Page 18 of Hot Puck
I look at the plate in my hand and smile. I’ll wrap it and keep it for when he wakes but I’ll leave the water on his bedside table.
The position he’s in has me frowning though. It looks like he sat on the edge of the mattress and fell backward. His legs, bent at the knees, hang off the end, his bare feet on the floor.
Instinct tells me to move him.
Common sense tells me that won’t be easy.
He’s six feet four inches and while I’m six feet in heels, I admit to neglecting my exercise regimen in recent months and doubt I’ll be able to lift him without disturbing him—or straining something.
I could wake him and get him into bed properly, but I don’t want to risk him arguing about taking a rest—one he obviously needs.
Best option for both of us is to leave him as he is.
After putting the water on his bedside table, I lower the blind on the only window in the room to stop the afternoon sun from shining in.
He doesn’t disturb and I head for the door. Before I close it, I look at him sprawled out on the bed one last time.
He really is a fine-looking man.
If I were a few years younger, and he were a few older, I’d seriously think about making a move.
I don’t know what’s more shocking. The thought of hooking up with him if our ages were closer together, or the fact my body is in full agreement with the idea, ages be damned.
I haven’t had sex with anyone since my early twenties. My hand and vibrator don’t count.
My marriage to Johnathon might have been in name only but unlike my husband, I have never stepped outside those vows.
Maybe that’s why my body is reacting to Chase.
As of yesterday, I’m weeks from being officially divorced, and consciously I might not be thinking about men, but my libido must have been lying in wait.
It might not be Chase; I could have the same reaction to any good-looking man now I have the option to do something about any attraction I feel.
It’s a thought to ponder later. Right now, I need to check on Candace, wrap this sandwich, and plan out the rest of the afternoon.
If Cassidy and Crystal arrive home before Chase wakes, I’ll need to make sure my presence doesn’t freak them out.
A strange woman in their house, cooking them dinner, is bound to have them panicking even if they don’t understand why.
I mentally add to my list of questions for Chase as I check on Candace.
Are the girls in counseling?
Is he?
They should be. Together and separately.
They’ve experienced a traumatic life-altering event, and they should talk about their emotions to help them process the loss of their parents.
God knows I’d have had an easier time if my grandfather had taken Eli’s suggestion and taken me to a counselor. Then again, my grandfather didn’t care about anyone but himself.
Not even his disabled sister, the one he’d been legally responsible for since my great-grandparents deaths.
No, helping Aunt Florence had fallen on Dad and Mom, and when they were killed, I was the only one who cared about her. Took the time to visit her in the home my grandfather had shoved her into.
I’ll forever be thankful to Eli for taking me to see a counselor the day I turned twenty-one and could do it without my grandfather’s approval.
It had been the first day of my independence and I hadn’t looked back after that first trust fund had been unlocked.
