Page 71 of That One Heartbreak

“I’ll go as soon as he does,” he promised, kissing the top of her hair.

“No, stay.”

Marley blinked. That was the last thing he expected her to say. And yet it made his chest feel tighter than a vise grip.

“Until morning?” he asked. “Because we’re gonna have some explaining to do if your kids see me.”

She ran her tongue over her bottom lip. “Until the sun rises. Let me sleep in your arms.”

Fuck, he liked the way she needed him. Made him feel about ten feet tall. The fact was, he’d do anything for this woman. Sleep, stay awake, fight a fucking dragon.

Lie to the people he loved.

“Okay. Set your alarm.”

She grabbed her phone and pressed on the screen before putting it back on the table next to the bed. “Five,” she told him. “I’m sorry.”

He’d take what he could. And he knew this was all she had to give right now.

“Come here,” he said softly, wrapping his arms around her. Within minutes, they were both asleep.

“Your mom has one of her headaches,” Carlton said to Kate as he walked into the kitchen the next morning. Her stepfather was wearing a pair of tailored jeans and a crisp checked shirt which was tucked neatly into his waistband. His belt was tight across his slim hips. “I told her to stay in bed. I’m pretty sure she’ll be out of commission for the day.” He looked apologetic.

Kate flashed him a smile. She had a headache herself, but she was doing her best to ignore it. It was self-inflicted, anyway. They’d only gotten a couple of hours' sleep before her phone had woken them up, and Marley had gotten dressed and climbed out of the damn window again, even though she’d begged him to tiptoe down the stairs and out of the front door.

He’d messaged her about thirty minutes later when he finally made it home.

And then, of course, she hadn’t been able to get back to sleep. Instead, she’d laid staring at the ceiling, her mind full of thoughts that felt like insects buzzing inside her skull.

She shouldn’t have asked him to stay and sleep with her. In a strange way it felt more intimate than anything else they’d done last night. Maybe it was the fact she’d slept better in those two hours than she had in months, years even. A deep, almost drugged kind of rest that made her whole body relax against him.

It felt too good. Too right. And as soon as he was gone a blanket of guilt came down over her.

He had been Paul’s friend for years before he died. It felt like a betrayal being in his arms. And okay, technically the bed wasn’t the one she’d shared with Paul, but it was the one she shared with his memory every night.

His photograph was in a frame on her dresser, after all.

That’s when the tears had started flowing. Because she didn’t know what she was doing. The relief of Marley being okay after hearing the sirens had overwhelmed her. The need to connect with him was like her need to inhale.

She felt safer in his arms than she had in a long, long time, which was completely stupid.

Because her heart was at more risk than ever.

“You okay, Kate?”

Carlton’s voice brought her out of her thoughts. She attempted a smile. “I’m fine. Does Mom need some painkillers?”

“No. I just gave her two.” He grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and started up the coffee machine. And this was why she loved her stepfather. He might be rich, but he was a regular caffeine addict, just like her. “So I was thinking I might go watch James at his training today. At the fire station.”

“Oh. You don’t want to come to church with us?” It was a Sunday morning, after all.

He gave a little chuckle. “Not really. And James said a lot of the other trainees have their parents come watch. I know I’m not his parent but…”

“You’re his grandparent,” she said firmly.

“I know.” He gave her a warm smile. She could still remember the day she introduced Paul and James to her mom and Carlton. James had been a toddler then. As intrepid as he was now. He’d climbed straight into Carlton’s lap and her stepfather had pretty much fallen in love with him.

Her mom, however, had been more reticent.

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