Page 20 of Laying it Bare on the Run

“Do storms frighten you?”

“No. I actually find the rain very soothing. And thunder and lightning just fascinate me. But I like when it rains, it’s calming. And I could definitely use some calm in my life right now.” She traced circles on one of my forearms, the sensation making my dick twitch.

“Well, I hope your staying with me provides you with some calm too. I want you to feel safe, Harper. I don’t want you worrying that you made a mistake agreeing to stay here. I don’t want your decision to add more tension to you. You are safe here with me.”

“My decision isn’t making me uneasy anymore. I feel pretty certain I made the right choice.” She hugged my arms to her chest.

After a few minutes of only the sound of the steady rain drops plinking off of the windows and the ground outside, I caught the faintest sound of Harper’s even breaths. Between the rain’s melodic chime and the comfort of my arms she had drifted off to sleep. I smiled; thrilled she was much more at ease with me now so that she was able to fall asleep rather quickly and convinced that fact brought me a step closer to making her mine.

The next morning, I awoke with my arms still wrapped around Harper and her snuggled into me. A huge grin crawled across my face as I relished the fact that she hadn’t felt the need to pull away from me last night. She was content enough to stay in my arms.

A moment later, she started squirming and then rolled toward me, her eyes popping open on a surprised gasp. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I slept like that all night. I’m sorry. That really couldn’t have been comfortable for you.”

“I slept like a baby. I was very comfortable.” I gave her an easy smile, not wanting to come across as eager. But I was ecstatic over the fact that we had slept like that.

“Well, I’m glad because I slept really well too and I would have felt bad if I had made it difficult for you to sleep.”

“Are you ready to get up?” I rolled slightly so I could snatch my phone off of the nightstand to glance at the time. “It’s ten thirty. I don’t mind being lazy on my days off. If you need the sleep, I don’t mind dozing off for a bit longer.” I had actually felt really refreshed but would use any excuse to continue holding her.

“I feel pretty good. Don’t think I could run a marathon or anything but I feel better than I have in a very long time. Can I help you make breakfast? Would you show me what you mix in your delicious pancakes?” She smiled at me, her blue eyes twinkling with amusement.

“I guess since you shared my bed with me last night so I could get a great night’s sleep, I will share my secret. I think I can trust you.”

“Yay!” She quickly kissed my cheek and then leapt from the bed before scrambling into the bathroom.

I chuckled at her retreating figure.

She returned a few minutes later. “I brushed my teeth with my finger really quickly just now so I’m not as yucky anymore. I’m sorry, I kinda forget about little things like that. I’ll be more cognizant of that from now on.” Her cheeks pinkened with her confession.

“I didn’t even notice. And seriously, mine probably isn’t much better so I’ll return the favor.” I crawled out of bed to take care of things in the bathroom. When I was finished, the two of us headed out to the kitchen.

She followed me around the bar. “I don’t know where anything is but I can help get things out if you don’t mind me snooping through your cupboards.”

“Feel free to snoop away.” For the next several minutes, I directed her to where some of the items were housed while she amused herself with exploring for the rest. She rummaged through the cupboards to the right and left of my sink, through my drawers, and in my refrigerator, since she could reach those places, while I grabbed a mixing bowl, plates, and glasses from the cupboards above my stove.

At the bar, we got to work mixing up the batter.

Harper peered around my arm, not hiding her curiosity at all. “You use nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, almond extract and powdered sugar in them? No wonder they taste so yummy.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know if the regular recipe calls for any of those things but my mom always put them in, causing me to fall in love with pancakes. Plus I use butter instead of oil to fry them. I think that makes them taste better too but I’m not sure.”

I twisted to the right to pour the batter into the pan. While the pancakes browned, I grabbed some bacon from the refrigerator. Harper flipped our cakes while I fried up the bacon. When everything was finished, we loaded up our plates and then sat down at the bar.

Harper took a huge bite of her pancake and smiled around the mouthful. “Yum. So good. I could eat these every morning. I can see why you try to. But you are going to fatten me up.”

I grinned back at her after taking my own bite. “They are my favorite. And please don’t get offended by my next comment; but you could use a few good meals. And I plan to help take care of that.” I put up my hand that wasn’t holding my fork. “You are beautiful and look amazing but I think the months on the run took their toll on you. You could use many more mornings of eating pancakes.”

Glancing down her body for a brief moment, she sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.” Then she brightened. “But so far your cooking has been delicious so I guess it won’t be a hardship. But I feel bad; I can’t pay you for any of this. I don’t know when I’ll be able to work again.” Her cheerful expression dimmed. “It’s not safe for me to apply for a job right now.”

“We’ll figure things out and take care of this. One day at a time. So don’t worry about it for now. I want to take care of you.” I hoped my words didn’t scare her off but I had to be honest with her, at least partially. I couldn’t admit anymore at this point because there was a pretty good chance it would send her running. But she had slept in my bed last night, wrapped up in my arms, so I took that as a sign that we were heading in the right direction.

She stared at me for the longest time, making me nervous. “Thank you. Someday, if I get my life back together I’ll repay you or pay it forward to someone else who is in need.”

I’d rather her pay it forward and just stay with me but I’d leave those words unsaid for right now. “What did you do before you had to leave?”

“I was an accountant.” She took a sip of her orange juice. “So, not to brag because I’m in no position to do that, but my bank account is pretty decent. I’m just afraid to pull funds from there. I don’t want him tracking me that way.”

“Your money will be there when this is over and then you’ll have it. And you’re really smart. I don’t know that a lot of people would think about that. They would just be thinking they needed cash and had an easy way to get it.” I shoved a strip of bacon into my mouth.

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