Page 19 of Bewitchingly Hers
CHAPTER SEVEN
eryne
Ididn’t know why I was filled with so much apprehension as Barrett followed me home in his car. Maybe it was because he didn’t have to stick around anymore, despite saying he would.
Still, I let out a breath of relief when he pulled into my driveway, parking his car next to mine.
He wasn’t leaving. At least, not yet.
Though I was still holding my breath as he climbed out of his car, trying not to appreciate the view. He lookedgoodin the clothes I found for him—stylish, even. Like those things had always been meant to go together.
“Why do you look so surprised?” Barrett asked, throwing his bags over his shoulder. “I told you I wasn’t going anywhere. I’m going to help you find out what happened.”
I gnawed on my lip. “I know. It’s just… I was worried, I guess.”
He was healed, but I could still tell that he was limping a little from the gait of his walk. He was favoring his left side—the one that hadn’t been mauled as badly—and there wasn’t muchI could do for him at this point. The only thing he needed was time.
After following me inside, he dropped his bags on the floor, and then looked at the couch. “I’ll sleep here tonight,” he announced.
I leaned against the wall. “You’re barely going to fit on that, Barrett.” His eyes flared as I said his name, and it made me want to say it again and again. “Even when you were a wolf, it’s not that big of a couch.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m going to protect you. And that means I can’t let you out of my sight. So, I’m staying here.”
I frowned. “Am I in danger or something?”
He avoided my gaze. “You might be.”
“I think I can take my chances.”
Barrett let out a small growl, and then cleared his throat. “Sorry. Like I said, my wolf likes you. He, uh… doesn’t want to be apart from you.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable.”
It didn’t. And I couldn’t quite explain that out loud. “Barrett?” My voice was soft.
“Yes?” His head perked up—just like it did when he was a wolf.
“You can share my bed, if you want to. I only have the one, but we can both fit on it.” Part of me knew what I was offering. After this morning, it felt insane not to acknowledge that this was crazy. But I couldn’t help it. He’d told me his wolf liked me, so maybe it didn’t hurt to admit this. Maybe I was a little attached, too. “I don’t think I can sleep without your wolf anymore. He’s like my own heater.”
Maybe that was the wrong call. Maybe asking him to share my bed was just temptation after this morning. But I really did only have one bed in my house, and the idea of forcing him ontothe couch when he was still a little banged up didn’t sit right with me.
There was a rumbling sound that seemed to come from his chest, and he rubbed over the spot, like he didn’t understand it himself. “Okay,” he finally said. He picked up his bags once again. “After you, sugar.”
Sugar.That was new. I was glad to be in front, because at least he couldn’t see the blush on my cheeks. There was something about Barrett as a human that unsettled me—though maybe that wasn’t the right word.
The man was a mystery, and I wanted to unravel him.
I wanted to understand what had brought him here, to Pleasant Grove.
Tome.
After setting his bags down at the end of my bed, he looked around my room, like he was seeing it with a whole different set of eyes for the first time.
I was trying not to think about this morning, when I’d been all pressed up against his body. Was it wrong to ask him to do that again, just for science?
“I have to go to work,” I blurted out. “I normally close.” Even though I didn’t need to. The café could operate just fine without me.
“Okay.” He nodded his head, once, like that was totally fine.
“You’ll be okay here?” I asked, hesitantly.
