“How old were you?”
“Too young to remember. Like Ronnie and her horses.”
“We’re all a bit reckless in our own way,” I chuckle. “Okay, your turn. What’s something else you haven’t done but want to?”
She chomps on her bottom lip. “Promise not to laugh?”
“I’ll do my best.”
Her gaze drops to our clasped palms. “I’ve never had someone hold me without expecting more. Could you do that for me?”
My tongue swells and I can’t get a word out. “You want to… cuddle?”
“For fuck’s sake. Forget I asked,” she growls. “We’re about to have a bad misunderstanding and those never end well.”
Before she can leap off the couch, I’m cinching an arm around her waist and tucking her into my side. The cat screeches, turning into a damn loofah. He darts off in a hissy fit that would usually impress Frankie. But instead, the feisty redhead is deathly still against me. I’m not even sure she’s breathing. Her rapid pulse is a spooked animal about to flee. My hand coasts along her rigid frame, trying to ease her into it. A sputtered exhale loosens in the strain in her limbs. After another minute of sturdy coaxing, she slumps against me.
“Are you good?”
Frankie’s next breath is raspy. “Yes.”
“Is this okay?”
Her nod is slow but noticeable. “It’s… nice.”
“What you wanted?”
She swallows audibly. “Even better.”
My grip tightens slightly. “I’ll hold you whenever you allow it.”
“Might happen often if this is how it feels.” She tilts her head back until our eyes connect. “Don’t tell anyone about this.”
“Wouldn’t dare, menace.” I reach for the remote and hand it to her.
“Smart man.” Frankie snuggles closer while changing the channel. “Just soak it in, stud.”
Some cheesy dating show appears on the screen. Not that I’m paying much attention one way or another. My focus is consumed by the woman in my arms and the dreamy smile curling her lips. I toy with her fingers just to touch her in more places.
Her sigh of contentment might as well be a siren’s song. “Who takes care of you?”
“Are you offering?” I shift us lower on the couch into a more comfortable position.
She hums her approval and nuzzles against me as if I’m her pillow. “Thinking so. This feels right.”
My chest expands on a long inhale, filling my lungs with relief. “Does that mean I get to take care of you?”
“That’s up to you, honey.” Frankie pats my abs, which flex under her caress. “But I’ll tell you what. I could fall asleep like this.”
And then my cheek rests on her forehead, connecting us at another point. “Don’t let me stop you.”
When I wake up in the morning, I’m by myself on the couch and the house is too quiet. Even the animals aren’t making any noise. It reminds me of the desolate months when happiness didn’t bounce off the walls. I’d become accustomed to the silence and assumed that’s how it would remain.
But now, my heart lurches in the stillness. I can’t wait for my girls to get home. Their near-constant eruptions of chaos are the only cure for my battered soul.
“Go faster!” Ronnie squeals in the backseat when I press a touch harder on the Passat’s accelerator. “Turn on the boosters!”
“Gonna get me arrested at this speed,” I tease her. As if this snail of a sedan that Byron forces me to drive is capable of breaking the law.