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“Don’t worry about that, this couch is pure luxury to me.”
“Okay.” His eyes flashed to the TV, and I understood his dilemma. It was too early for him to go to sleep and he didn’t have a TV in his bedroom.
“Feel free to stay and watch TV; it won’t bother me; I’m used to noise when I sleep.”
“Are you sure?”
I yawned and curled up in the corner. “Yup, I’m sure.”
“I could give you one of my t-shirts to sleep in,” he offered.
“No thanks, I always sleep in my clothes.”
“Why? I thought only soldiers did that.”
“Nope,” I said and closed my eyes. “Women living in motels with thin doors do too, at least I do.”
“You have nothing to fear from me, you know that, right?” he said quietly.
I shrugged, because the truth was that I didn’t know. I had just met him today, so how could I?
“Here.” He put a thin blanket over me and it felt awkward to have someone pamper me like that.
“Are you sure you don’t mind if I watch some TV?”
I opened an eye and shook my head. “Hey, it’s your house, just forget I’m here and if I snore, kick me.”
“All right.” He smiled.
?∞?
The next day I woke up to the smell of coffee. I stretched and opened my eyes to see Gabriel tiptoeing around in his kitchen. I’m not used to people showing such consideration, so for a minute I lay completely still and just watched him.
There was a trace of something either Asian or Inuit in him, with his dark almond-shaped eyes and robust nose.
“How tall are you?” I asked and sat up.
He gave me a charming smile. “Good morning to you too.”
“Good morning.”
“I’m six-two, and you?”
“Five foot six.”
“Why do you ask how tall I am?” he wanted to know.
“No reason, I was just wondering. What’s with your heritage? You’re definitely not a pure Caucasian like my dad – Is your mom Asian or something?”
“No.” He found his wallet and pulled out an old photograph and came over to show it to me.
“My dad was from Hawaii.” The photograph showed a happy young couple. It was easy to see the resemblance between Gabriel and his father, who stood in full uniform in the picture.
“Your dad was a soldier too?”
“Yes, he was a marine.” Pride shone from him.
“What happened to him?”
