Page 7 of Mistletoe Mischief

Hmm. Maybe she’d just let him sleep. She moved to the kitchen window and looked out. Yeah, at the rate the snow was falling he probably should just hang out for a while. Both of their vehicles were covered now. He wouldn’t be going anywhere safely in the near future. A little thrill went through her at the thought of having him in her apartment longer.

Tiptoeing into the living room, she snagged her favorite fluffy blanket from the recliner. Being extra gentle, she draped it over his slumbering form.

Mmm, mmm, such a good-looking man. Tall and lean, his build strong and solid, he dressed like a man should. Cass knew it was creepy, but she just stood there, staring down at him for a few minutes. Then he snuffled in his sleep. She thought he would wake for a moment, but he turned his head and burrowed into the cushion of the couch.

Grinning, she headed toward her bedroom. She would wear clothes tonight just in case the investigator decided to … investigate.

Chapter 3

It wasthree a.m. when she got up to go pee. Then, because she couldn’t help herself, she walked down the hallway to the living room.

Roger had stretched out on the couch. The blanket she’d pulled over him was hanging mostly off now, with just the corner covering his chest. The rest had puddled onto the floor. He was moving restlessly, as if he fought demons in his sleep.

Then he cried out and her heart raced with fear.

Cass clenched her hands, wondering if she should wake him up. She’d had dreams like that herself, and they were no fun. The flashbacks of men beating her, the pain. She stood there for a few moments, hoping the dream would let up, but instead it seemed to escalate. He seemed to be reliving the pain of losing his arm. He kept reaching for his right side. In the meager light she saw a tear slip from the corner of his eye to his temple, then another. God, her heart was shattering. She didn’t want him to suffer with this pain.

Swallowing, she moved forward, but kept her distance. She knew enough not to touch him yet.

“Roger?”

He blinked his eyes open, but didn’t seem to see anything.

“Roger!”

Roger blinked up at her in confusion. There was just enough light from the kitchen for her to make out his expression. He looked terrified.

His body jerked and he finally seemed to focus on her. “Oh, hey.”

Her thudding heart began to slow with relief.

“Hey. You all right?”

His arms dropped to his lap and he looked around, obviously orienting himself. “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry, you just startled me.”

He scrubbed at his eyes with his good hand. Cass moved closer to sit beside his legs on the couch. She wanted to reach out to reassure him, but didn’t know if he was ready for the contact yet. “No, that was totally my bad. You were dreaming, though, and it was getting worse.”

Roger looked down at the blanket, then glanced at her kind of sheepishly. “Yeah. I do that.” He dropped his head back to the arm of the couch and covered his face with his prosthetic arm.

The heat of him seeped through to her hip and she shivered in the chill. “My brother used to do that,” she admitted softly in the dark. “When he came home on leave, he would have terrible dreams. He would scream sometimes, too. It would wake me out of sleep. But he said there was nothing I could do for him and he never talked about it.”

Roger’s prosthetic hand settled on hers in her lap. “I’m sure just knowing you were there for him was a big comfort. Most men don’t want to admit to that, but we get scared too. And we hope for something stronger than us to chase the nightmares away.”

Cass nodded, her throat tight. “Yeah, I know how that is.”

He squeezed her fingers lightly, and she noticed how much control he actually had with this arm. She ran her fingers over the cold surface. She shivered again, and he sat up behind her, urging her to her feet. “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.”

Cass allowed herself to be guided back down the hallway to her room. The light in her bathroom glowed softly, just bright enough that he could see to lift the blankets for her to settle in. Then he tugged them until they were smooth around her, and her feet were covered.

It was a surreal experience for Cass and her emotions were ricocheting like crazy. Adrenaline letdown. And now he was squeezing her heart. She couldn’t remember any time in her life ever being tucked in like this. Other kids had gotten that buy not the Jones kids. Living on the streets, she’d been lucky if they even had a blanket. She used to sit in a ball with little Andre between her legs. She would wrap her arms and legs around him to conserve heat. Even after their mother had died and they’d been taken to an orphanage with friendly, but overworked people, she and Andre had stuck together. There’d been boys there who had known more than they should have for their age, and didn’t mind sharing. Living on the streets as they had, she and Andre had seen and heard a lot of things, but these boys knew more. When one grabbed at her butt, saying something derogatory, she’d had no hesitation in bloodying his lip and kicking his ass. The streets had also taught them to protect themselves.

Cass shivered and clutched at Roger’s hand as he started to turn away.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Can you just lay down with me for a while? No strings. Just… maybe we can just… well, be here for each other for a while.”

After a long, timeless moment Roger circled the bed to the other side and crawled beneath the blankets. He left his jeans on, which had to be uncomfortable, but she appreciated it. Once he was settled he lifted his good arm to her and she rolled close. She worried about letting all her weight rest on him, but he pulled her tight into the crook of his shoulder. He was so warm, and he smelled so good…

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