Saving Grace (Love Under the Big Sky, #2.5)(21)

“There are benefits to living with a doctor.”

“I’ll send you a bill,” Hannah murmurs with a grin. “Nope, no concussion. You should take a nap.”

“Good idea. You headed back to work?”

“Yes. I have one other woman laboring and a few more appointments this afternoon.”

“Ugh, I don’t know how you can work around all of those bodily fluids.” I shiver and follow her out of the bathroom. “See you later.”

“Bye!”

Meow. Slater, Hannah’s old cat, winds his way between my legs, purring and begging to be picked up.

“You’re going to trip me one of these days, you little terrorist.” I pick him up and nuzzle his head and carry him into my bedroom with me. I quickly pull on an oversize T-shirt and climb into bed. Slater joins me, purring happily as I drift off to sleep.

Dingdong!

I wake up and look about the room groggily. There are two kinds of naps, the kind where you wake up refreshed and rested, and the kind where you wake up with dry mouth, drool on your cheek, and not entirely sure what year you’re in.

This nap was the latter.

The ringing persists, so I throw the covers back and stomp out of the bedroom, not even bothering to pull on some yoga pants.

I’m not going to actually open the door. It’s probably a salesman. We definitely need to buy a No Soliciting sign.

Just as I’m crossing the living room to look out the peephole, Slater runs right into my legs, tripping me, and I fall flat on my ass.

Again.

I pound the floor with my fists and scream out, “Motherf*cker!”

My ass hurts, my head hurts, and my heart hurts, goddamn it!

I hang my head in my hands and battle the tears that want to come. I’m so frustrated. Why can’t I be graceful? Why am I such a damn klutz?

The door opens and I feel the rush of cold air on my bare legs, before it closes and I’m suddenly lifted off the floor by strong arms.

“What happened, love? Are you okay?”

I look up into worried bright green eyes and am mortified to feel a tear slip down my cheek.

“No, I’m not okay,” I whisper. Jacob sits on my couch and keeps me cradled in his lap.

“Did someone hit you?” His voice is suddenly hard as steel as his eyes roam over my face. He raises a hand to touch my cheek but I flinch back. “I’ll kill whoever did this to you.”

“I ran into a door,” I reply with embarrassment. “No need to become homicidal.”

“Talk to me, darling. What’s wrong?”

“Why are you here?”

“In a minute.” He pulls his knuckles down my uninjured cheek. “First, tell me what’s happened.”

“It was a horrible day. The kids were loud and crabby. They didn’t want to listen. One of them dumped my potted plant onto the floor in a temper tantrum. I walked into a door and did this.” I point to my cheek. “My car’s battery was dead when I got in it to come home, so I had to wait for roadside assistance to come help because most everyone had already left for the day, and I freaking miss you like crazy, and I probably just scared the shit out of you because everyone knows it’s relationship suicide to say something like that when you’re not even in a relationship.”

“Take a breath, my love.” His lips twitch as he soothingly rubs my back and my bare legs. “Do I need to remind you that I came to you, not the other way around? So I guess we can say that I missed you, as well.”

“You did?”

He nods. “That is a bugger of a day that you’ve had.”

“Aye, ’tis.”

He chuckles softly. “I’m not a Scotsman, darling.”

I shrug and smile softly. “So, why are you here?”

“You left your scarf at the lodge,” he replies, and pulls my scarf out of his coat pocket, handing it to me, and I’m instantly mortified.

“Oh, thank you.” I turn to move out of his lap, but he holds me firm.

“And, more important, I wanted to talk to you about the other morning.”

“You did?”

He nods and watches me with sad eyes. Sad?

“Did you really only want a weekend fling, Grace? Is that all it was to you?”

I look down at my lap, but he tilts my chin back to meet my gaze. “No,” I whisper.

“Then why did you say that? Why didn’t you wake me and talk about where to take this next?”

“Because we didn’t make any promises to each other, Jacob, and we’d just barely met.”

“Yet I feel like you know me better than anyone else in my life.” His voice is calm and sure and unapologetic.

“You’re a British knight who owns half of that mountain, and I’m just a schoolteacher.”

“Say that about yourself again and I’ll take you over my knee, love. You’re not just anything.”

I gape at him and then frown in confusion. “I just don’t see how it can work.”

“Let’s look at it this way.” He kisses my fingers and instantly ignites sparks in my belly. I bite my lip and watch his eyes soften. “I’ve been quite miserable without you these past few days. I miss your laughter, your quick wit, and I miss sleeping next to you, sweet Grace. I don’t make a habit of spending the night with women, and I don’t want to spend the night with any woman but you.”