Chappy was perfectly comfortable with the direction his thoughts had taken. This woman was his. He knew it instinctively. Felt it in his bones. She’d been led straight to his door for a reason. And he wasn’t going to let her go without a fight.
Luckily, he had a bit more time to convince her he wasn’t insane, and that they belonged together. He had no idea how he was going to do so, but he’d figure it out. He had to. In his mind, there was no alternative.
Chapter Eight
Carlise woke up the next morning with sunlight shining in her eyes. She frowned and blinked in surprise. She hadn’t seen the sun in days.
“Sorry,” Riggs’s deep voice said, and she felt movement before the light dimmed behind her lids.
She opened her eyes and realized Riggs was lying next to her—right next to her—and hovering, blocking the rays of the sun with his head.
She tensed and tried to read what he was thinking and feeling by looking into his eyes . . . with no luck.
“Sleep okay?”
She nodded.
“You weren’t cold?”
Carlise shook her head.
“You’re sleepy in the morning.”
She shrugged. “Without coffee, it takes me longer to wake up.”
“I’m going to go out and start the generator in a moment. I’ll get the coffee maker out and fire it up.”
“You have a coffee maker?” she asked incredulously.
“Yup.”
Carlise closed her eyes in ecstasy. “Be still, my heart,” she joked.
When Riggs laughed, she felt it in her torso. Which brought her back to their current positions. She was on her side, one of her legs between his, and her hand was under his T-shirt, resting against his chest. The other was clutching his forearm. She was holding on as if she never wanted to let go . . . and she realized she didn’t.
“Um . . . we slept together.” She winced as soon as the words left her mouth.
But Riggs didn’t seem fazed in the least. “Yup. You fell asleep working, and I didn’t have the heart to wake you up. I could’ve slept on the couch . . . but honestly? I didn’t want to. I wanted to be here. Next to you. I vaguely remember that we slept this way when I was sick, and I have to say, it’s much better now that I’m not out of my head with a fever.” He studied her for a moment, then added, “I’m not sorry, Carlise . . . but I don’t want you to worry or freak out about it. Are you okay?”
Was she okay with this gorgeous man wanting to sleep by her side all night? Um . . . hell yes! But she kept her excitement to herself and simply said, “Yes.”
“Good. And you’ll be okay tonight? When it’s time for bed and we do it again?”
Tingles shot through Carlise as arousal swam in her veins. He wasn’t actually saying anything would happen beyond sleep, but her body had other ideas. “Yes,” she repeated.
Riggs sighed. “Thank God,” he murmured.
Then, to her surprise, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Close your eyes, sweetheart. I’m about to move, and the sun is going to be right in your eyes again.”
She did as he suggested and felt the rays against her lids as he shifted off her. Cold air infiltrated the warm cocoon they’d been in, and she immediately burrowed into the blankets to try to preserve Riggs’s body heat.
“I’ll put some more logs on the fire. It’ll warm up soon. Just stay in bed for now,” he said.
Carlise opened her eyes and watched as a fully dressed Riggs headed for the fireplace. Knowing that they’d both remained clothed, that he obviously hadn’t taken advantage of her the night before, made her estimation of him rise even higher than it already was.
Her instincts had been right. He was an honorable man. He wouldn’t hurt her. He wasn’t going to attack or rape her as soon as her guard was down.
Yet, a tiny part of her, the part that had always been let down by the men in her life, cautioned that she still didn’t know Riggs that well. Didn’t know if there were parts of himself that he kept buried away.
She watched as he puttered around the cabin, pulling an ancient coffee maker from the back of one of the cabinets, one she hadn’t bothered to look into. Eventually he glanced over at her. “You want to feed Baxter this morning? Or do you want to stay in bed and let me give it a shot when I go out to start up the generator?”
Carlise wanted to check on the dog, but she could hear Riggs’s desire to befriend Baxter in his tone. “You can do it, if it’s not too much trouble.”