Page 42 of Heart of Stone
Reid pressed his lips together, reached his hand out to cover my arm, and stroked lightly along it. “It was the very least I could do. And I’m not kidding at all when I say that I’m glad to see you doing so much better.”
My smile grew, and a shiver ran down my spine at his tender touch. It was more than I was accustomed to from him, but I found that I really loved the way it felt. Even after being brutally assaulted by my ex, I didn’t mind the gentle brushes of Reid’s fingertips against my skin. And that might’ve been a very dangerous thing for me to be feeling, given where I knew he stood with me.
“Thank you. And breakfast was wonderful this morning, too.” I sighed. “So, I guess I’ll see you on Monday.”
His brows immediately pulled together. “Pardon?”
“At work. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
He studied me for a moment, and when he didn’t find whatever answers he was searching for, Reid asked, “Are you kicking me out?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” I returned. “I just don’t want you to think you have to continue hanging around here. You’ve already been here for days, and I’m guessing you haven’t had a good night of rest since. I imagine you have things you need to get done before the new work week begins tomorrow. That’s all.”
“I see. And what are your plans for today?”
“Not much,” I admitted. “I’ll probably spend most of my day watching movies and giving my body more time to recover.”
With a nod of understanding, Reid said, “Then, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to spend the rest of my day doing the same.”
“You… You want to stay here and watch movies with me?”
“Why do you seem so surprised by that?”
Reid already felt guilty enough about what had happened to me. I didn’t think it’d be wise to tell him that even though he’d apologized to me for how he yelled at me, there still had to be some shred of truth behind his words. So, I reasoned, “Well, it’s just that you’ve been here for a couple of days already, and I figured that sitting around again today, especially when I’m feeling the best I have in days, wouldn’t necessarily be your first choice for how to spend your Sunday. And honestly, Reid, I’m feeling so much better. I promise I’ll be okay if you’d like to leave.”
His voice dropped a few notches. “I’d really like to stay with you today. It’s your first day being lucid since then, and I’d feel a lot better knowing that I’m here in case you have any physical or emotional setbacks. In the event something upsets you like it did this morning, I wouldn’t want you to be alone.”
The more he spoke, the harder it became to remember that Reid had ever been anything less than pleasant with me. And since I didn’t know how long it would last, I decided to take him up on his offer.
“Okay, Reid, if you’d like to stay, I’d be happy to have you join me. Do you have any specific preferences for movies?”
Tension, that I hadn’t realized he’d been holding on to, swept out of him, his shoulders sagging with relief. “It’s been ages since I’ve spent an entire day doing that, so I’m up for whatever you want to watch.”
Who knew the man could be so accommodating? It was just a shame it had taken such a tragedy for me to see this side of him.
But I didn’t point that out.
Instead, I teased, “I hope you don’t hate my favorite, because that’s what’s up first.”
Intrigue washed over him. “What is it?”
“Dirty Dancing.”
His brows shot up. “That’s your favorite movie?”
I shrugged. “Something about it reminds me of this place.”
Something I couldn’t quite read leaked into his expression, and he tipped his chin up as he eyed me. “Alright. Well, let’s not waste another minute, then.”
With that, Reid and I settled in to watch our first movie of the day. And since it was my favorite, I did pay attention to it. But I had seen it more times than I could count, so I’d have been lying if I said I didn’t glance over at Reid a handful of times throughout. Twice, I caught him looking at me.
So, all I could do was tell myself that it didn’t mean anything. Reid was merely being a decent guy to a woman who’d been assaulted a matter of days ago. It wouldn’t be long before we were right back where we were before any of this had happened.
FOURTEEN
Reid
I couldn’t leave.
