Page 11 of Hot Touch
“They don’t. I decided that on my own,” I admitted. She didn’t hide the surprise on her face.
“Well… Nate Benson, I want you to know…” Her voice drifted off to nothing as even in her sleep, Alex reached for me, holding me tighter.
It left me speechless.
This beautiful creature clung to me in her sleep. She hardly knew me. I wasn’t sure if in all the chaos of the night, I’d actually introduced myself or if she had learned my name from Ron. But there she was. Her body trusted me in her most vulnerable state.
“I appreciate, my family appreciates what you did. Getting her out, I mean,” her older sister said.
“No need?—“
“But if you hurt her, they won’t find you,” she informed me. Usually, threats like that were empty. Things someone said to be protective. Thoughtful. But as I stared at Alex’s fierce older sister, I had a feeling she was telling the truth. There was something fearless and intense vibrating off her. “I don’t know what”—she pointed up and down at us—"all this is about, but my sister deserves nothing but the best. And at your age, you know that. At the very least, I hope you’d know better than to play games. Because if that’s what this is?—"
“It’s not,” I interrupted. “That won’t be happening,” I reassured her. “I would rip my own balls off before I’d do anything to hurt her.”
“Really?” A brow rose. “You’re not married and or have two, three girlfriends stashed around Moonlit Pines or the cities around us?” I didn’t blame her. Shit, just a couple of years ago, I’d been playing the field that very way. But everyone I’d ever been involved with back then knew the stakes. I wasn’t the kind of man who you looked at with stars in your eyes and forever in your heart. At least I wasn’t back then.
“Nothing like that.” My tone sounded thick in my ears. I wasn’t that man anymore. I hadn’t even been with a woman in a year.
“Good,” she chirped, and alarm went off on her phone, one she quickly shut off. “Shit,” she cursed under her breath. Her eyes bounced from her phone to her sister before connecting with mine. “I have a flight to catch.” Her mouth opened and shut. “Can you tell her I was here? Tell her to stay at my place while everything is sorted out with her apartment. She has a key.”
“I will,” I muttered, hoping I wasn’t outright lying to my future sister-in-law minutes after meeting her.
After finding the girl of my dreams, despite not even knowing her favorite kind of music or color, I didn’t want to let Alex out of my sight. She was mine. We had forever to learn all about one another.
“Good. Thank you. Umm, a little pink-haired Tasmanian devil will probably show up in the morning.”
“Pink-haired—“ I started to say and was shocked at the gentleness that shined in Liz’s eyes.
“Our little sister, Jackie. You’ll know it’s her because—“ She pointed at her head.
“The hair,” I guessed, and she nodded. I watched Liz approach, almost like she wanted to get closer to her sister, but something held her back. She took in a deep breath and swallowed.
“Okay. Thank you again. I should…” She pointed at the door then, just as quickly as she showed up, she left.
Part of me knew I should roll out of bed carefully and give Alex her space. I was a stranger to her, and she had been through an ordeal. She didn’t need to wake up next to a stranger in her bed. But another part of me couldn’t handle the idea of being that far from her.
Even if it meant I was sleeping on that hard chair next to the bed.
I stared up at the ceiling trying to get the willpower to pry myself out of such a comfortable place. One that made no sense. The hard, tiny hospital bed shouldn’t have felt the way it did, but fuck me, it was the closest I’d felt to home in a long time. My head dipped down, and I kissed the top of her head.
I wasn’t an idiot.
I knew it was the curvy angel in my arms who felt like home. I could be in a fucking hovel, and being with her would make it feel like paradise. It was her. Alex was mine.
Almost like she felt my claim while she slept, she scooted closer, like she needed my body heat all for herself. I tried to calm my cock down, but the fucker wouldn’t settle. He was hard and throbbing yet content.
Content because we’d finally found her.
When Alex’s arm moved in her sleep from between us to over my stomach, something inside my chest cracked open, and I knew what falling in love was actually supposed to feel like. Everything else I’d thought I’d experienced before tonight when it came to partners paled in comparison.
And just like that, my eyes grew heavy, so heavy I didn’t fight it and fell into the best sleep of my forty-something years. All on a tiny, crappy hospital bed.
FOUR
NATHAN
I wokeup and saw nothing but pink hair. Well, pink hair, brightly colored eye make-up, and soft green eyes staring right at me. I didn’t like to assume, but I was going to guess this was the pink Tasmanian devil I’d been warned about. The little sister.
