Defending Morgan (Mountain Mercenaries #3)(30)

Fear that she was feeling these things for him simply because he’d been the one to rescue her was the only thing keeping Morgan from throwing herself into his arms. She wanted to, though; oh, how she wanted to. She hadn’t felt safe in forever, not like she did when he held her.

“Okay,” she told him after way too many minutes had passed. “I’m not completely comfortable with talking about what happened to me, but I don’t want this to beat me down. I don’t want to be a homeless, crazy woman in ten years, still struggling to deal with my kidnapping.”

“What do you want?” he asked seriously.

“I want to have a family. A little girl I can teach to stick up for herself and be empathetic to anyone who might be different from her. I want a son I can teach to be selfless and protective.”

“And a husband?” Arrow asked.

“That too,” Morgan whispered, not looking away from his intense gaze. “I want someone I can trust to help out with the kids and the household chores. I want to marry my best friend, who will make me laugh even when things are going wrong. I want to slow dance in my kitchen at midnight, simply because we can. I want to live, Arrow. Someone tried to take that opportunity away from me, and I refuse to let him succeed.”

Arrow didn’t say anything for a long moment, but she could see the longing and pride reflected in his eyes as he stared at her. “You’ll have your family,” he said. “I can’t imagine anyone or anything getting in the way of what you want.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, feeling drunk as she lost herself in the admiration in his gaze. It had been a long time since she’d felt anything but disgust in the company of a man. She wasn’t nearly ready for any kind of relationship, but she couldn’t deny she liked what she saw when she looked at Arrow.

Clearing his throat, he said, “I came in here to see if you wanted to try to get those mats out of your hair. The guys found conditioner.” He held up a white bottle.

Morgan brought a hand up to her head self-consciously. She knew how bad her hair was, had seen it firsthand in the mirror. She hadn’t wanted to take a pair of scissors to it, but was afraid it was going to be inevitable.

“Sure. But I don’t know if it’ll do much good,” she told him honestly.

Arrow stood and held out a hand to her. “We can try.”

She liked that. We.

She lifted her hand to his and let him help her stand. As they walked toward the bathroom hand in hand, Arrow said, “Oh, and the guys got you and Nina some clothes while they were out. I can’t guarantee they’re the most fashionable things ever, but I, for one, would like to see those clothes you’re in burned.”

Morgan stopped in her tracks, and Arrow turned to see what the issue was.

“They got me clothes?”

“Yeah. Jeans. A pair of sweats. A sleep set. Panties and a sports bra. And a few shirts so you can decide what you like best. They got Nina most of the same . . . including a sleep shirt with Elsa from Frozen on it.” He grinned like a little kid.

Morgan felt tears spring to her eyes, and she closed them tightly, trying to gain control over her emotions.

“It’s okay,” Arrow soothed. “I know it seems like a lot.”

“No,” Morgan countered without opening her eyes. “It’s everything. I haven’t had anyone do anything nice for me in months. Nothing that didn’t have strings attached, that is.”

She felt his fingers brush over her cheek in a barely there caress before he tugged on her hand, urging her to walk toward the bathroom once more. “Get used to it, beautiful,” he said. “I’m finding that doing nice things for you could be my new mission in life.”

Morgan chuckled. Somehow, the thought of Arrow doing things for her didn’t make her uneasy, as it sometimes had in the past when men had gone out of their way to try to impress her. Maybe it was her time in captivity that made her appreciate the little things more.

Arrow grabbed the ice bucket on the way into the bathroom. Morgan stood there feeling awkward as Arrow set the conditioner on the edge of the bathtub, then put his hands on his hips, surveying the room. He turned to her and gestured toward the tub. “Go on and have a seat in there. I’ll sit on the edge and work on your hair.”

“Um . . . I’m not sure . . .” Morgan wasn’t exactly sure how to tell him there was no way she was going to be naked with him in there, the previous night’s bathtub incident notwithstanding.

Amazingly, Arrow blushed. “I didn’t mean you should strip. I figured after we got through this, you can throw away that shirt and those jeans. You can keep them on while I work on your hair, and hopefully when I’m done, you’ll be good to take a shower, and I’ll go and get the things the guys bought for you today.”

“Yeah, that should work,” Morgan said in relief.

Arrow took a step toward her, and Morgan forced herself not to step back.

“I’d never purposely do anything to make you feel uncomfortable, Morgan. I know this is hard for you. And honestly, it’s hard for me too. I’m not usually a gentle man. I swear too much, and I say and do shit that isn’t respectable in polite society. I don’t care much about fashion. But I’ll do everything I can to make the transition back to your old life as easy as possible.”