Page 64 of Wallflower in Bloom

VIOLET

Later that night, after a thorough exam and dose of extra strength Tylenol, Violet led Jack up the stairs of her cottage.

The doctor had cleared Jack to sleep for a few hours, but he couldn’t sleep alone without someone checking on him.

“I’m cutting that tree branch down first thing tomorrow,” Violet said. She felt terrible that he got hurt while helping her.

He groaned as she pulled him up the staircase, her arm around his waist.

Violet sat him down on his bed. “I’ll come back in a few hours and check on you.”

He slowly leaned back and flopped on the bed. “I don’t know what the big deal is.” He curled into a ball, his face in a grimace.

“You have a huge concussion.” Violet yanked off his shoes and started to take his belt off but thought better of it.

He rubbed his head and mumbled into the pillow. “If you’re going to wake me every two hours, you better have a scandalous fact ready. Otherwise, I’ll toss this pillow at your head.”

Violet snickered; this head injury-drunk version of him was a new side she hadn’t expected. She crouched down beside the bed to meet his hazy eyes. “Need anything else?”

“That’ll be all.” He leaned over, and his mouth met hers in a slow, melting kiss that simmered down to her toes. His nose nuzzled hers, tracing the length of it as he placed a slow kiss on the side of her mouth.

“Wait.” He pulled back, looking confused.

She was stunned into silence, her heart beating somewhere outside her body.

He scratched his head. “We don’t need to pretend now, right? No people around?”

“No.” Violet bit her lip to keep from smiling at his scrunched face and tousled hair.

“Well.” He flopped down in bed and closed his eyes, “I wanted to do it anyway.”

Violet shut his door behind her and tried not to take his concussed words too seriously.

But still. Maybe there was a kernel of truth somewhere deep down.

He wanted it anyway.

When she came back two hours later, he was out cold.

“Jack,” she whispered, gently pushing him awake. “You need to wake up.”

He snuffled and snorted. “I was having the most brilliant dream.” He put his hands over his eyes, rubbing them. “I was in a fairy cottage, and the sexiest little fairy came in.” He opened his eyes. “Oh, it’s you. The sexy fairy.”

Violet burst out laughing, trying to ignore how that comment lit her up from the inside. “You’re not dead, so you can go back to sleep.”

She smoothed her hand over his hair before she straightened. He was so unfairly adorable, all sleep-addled and cozy.

“Don’t go.” He grabbed her hand as she pulled away. His voice was low and scratchy with sleep. “Todd misses you. He doesn’t like it when you’re gone.”

Violet looked over to Todd’s cat bed in the window. He hadn’t even bothered to stir when she came in.

“Todd misses me, huh?” Be still her mushy heart.

“Very much. He says it’s lonely and sad when you’re not here.” Jack pulled her down so she sat on the bed next to him. “Todd isn’t usually quite so needy. But when he has a head injury, it’s hard not to be.” He rubbed his hand over his temples.

Poor guy. Maybe she could help. This whole thing was her fault.

“Still have a headache?” She rubbed his temples, hoping to ease the pain.

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