No, my stomach did.” He smiled, some of the worry still evident as he searched her gaze with his. “Are you hungry?”
“Starved.”
They stood, but Stone held her still when she would have moved to the kitchen. “You can trust me,” he told her. Lifting her chin, he met her gaze. “With anything.”
And amazingly enough, for a woman who’d spent her entire life running from trust, she knew it to be true. And the thought gave her hope for the upcoming evening and her biggest risk of all. When she would indeed have to trust him with her very heart and soul.
Stone insisted on doing the dishes. Then, though it wasn’t a school night, Sara was irritable and exhausted enough to want to go to bed early.
Which left Stone and Jenna alone in the living room, a low fire in the hearth and two cups of steaming tea in front of them.
We’re alone, Jenna thought, nerves jangling. No better time than this.
That was when Stone turned to her with a curious little smile on his face.
“What did you mean before? When you said you wouldn’t leave me ever again?”
