“Drink.”
“Don’t wanna drink. You can’t make me.”
Oh. She shouldn’t dare him.
Caleb stood next to them and leaned down to brush her hair back off her forehead. “She’s clammy but it doesn’t feel like she’s got a fever.”
“We should take it just in case,” Wolfe said.
She groaned. “Wolfe, you are not sticking anything up my bottom.”
“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it,” Aleki joked.
She glared up at him.
“I’m not ill. I think I just had a reaction to breakfast or something. I just wanna sleep. Please.”
Wolfe frowned but Caleb nodded. “Let’s get her cleaned up a bit. Then Aleki will stay with you, baby. He’ll watch over you.”
18
Vivi woke to the sound of someone singing.
She smiled as she recognized the song. It wasn’t something that anyone else would recognize. This song was just hers.
Vivi’s song.
The song Aleki wrote for her. Tears entered her eyes as he sang it quietly. He had the most amazing voice. His entire family did. When they got together there was so much laughter and singing. It had been a bit overwhelming when she first met them, but she’d been treated like one of the family. And soon, she’d been laughing. Dancing with each of his brothers, much to Aleki’s annoyance.
Even Wolfe relaxed a bit around the Samuels clan.
That was when she realized she was pressed up against a big, warm body. Aleki’s arm was around her, holding her tight and her face rested on his chest.
God, she’d missed this.
How had they come to be in bed together, though? And why did she feel like she’d been run over by a truck?
She groaned as it all flashed back to her. Nausea. Tears. Diarrhea. And the three of them knew. And now she was lying snuggling up to one of the most gorgeous guys she’d ever met and she hadn’t even brushed her teeth!
Moving her head, she realized there was a damp spot on his skin.
Had she been drooling on him? Would the humiliation never end?
Mortified, she sat up, then groaned as her head swum. She raised her hand to her eyes, trying to breathe through the nausea and dizziness.
“Hey, easy,” Aleki soothed. “Shit. I was trying to wake you up slowly. Here, sit back.”
“I need to go brush my teeth,” she explained as he tried to ease her back against the headboard.
“That can wait. You’re not getting out of bed until the dizziness passes.”
Aleki gently scooted her back, putting some pillows behind her. Then he held up a bottle of water to her lips. She gulped it down. God, she was thirsty.
“Slowly, baby girl. You’re gonna make yourself sick.”
She grimaced. “I’m so sorry about that.”
He frowned at her. “Why are you sorry? You couldn’t help it.”
“I know, but it’s not exactly attractive, right? And then you had to lie with me drooling all over you. I really need to brush my teeth.”
“Here, if you’re really worried, Wolfe found some breath mints.” He handed her a mint and she sucked it gratefully. She closed her eyes for a moment, her head was throbbing in time with her arm.
She was probably due for some pain medication.
“Wolfe thinks of everything,” she muttered.
“How are you feeling? Tummy okay?”
“Yeah. It just feels a bit raw. Like most of me. I’m fine.”
“Fine, huh?” he drawled.
She cracked her eyes open to look at him. He was giving her a firm look. “Baby girl, you’re as pale as a sheet. You’ve got dark smudges under your eyes that are actually getting worse, not better. And you don’t have any weight to lose yet I swear you’re looking more gaunt.”
“Great. So I look like shit. Thanks for the update.”
“It’s okay to admit that you’re not all right, Vivi. It’s okay to ask for help.”
“Asking others to help me isn’t my strong suit.”
“I would never have guessed,” he said dryly.
He grasped hold of her chin, staring down at her firmly. “From now on, no more hiding anything, got me? Your job is to communicate with us. Our job is to figure out how to protect our family.”
She so wanted to be part of their family.
He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “I’m gonna repeat my question. How you doing?”
“I feel like ass.”
He snorted out a laugh. “Ass, huh?”
“I figure this is what someone feels like after they drink a bottle of whiskey and go on a bender.”
“So headache? Queasy tummy? Dry mouth? A wish for a time machine to erase the last twelve hours?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
He chuckled. “I’ll get you some painkillers and another bottle of water. Feel like you could eat something?
“Not really.”
“You know that’s not going to fly with Wolfe, right?”
She groaned. “The food police. What I really want is a shower. I feel all icky and gross.”
He shook his head. “Can’t let you shower, baby, until you’re able to stand. That shower in there isn’t big enough for a seat.”
“I’ll be okay. My ankle feels loads better.”
He drew back the covers and she wrinkled her nose in disgust at herself. She was still dressed in the same T-shirt. She felt sweaty and out-of-sorts.
“Your ankle is still swollen. No way you can stand in the shower on it. Plus, you might get light-headed and faint.”
“You’re fussing.”
“I’ve got eight years of fussing penned up inside me. Get used to it.”
“I’m not getting off the plane wearing Caleb’s T-shirt. And I’m not getting into clean clothes stinking of sweat and other things.”
He frowned. “I don’t think that even Wolfe will fit in the shower with you.”
Take a shower with Wolfe? Was he kidding her?
“Hmm, there’s only one solution that I can think of.”
“What’s that?” she asked suspiciously.
“I’ll have to give you a sponge bath.”
Aleki could hardly hide his grin as her eyes widened then narrowed in a scowl. “I don’t think so Aleki Tane Samuels.”
He wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “What’s wrong? You don’t think I can manage to bathe you? I promise to be very, very thorough.”
“Oh, I just bet you will,” she said dryly. “I’ll wash myself, thank you very much.”
Nope. He didn’t like that idea at all. Now that his Vivi was back, he was eager to make up for lost time. He wanted to relearn everything about her. And that didn’t just include her body, but her mind and heart.
He loved her so freaking much. He’d tried his best to bury that part of him. But there was no denying his feelings for her.
And learning of the hell she’d been through just made him want to wrap her up in a protective blanket. He didn’t want her worrying about anything. He didn’t want her to be scared or hungry or lonely.
“Let me take care of you, Vivi,” he told her in a quiet voice. He made sure she could see how serious he was. “I promise I just want to look after you.”