His eyes lifted from the pages to hers, and he smiled. “Can’t sleep?”
She shook her head.
“Come here.” He set the book on the table, then scooted over and lifted the covers.
How did he always seem to know what she needed? She slid into the bed, and he pulled her close to him. He only had on boxer briefs, and she had on her favorite bedtime T-shirt and panties. The last time she’d been in his bed, they’d had sex, and she belatedly wondered if he thought that was why she was here again. It wasn’t.
“Turn on your side and back up to me,” he said. When she did, he wrapped his arm around her waist and spooned her. “Did you have a nightmare?”
“Yes.” Realizing he wasn’t expecting sex, she relaxed. “I keep dreaming about him choking me. It’s so real, like I’m living it all over again.”
“You need to talk to someone, Kens. Dr. Croft recommended someone here who she thinks you’ll like. Let’s call tomorrow and make you an appointment.”
“I don’t know. I really need to go home.”
The arm he had around her tensed. “Let’s talk about this tomorrow, okay? For now, I’ve got you, so try to sleep.”
“Okay.” And amazingly, she did sleep without any nightmares.
“Livie and I are going home.” It was time, but from Cooper’s scowl, he didn’t agree.
He set his coffee cup down. “I thought we’d talk about this before you decided.”
She shrugged as she pushed away her half-eaten plate of scrambled eggs. “What’s there to talk about? The threat is gone,and our home is in Decatur. As is my job.” She needed to get back to normal, back to her second graders. Back in her own bed. Maybe if she returned to the life she knew, she’d start feeling something again.
After waking up from the best sleep she’d had since being kidnapped, she’d decided it was time to go home. If she stayed any longer, she’d let Cooper become her crutch. She felt safe with him, but she had to resist the lure of using him as a shield between her and the big, bad world. She couldn’t let fear take over her life.
“What there is to talk about is us,” he said. “I thought we had something between us besides being just the parents of a beautiful little girl. Am I wrong, Kendall?”
“I don’t know.” Stupid tears burned her eyes. She squeezed them shut. “I just don’t know.”
He reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. “How can you not know? You either feel something for me or you don’t.”
Anger surged through her. Why couldn’t he understand? “I don’t know because I don’t feel anything,” she yelled. “Not a damn thing,” she said with a quieter voice.Not true,her inner voice said.You just felt anger.She pushed the thought aside, afraid if she acknowledged she might have felt something, she’d let him persuade her to stay. If she was going to find herself again, she had to go.
Hurt flashed across his face before he let out a resigned sigh. “I’ll drive you back to Decatur under one condition—that you promise to make an appointment with Dr. Croft.”
“I will. I promise. Will you take us today?” She had to go before he could talk her into staying.
He pushed away from the table. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is.” There was a coldness in his voice that he’d never used on her before, and she wanted to tell him she was sorry shecouldn’t be what he wanted, but she didn’t. She had expected relief after making her decision to leave, but instead a profound emptiness settled in her chest. Was she making a mistake?
No, she wasn’t. He was a good man who deserved a woman who could love him, who could make him happy. That wasn’t her. She went to the living room where Livie was watching cartoons and sat on the sofa next to her.
“Guess what?” When Livie’s gaze didn’t leave the cartoon, Kendall picked up the remote and turned off the TV.
“I’m watching that, Mommy.”
“Well, we need to pack up our things. We’re going home today.”
“Is Daddy and Ruby going to live with us?”
“No, sweetie, Daddy lives here.” She glanced over to Cooper, who was standing a few feet away, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “He’s going to drive us home, though.”
Livie’s expression turned mulish. “I want to live with Daddy.”
Well, that hurt. “Daddy will come see you when he can, but you can’t stay here. Don’t you want to see Papaw? I know he misses you.”