Page 41 of Hold Your Breath
Callum closed her door and headed for the back of the pickup. He opened the topper and lowered the tailgate so he could pull out his gear. The water coating everything was already beginning to freeze.
“Mind if I hang this up inside?”
“Of course not,” she said, reaching toward the dry suit. “I can help haul everything.”
“Got it,” he said with a shake of his head while she closed the tailgate. “Thanks.”
They headed toward her front porch but had made it only a few steps before Callum stopped. “With some asshole wandering around here at night, we’d better lock the trucks.”
“Mine’s locked,” she said, shrugging when he shot her a surprised look. “You can take the girl out of the city, and all that. Where are your keys?”
He stopped trying to shuffle the gear in his arms and tilted his head toward his right side. “Coat pocket.”
For some stupid, ridiculous reason, sticking her hand into his pocket made her blush. Lou feigned casualness as she grabbed his keys, pressed the lock button on his fob, and returned them to his pocket.
“Thanks.” Although his voice was even, he was watching her in a way that made her think he’d either seen her blush or was just now noticing the awkwardness of the moment.
Either way, it was embarrassing, so she turned and hurried up the porch steps, digging for her house key. “No problem.”
“Hang on,” he said as soon as she’d unlocked the door. Stepping back so Callum could enter first, she watched him leave his gear by the door before making a quick sweep of the house. When he returned to the main room, he gave a jerk of his head that she took as an all clear, so she stepped inside.
They worked quietly to strip off their outerwear before hanging Callum’s wet gear. They’d need to rinse everything at Station One the next day, since Lou’s small kitchen sink was not up for the task. Most of the gear dangled from the coat hooks by the door, but they stretched his dry suit over a couple of straight-backed chairs that they pulled away from her kitchen table.
“You can use my shower,” she said, eyeing his damp thermal shirt. “I’m just going to crash, so the hot water is all yours.”
“Thanks.” His eyes flicked to the couch. “Do you have a pillow I could use?”
Her gaze followed his to her short, not-very-comfortable couch. The idea of finding sheets and pillows and pillowcases and blankets was suddenly overwhelming. She turned to look at Callum.
“Would it be weird if you slept with me?”
It was several long moments before he spoke. “It…well, I…”
Even in her exhausted state, she was a little proud she’d reduced the mighty Callum to stammering. “Not like in a sex way,” she tried to explain, stumbling more than usual over her words. Her sense of pride faded when she fumbled even more than he did. “Just in a loss-of-consciousness way. That couch isn’t really that comfortable to sit on, much less sleep on. I have only one bed, but it’s big, and I’m really tired, so I wouldn’t, like, attack you in your sleep or anything.” She paused. He was still staring at her. “If you wouldn’t be comfortable with it, that’s fine. I’ll just grab you some sheets and a pillow and stuff.”
She looked around, trying to clear her muddled brain and figure out where she kept the extra bedding. Remembering that she had some blankets in the hall closet, she figured it’d be a good place to check. As she started to turn, she was stopped by Callum’s hand on her arm.
“It’s fine.”
It was her turn to stare at him. “Um…which one is fine—the sleeping on the couch, or with me?”
“With you.”
“Good.” Her breath rushed out in relief. “I have no idea if I actually own another set of sheets.”
He gave her an appalled look. “Don’t you ever change your bedding?”
“Of course,” she huffed. “I wash them and then put them right back on the bed.”
“Oh.”
With an amused snort, she said, “You were about to change your mind about sleeping on the couch, weren’t you?”
He just grinned, picking up a backpack he’d left by the door when he’d first arrived that evening before the call. It seemed like days had passed since then. As he headed toward her bathroom, she stood still and watched him, dazzled by that huge, flat-out-beautiful smile. There were thosedimples.
Shit. She was in so much trouble.
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