She sat straight up in the bed, staring at the unfamiliar wall. She woke up… she’d been sleeping. She’d actually been sleeping and while she could remember this dream in clear detail, there’d been no other dreams to break her sleep.
She collapsed on the bed, staring at the ceiling as relief weakened her limbs. She’d slept. She’d finally slept. For the first time in weeks, the fog had lifted, and her brain was firing on all synapsis.
A huge grin crossed her face. One night of sleep in Gideon’s bed wouldn’t solve the insomnia, she knew that, but right now she didn’t give a flying fuck. She was delirious with happiness. A few hours of solid sleep did that to a girl.
She reached over and grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand. The blinds were closed in the bedroom, but diffused light was filtering through the room, so she knew it was daytime. She’d slept through the entire night. She hadn’t slept all night in…
“Holy shit,” she whispered as she glanced at the time on her phone. It was almost two thirty in the afternoon and her eyes widened. She’d slept over eighteen hours.
Hell, yes, we did!
Her inner voice wanted a high five. Her bladder wanted relief.
She scrambled out of bed and beelined for the master bathroom.
When she was finished, she washed her hands, brushed her teeth with her finger and Gideon’s toothpaste, and used an elastic from her purse to scoop her hair into a messy bun on top of her head. She dressed and, after a moment’s hesitation, shoved Gideon’s shirt into her purse along with her phone. She would wash it and return it to him.
She slipped out of the bedroom and walked down the stairs. God, she felt so much better. She was practically giddy. Gideon stepped out of his office as she reached the bottom of the stairs and she grinned up at him. “I feel so much better.”
“Good.” Some of the tension eased from his face and an actual smile turned his lips up. “I checked on you a couple of times and you seemed to be sleeping pretty soundly.”
“I was.” She wanted to clap her hands with glee. “I barely dreamt at all and I just… oh God, I feel good.”
“I’m glad, Gracie.”
His casual use of her nickname, one she hadn’t heard from his lips in years, and the way he was relaxed around her for the first time since the night of his parents’ funeral, sent more happiness careening its way through her body.
Without thinking about it, she threw her arms around him and hugged him. “It’s all thanks to you. I can’t thank you enough for letting me sleep in your bed.”
“You’re welcome.”
Gideon hadn’t pulled away from her hug. In fact, his arms were around her waist and he was holding her against his big body and, oh God, she was already turned on.
She tried to squirm free, her breath catching in her throat when Gideon’s arms tightened around her and refused to release. She leaned back, staring up at him. “Gideon, I…”
He studied her mouth, something that looked a little like lust etched into his face. “I’m happy you’re feeling better, Gracie.”
“I am too,” she whispered.
One big hand rubbed her lower back and she swallowed down the moan rising in her throat. Gideon’s head dipped lower… holy fuck, he was going to kiss her.
What the hell was happening?
Who cares! Shut up and enjoy it.
She tilted her head and parted her lips in invitation, her entire body shivering in anticipation as Gideon’s mouth drew closer.
She squeaked in surprise when Addison’s voice came from their left. “Gideon, maybe we should check on Grace just to be… Grace? What are you guys doing?”
Gideon pulled away from her so quickly that she almost lost her balance. She slumped against the wall, staring wide-eyed at Addison as Gideon ducked into his office.
“Addie?” Gracie swallowed hard. “What are you doing in Gideon’s house?”
“She came over with me.” Kira walked out of the kitchen and joined them in the hallway. “You scared the hell out of us, Grace.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I hadn’t heard from you by one, I called Addison to see if she’d heard from you. When she said she hadn’t, we went to your place and let ourselves in. It freaked us out when you weren’t at home and you weren’t answering your cell. I called Gideon and he said he’d brought you back to his place last night because you looked so bad, and that you were still sleeping.”
Grace made a face and Kira shrugged. “You did look pretty bad, honey.”
She moved closer and examined Grace’s face. “You look much better today. Are you feeling better?”
“Yes,” Grace said. “I got some sleep.”
“I’ll say.” Kira grinned at her. “You slept for, what, sixteen hours?”
“Eighteen.” Gideon stepped out of his office. “Listen, now that she’s awake, I’ve got some stuff to do so…”
Kira laughed. “Okay, we can take a hint. C’mon, ladies.” She hooked her arm around Gracie’s and smiled at Addison. “Let’s go get some food into Grace. She’s got to be starving by now.”
“I could eat,” Grace said. Without looking at Gideon, she said, “Thanks for, uh, everything, Gideon.”
“You’re welcome.”
Kira cocked her head at Addison. “Addie, what’s going on? Why do you have that look on your face?”
“I don’t have a look on my face,” Addie said.
“Oh yeah? Because you’re staring at Gideon and Grace like you’ve never seen them before.”
Addison shrugged, her fingers pulling at the pearls around her neck, before she smoothed down her pencil skirt and tucked her perfectly styled hair behind her ears. “I’m not. I’m just… thinking about something else.”
“All right. See you, Gideon,” Kira said. “Thanks for looking after Grace last night and being the best big brother she could ask for.”
Grace flinched, and Kira squeezed her arm. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she mumbled as Addison cleared her throat.
“All right. We’re out. Bye, Gideon,” Kira said.
“Bye.”
Chapter Four
“Thank you again, Connor. The kids loved the toothpaste.” Addison stepped into the hallway with him and shut her classroom door.
Connor laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think they were as impressed with me as they were with Gideon.”
“It’s hard to top a guy with a badge and a gun,” Addison said.
“True,” Connor said. “I’d better go. Is Preacher still coming for three?”
“Honestly? Probably not,” Addie said. “I think he just said he would come because of how Harrison reacted to the idea.”
“You never know,” Connor said. “He might actually want to spend half an hour with a bunch of little kids who -”
“Ms. Moore?” Sarah Beckerson, the grade eight office volunteer sounded nervous and unsure.
Addison turned around, the reason for Sarah’s nervousness becoming instantly clear. Preacher was walking behind her, and his large tattooed body seemed even more menacing when it was surrounded by children’s drawings plastered on the walls. He carried what looked like a large fishing tackle box in one hand, and the tight black t-shirt he was wearing was stretched across his wide chest.