Page 89 of Worth the Chase

“Is the water still hot?”

“Not really,” she said without moving.

“Let’s get out, huh?” I reached for a towel and held it out for her.

Her eyes opened, and she shut off the faucet. When she stepped onto the warming tiles, I wrapped her body in the towel and hugged her tight, noticing the scrapes on both of her knees. My temper flared.

“I need to dry my hair,” she mumbled against my chest.

“Want me to do it?” I asked, even though I’d never dried anyone’s hair before, aside from my own the one time that I could remember.

She laughed. It was genuine, and the sound went straight to my heart and landed there, cooling my temper in an instant.

“You want to blow-dry my hair?”

“I’ll try.” I grinned.

“No. I think I should do it this time. But I’m definitely taking a rain check on that.”

I wasn’t sure why she was telling me no, and my confusion must have been written all over my face.

She reached out and cupped my cheek with her palm. “My head hurts. My scalp hurts.”

“Of course it does. I forgot. I’m sorry.”

“Go to bed. I’ll be there soon.”

She gave me a little shove, and I did what she’d told me to.

When she got into bed, I asked if I could hold her, and she scooted her tiny body into mine. I tried to sync my breathing with hers, but her breaths were so much slower than mine. And I stayed awake, holding her, until I knew she’d fallen asleep. And then I finally shut my eyes and did the same.

When my eyes opened the next morning, my arm was asleep, and my knee ached. I didn’t think I’d moved the entire night. When I gently pulled my arm from underneath Bells’s head, shestirred and made a little sound before she started stretching her arms out, almost hitting me in the face.

“Morning,” I said softly.

Her body turned over to face me. “Morning.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She nodded slightly. “It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do.”

She wasn’t wrong about that. There had been so many times when I felt down and out, but after some sleep, I usually felt much better.

“I was going to head over to your apartment and get the rest of your stuff.”

I hadn’t planned on telling her just yet, but there was no point in keeping it from her. She was going to see me bringing all her things inside.

“Okay.”

“Really? No argument? No fake fight? No more excuses why we shouldn’t live together yet?” I teased.

She grinned. “Nope. I don’t really want to go back there. You’d be doing me a favor. Keys are in my purse.”

I pressed a kiss to the top of her nose. “Good. Can I ask you something?”

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