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The hot water spraying down helped her emotionally, and it also loosened her muscles. She felt a lot better ten minutes later when she got out and dried off.

She’d gotten her hair wet, so she pulled it out of the messy braid, combed it out, towel dried it as best she could, and then plaited it into two braids. At some point Jude must have brought in a set of cotton-knit pajamas and a pair of underwear for her. She put them on and felt ten times better when she walked back out into the bedroom.

Jude was in bed again, which was a relief. He’d turned on a small lamp in the living room, and she didn’t know why until she heard a knock on the door.

Confused, she opened it to a smiling man with a room service cart. “Oh.” She blinked, having no idea what to say. “Thank you.”

She signed the bill and tipped him, then rolled in the cart.

“You got room service?” she asked from the doorway between the bedroom and living area. “Are you hungry?”

“No,” he replied from the bed, turning over in her direction so he could see her. “I’m not. But you need to eat something.”

“I’m not?—”

“Just eat something, Eve.” He sounded incredibly grumpy. “Are you really going to argue with me when I’ve got a headache?”

She frowned at him. “You can’t always use that as an excuse for bossing me.”

“I can use it now. I want to go back to sleep, but I can’t until you’re able to sleep too. So eat something and drink a lot of water and then get back into bed with me.”

He deserved the little glare she gave him, but she didn’t argue further. She checked out the room service tray and found fruit and pastries and a couple of breakfast sandwiches.

She picked up half a sandwich and returned to the doorway. “You don’t want anything?”

“Not now. I’ll get something later.” He definitely wasn’t well yet. He sounded exhausted and stretched and slightly pained.

“Okay. I won’t be long.”

She ate a sandwich and some grapes and strawberries and gulped down a bottle of water. She put the other sandwich in the refrigerator and left the fruit and pastries under covers on the tray. Then she went to the bathroom to pee and wash up and brush her teeth.

When she returned to the bed, she brought Jude a bottle of water, unscrewing the top for him.

He took a few swallows and then set it on the nightstand before rolling over to face her.

She was settling under the covers. “Are you okay?” she murmured.

“Yeah. The headache is still there, but at least it isn’t killing me now. I’ll sleep some more and probably feel better.” He reached out to stroke her cheek with his knuckles. “What about you?”

“I’m fine.”

He shook his head very slightly, his eyes soft. Almost tender.

Her throat tightened again. Her chest ached. “I’m fine, Jude. I’m worried about you.”

“I know you are.” He reached out to pull her into his arms, holding her in a light embrace.

She nestled into him, starting to shake as she breathed in the familiar scent of him, felt his heart beating.

“Please don’t cry again, Eve,” he said thickly. “I don’t think I can handle it.”

“I’m trying not to.” She sniffed and gasped and gathered herself after a minute, finally relaxing in his arms. “I’m sorry.”

He tilted his head down to kiss her on the temple. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

A few minutes later, they both fell asleep.

Jude slept for most of the day and all that night. He was feeling better the following day, so they went out to see some sites, but they took it slow and easy and rested for most of the afternoon.

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