Marlowe was snoring, his big head on Ken’s shin.
Ken smiled down at Madeline, whose cheek was pressed against his shirt.
He wondered if this was what it would have been like in a real relationship with her. If she wanted him for more than rebound sex.
He wondered if there was any chance of it happening.
Sure, he wasn’t the kind of man Madeline would normally go for. She deserved the absolute best. But still... she seemed to have a good time with him. She definitely enjoyed having sex with him.
Maybe he could make her happy.
He wanted her to be happy, and she’d seemed like she had been for the past month. Certainly happier than she’d ever been with Josh, the selfish asshole.
Maybe...
HE WOKE UP AGAIN WHEN Madeline was pulling away from him.
He was barely conscious of what was going on, but he knew instinctively that he didn’t want to lose her. So he mumbled and pulled her soft, warm body closer.
“Ken.”
He managed to open his eyes at the soft plea in her tone. “Y’okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. But my arm is asleep. You’ve been lying on it. So can you...”
“Oh. Sorry.” He hefted himself up to a sitting position. “Shit, what time is it?”
“After midnight.” She sat up too, shaking out her arm to restore circulation.
Taking advantage of the sudden room on the couch, Marlowe stretched out to his full length, giving a loud snore.
“Sorry I fell asleep on you,” he said. “Have you been awake for a while?”
“No. I just woke up.”
“You want to take off?”
“I guess. I walked here.” She gave a wistful look toward the door.
“Well, you can’t walk back by yourself in the dark. I can drop you or walk with you. Or...”
Her eyes shot to his face.
“You can spend the night here if you want.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Of course I don’t mind.” Did she really think he didn’t want her there? Maybe he was better at hiding his feelings than he thought. “But if you stay, we should probably move to the bed. It’s a lot more comfortable than the couch.”
She smiled. “It’s a deal.”
So they went to the bedroom. Ken took most of his clothes off, and Madeline found one of his clean T-shirts to sleep in. Then they climbed into bed.
Too exhausted by life to pay attention to their hesitant advances, Marlowe kept sleeping on the couch.
Seven
TWO WEEKS LATER, MADELINE woke up in Ken’s bed.
She’d slept there almost every night for the past fourteen days except for his weekend with his girls and then a couple of times when Ken had spent the night with her instead.
That one night seemed to have changed things between them, although neither of them had put it into words.
She was happy. Excited. Kind of fluttery whenever she thought about spending time with Ken. But also nervous about how she was feeling. This didn’t feel entirely safe. Pretty soon things would come to a crossroads, and she’d have to make a real decision.
She didn’t want to do it yet. She wanted to keep going the way they’d been going. She wanted to keep feeling this way.
She was too much of a thinker to genuinely put the question out of her mind, but she’d been doing the best she could for the past two weeks. Overall, she’d done as well as she could expect.
It was Friday now. Just after six in the morning. She didn’t have to work at the library today. She needed to catch up on a couple of messages for the flower shop, but she hoped to knock those out in the morning so she could take the rest of the day off. Then she’d have the entire weekend off. It was a like a bonanza of free time, which wasn’t something she was allowed very often.
She lay in bed for a while, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about what she’d like to do with the weekend. Part of her had a long to-do list she wanted to tackle. But the rest of her wanted to hang out with Ken and Marlowe the whole time.
It was a silly thought and not likely to happen since Ken always had things to do on the weekends. Even the weekends when he didn’t have his girls—like this one—he always had projects or got called into the sheriff’s office or got invited to parties or cookouts.
He wasn’t the kind of man who would hibernate for the weekend the way she sometimes liked to do.
She heard him shifting positions beside her, so she turned to look. He was still asleep, wearing only his underwear and looking rumpled and masculine with his dark scruff and his chest hair.
She smiled at him rather dopily since he looked uncharacteristically vulnerable when he was sleeping. Like he needed her to smooth down his hair. Like he could use some taking care of.
Like she might be the one to take care of him.
As she watched, his eyelids twitched slightly, and he made a gruff sound in his throat. “Y’okay?” he mumbled, even before he’d opened his eyes.
“Yes, I’m okay. What do you think might have happened to me as I was sleeping in bed beside you?”
He smiled groggily as he opened his eyes. “Don’t know. Monster could’ve gotten you in the middle of the night.”
She giggled and scooted closer. “Not likely. You would have woken up if a monster had gotten too close.”
“Only if you screamed.”
“I would have screamed.”
He’d rolled over onto his side so they were lying facing each other. “I don’t know. You’re so quiet and contained that you might have tried to fight it without making a sound.”
She wondered when he’d gotten to know her so well. So deeply. “I’d have made a sound. I’d have wanted you to help me.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. If I’m facing a monster, I’m definitely going to want you around to help. So I’d scream to wake you up.”
“Good.” He pulled her face close enough to his to kiss her. “Because I’m gonna wanna help you face down any monsters you have to fight.”
Her stomach twisted in both nerves and emotional pleasure. His blue eyes were soft and fond when he pulled back from the kiss. “Y’okay?” he asked again, softer this time.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I’m good.”
“Good. Me too.” He groaned as he rolled over onto his back, stretching his arms out over his bed. “Shit, I don’t want to get up today.”
“Well, it’s Friday. You just have to get through today, and then you’ll get the weekend.”
“That’s true.” He turned his head to check her face. “You got big plans this weekend?”
“No. Not much. I’m planning to finish up my work for the flower shop this morning, and then I have the rest of the weekend off.”
“That’s good. Maybe we can hang out some since I won’t have the girls.”
Since this was exactly what she’d been hoping, she smiled and started to say that she’d like that.
Then Ken broke in, “Shit.”
“What?”
“I forgot about Bill’s retirement party tonight at Anna’s. I need to at least make an appearance there.”