Page 31 of When You Saved Me

When a tendril of my hair fell forward into my face, Deacon’s eyes shifted to it. I tried to shake my head in a way that would get it out of my face, but it kept falling forward. His hand reached up, the strands of my hair falling through his fingers as he slid them downward.

I sucked in a breath, air whistling into my mouth as I watched him thread my hair through his fingers again until he finally tucked the piece behind my ear. When his thumb traced the cuff of my ear, I let my eyes flutter close.

His touch was gentle. The complete opposite of what most probably thought of just by looking at the sheer size of him—and at the rough calluses on his hands.

My gentle giant, I thought.

But when I opened my eyes and saw him retreat inward, I remembered that Deacon wasn’t mine. No matter how badly I was starting to want him to be.

His words came out thick, like he’d just woken up from a long nap or something. “You’re not the only one who’s frozen during a difficult moment, Charlie. Fear does strange things to people.” The distant look in his eyes told me he wasn’t standing in the foyer of his house anymore. That his mind had taken him to faraway places.

“Well, I’m glad you were there,” I offered, trying to pull him back to the present.

His eyes flashed, then he looked down at Casper and scratched behind his ears. “Me too. We wouldn’t havewanted this little rascal to turn into hawk bait.” Deacon’s head tilted back and forth like he was contemplating what he’d just said. “Well, not today anyway. We’ll have to see if he tries to jump on my face again tomorrow morning.”

Holding Casper closer to my chest, I twisted away from Deacon and whispered, “Don’t listen to him, buddy. He’s just being a big meanie.”

“A big meanie, huh?” Deacon’s chuckle was raspy and warm and so damn sweet, it had my chest fluttering.

“Yeah.” I beamed at him. “A big meanie.”

“Well, this big meanie is off to take a long hot shower. I’ll cook us some chili when I get out.”

Cook us some chili. It was such a simple statement, but what I felt behind the words was monumental. It made me feel like I was part of Deacon’s life in a way that I was starting to crave. That maybe there could be a spot for me here, which I knew sounded crazy. But that didn’t matter to me. I’d already done wild things in my life, like picking up everything and moving to a small mountain town where the only person I kind of knew was a broody man who couldn’t decide if he liked me or hated me.

As Deacon made his way across the living room and down the hall, I clutched Casper close to me and silently hoped that tomorrow would be more of the same.

Chapter 12

Deacon

Sweat clung to my skin in a thick sheen as I awoke to a dip in the side of the bed. Peeling my eyes open, I saw Charlie’s bright face.

“What time is it?” My tongue felt thick and my throat hoarse as I tried to scoot up, but immediately thought better of it as my muscles strained.

“It’s eight thirty,” Charlie responded, her rosy lips tightened as she placed the back of her hand against my forehead. “You’re burning up, Deacon. Where do you keep your medicine?”

“Burning up?” I tried to sit up again and saw the room start to spin, a sharp dagger-like pain shot through my skull, and I winced, squeezing my eyes shut.

“You’re sick and you definitely have a fever. Just stay here and tell me where your medicine cabinet is, and I’ll get it for you.”

Even the quiet sound of her soothing voice sent rods of pain through my skull.Sick. There is no way I can be sick.

But as I assessed my body, I found that every muscle ached like I’d just done a ruck run with an eighty-pound backpack on. Every time I moved, there was a cold sensation that hit my skin from the sweat that soaked the sheets. And my damn head…it hurt. Badly.

“Fuck,” I groaned, slowly opening my eyes to prevent another shard of pain from attacking my head again.

“Shhh,” Charlie cooed. “Give me a minute, I’m going to go look for some medicine and new bed sheets.”

When she rose from the bed, I reached feebly for her wrist and caught her just in time. I smacked my lips together, trying to get my mouth’s muscles working properly again. Long red hair slid over Charlie’s shoulder as her head tilted to the side and for the first time, I noticed there were different shades of red in it. Strawberry blonde highlights shimmered throughout the auburn and fire red shades. It reminded me of a blood orange sunset—wild and untamed but held such striking beauty that I couldn’t look away, no matter how hard I tried.

“I don’t have medicine,” I croaked.

Long lashes fluttered as she blinked at me. “You don’t haveanymedicine?”

I shook my head. “I never get sick, so I don’t keep that stuff in my house.”

“Okay.” Her blue eyes darted around while she thought through the problem. “Do you at least have a thermometer?”

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