Apparently, I had my arm across his waist, because when he sat up, he used that arm to shove me to the side.
“Wha—” I started sleepily.
“What the fuck?” a deeper male voice asked.
“Fuck!” Clint yelled.
The covers were tossed aside, and I heard fists hitting flesh.
I reached toward the nightstand for my phone. When I had it in hand, I shook it to activate the flashlight feature and pointed it toward the fighting.
Clint ducked a blow from the intruder while yelling at me. “Call 911, Raegan. Now!”
The intruder fled from the bedroom.
Clint turned on the overhead light. “Goddammit! Fuck!”
I didn’t know what he was cursing about until he picked up his boxers and tugged them on while running out the door. My hands were shaking suddenly, but I concentrated on getting 911 on the line and reporting the break-in.
No sooner had I given the dispatcher our address than I heard gunfire.
“They’re shooting at Clint,” I said.
The dispatcher told me police would be there in minutes, but I feared there weren’t any minutes to spare. I grabbed Clint’s dress shirt and shrugged into it, but before I could move out of the room, Clint strode back in, and to me.
His eyes glittered with fury. “911?”
I nodded.
He took my phone.
“This is Clint Ramsey. The intruder left in a black Lincoln MKZ. Partial Florida plate starts with BF8, I didn’t get the last.”
His eyes raked over me as he listened to the dispatcher.
The flash of blue lights filtered into the room.
“Yeah. Unit just arrived. Thank you,” he said, and handed back my phone.
“Get your pants on. I’m goin’ to check on Penny.”
My eyes widened. “Oh my God! I can’t believe I didn’t check on Mom.”
He cupped the back of my head. “No, Rae. Staying here was exactly the right thing to do. There could’ve been someone back there with her and you wouldn’t have known it.”
I nodded.
He nodded back. “Pants, honey.”
I heard his voice murmuring with someone at the front door as I threw on my pajama bottoms and buttoned the shirt. It hit me that Clint was still running around in boxers, and I grabbed his jeans. When I came out of the bedroom, I saw Clint heading to Mom’s room, and a uniformed officer introduced himself to me.
A moment later, Clint came back. “Her Mom’s still sleeping. No sign of disturbance at the back of the house. I’ll wake her if you like, but since she uses hearing aids, it’s unlikely Penny heard anything.”
The officer nodded. “Unfortunately, I’m going to need her statement, too.”
I grabbed Clint’s arm. “How about if I wake her? And, um, I have your pants for you.”
He nodded and took the jeans from me.
The moment my weight hit her bed, Mom’s eyes opened. To be honest, it had surprised me the light from the living room didn’t wake her first.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I grabbed her hand. “A man broke into the house—”
She gasped, and I squeezed her hand. “It’s all right, Mom. Everyone’s fine. Clint was... well, he was right there, and frankly, I feel sure the intruder didn’t expect to find him in the room.”
Her lips quirked, but she couldn’t fight the smile that lit up her face. “I just knew he would do you a world of good, honey.”
I shook with silent laughter while I hung my head. Only Mom would find Clint being in bed with me to be the silver lining from a break-in.
Raising my head, I looked over to her. “Anyway, the officer wants to talk to you even though Clint said you slept through the whole thing.”
“How would he know?”
I grinned. “Because he came to check on you right after the officer showed up.”
She shook her head. “I’m gonna have to sleep with those damn hearing aids in, that’s for damn sure.”
I patted her arm. “We can talk about that later. You’re gonna have to put on some clothes. You need my help?”
She nodded.
Five minutes later Mom trudged out behind me, wearing elastic waist slacks and a loose purple top. Clint had shown the officer into the kitchen and he’d found an undershirt to wear, even though I could’ve sworn he didn’t have one earlier. I smelled coffee brewing, but when I saw it was three-fifteen in the morning I knew I wouldn’t drink any.
For as little information as we had, I couldn’t believe it took forty-five minutes to answer all the officer’s questions. Clint walked him to the door while Mom and I sat at the kitchen table. She failed to stifle a yawn, and I had to fight yawning after her.
“C’mon, Mom. Let’s get you back into your nightgown.”
She stood up shaking her head. “No need, honey. I chose this shirt for a reason. It’s soft and loose enough I can sleep in it. So, I’ll just drop my pants and climb back into bed.”
I sighed. “Are you sure, Mom? I’d rather you be comfortable.”
A small smile pulled at her lips. “Having Clint here makes me about as comfortable as I possibly could be.”
That sent a curl of warmth through my belly, but I fought it off. If this second chance progressed, would Clint be willing to live with me and Mom? I shoved those thoughts out of my head since it was too soon to tell.
“I hope you get back to sleep, Mom,” I called after her.
When she got to her door, she said, “If I don’t, you can’t let me fall asleep during my stories, or there’s gonna be hell to pay.”
“Okay,” I sighed.
I poured out the dregs of the coffee pot since Clint only brewed half a pot, rinsed the carafe, and loaded the dishwasher with mugs.
Clint’s hand slid the upper rack back into place and he gently kicked the door up to close it. His strong fingers grabbed mine and he led me back to the bedroom.
Once he closed the door, he asked, “Your mom sleeping with the hearing aids right now?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. She told me she didn’t need any help,
