by Kim Law
Maybe if she knew more about Max’s first wife, that would clue her in to how she might be able to help Jaden? Or about what his life had been like after his mother’s death?
She wouldn’t get answers standing there watching him sleep, though. And she did need to get to work.
Retrieving the engagement ring from her purse, she moved to place it on the bedside table, intending to leave it so he’d see it when he woke up. As her fingers hovered over the small table, however, it occurred to her that anyone could happen into the room and lay eyes on it before he did. And if that were to be the case, there would be questions about why it was there. Which could become embarrassing.
She wouldn’t want to do that to him, so she tucked the ring back into her purse. She’d find another time to return it.
Taking one final peek at the silent form sleeping under the covers, she made herself turn to go. But his fingers closed around her wrist.
“Don’t leave,” he murmured, and she looked down to find his eyes once again open and looking directly at her. “I don’t want to be alone. Will you stay and talk to me?”
She swallowed. Whatever kind of pain meds they had him on, she wanted to know. Maybe she could slip one into her father’s brandy if she ever got up the nerve to tell him she wouldn’t be moving back home.
“Sit.” Jaden patted the mattress. “Tell me about you. How do I know you?”
This made her smile again. The man was out of it.
She sat, and his eyes drifted closed. But they immediately popped back open. “I danced with you at Gabe’s wedding.”
Arsula nodded. “You did.”
“You’re a really great dancer.” He laughed out loud, his lips curving in the midst of his scrubby whiskers and the sound a little too loud. “You looked hot in that dress, too. I wanted to take it off you.”
She didn’t remind him that he had taken it off her.
He lifted his head from the pillow and squinted. “What did you say your name is?”
“Arsula.”
He grinned again, his eyes closing more the wider his smile got. “That’s right. It’s a funny name.”
“I like it. I’m named after my great-aunt, who was named after her grandmother.”
“Yee-ah?” he slurred. “That’s nice, carrying on a family name. Do you have a niece?”
“Not yet, but I have three nephews.”
His shook his head, his eyes fully closed once again and his head cushioned on the pillow. “Boys shouldn’t be named Arsula. Just girls. You need a niece. Or a daughter. A daughter would be fun.”
She smiled at his rambling. It reminded her of Saturday night. Their discussions had bounced around, covering a number of topics, yet in the end it had felt as if they’d had one cohesive conversation. “Someday I hope to have both,” she admitted. All three of her brothers were married, with Boyd, the youngest, expecting his first child in a matter of weeks. A child who could potentially be the first girl of the family. And possibly her namesake.
And as for having a daughter . . . she had no current prospects.
“I have a niece,” Jaden told her. He removed his continuing hold on her wrist and held two fingers up between them. “Two of them. They’re the best. And they love me, too. For real, I think.” He squinted at her again. “Do you like your family, Arsula?”
“I do.” Her heartbeat seemed to slow as her internal radar blipped over the comment about his nieces loving him. “My family is terrific.”
Had that simply been the medication talking?
Or had it been him talking because of the medication?
“Do you like your family?” she asked.
“Sure. They’re great.”
His hand lowered, and he once again reached for her. Only this time when he made contact, it wasn’t to snag her by the wrist. He rested his hand beside her leg instead. And then he caressed the backs of his fingers over her thigh.
She dropped her eyes to his fingers.
“Do you know Megan?” His question had Arsula dragging her gaze back up and doing her best to ignore the paths of heat now winding their way along her legs. “Because I saw you talking to her at the wedding.”
“I do know her.” She also noticed that Jaden no longer looked at her.
Not only did she know Megan through their meetings to discuss the other woman’s dreams and to help her understand how to trust in her own intuition, but Megan had offered to work up a website for her. Arsula hadn’t been sold on the idea—sticking with local clients and having people seek her out via word of mouth had always been enough for her. Why change things? But over dinner one evening, she’d shared an idea that had rarely gone beyond a flicker, and before they’d parted ways for the night, an initial website concept had been scratched out.
“Then will you tell her that I’m sorry?” All inflection left Jaden’s voice. “I’m sure you were nice to sleep with and all, and I apologize for not remembering it.” He swallowed, and his eyes remained downcast. Dark crescents of eyelashes framed the top of each cheek. “I . . . also apologize for accusing you of drugging me.”
The movements on her thigh stilled, and when she didn’t say anything, he finally lifted his gaze. He must have missed her telling Susan that they hadn’t slept together.
“You’re nice,” he confessed. “I could tell that while we were hanging out. Before I couldn’t remember what else happened. And I don’t think you’d do something like that.”
She appreciated his apology. And his belief in her.
She also appreciated the fact that she hadn’t had to bring up the subject in order for him to offer it.
“Thank you.” She covered his hand and let sincerity ring through. “You’re forgiven for that.”
His eyelids began to droop again. “Then will you tell Megan I’m sorry? Because I shouldn’t have done that to her.”
She squeezed his hand. “You’re fine there, too. Because we didn’t actually have sex.”
His brows pulled together. “We didn’t?” His disbelief was obvious. “But you were naked. And I was, too.”
“Yes, we were both naked.”
“And we were in bed together.”
“Yes,” she answered patiently. “But we didn’t have sex.”
She didn’t know whether to admit that they’d intended to, or whether to just let him think their nakedness had been a strange by-product of climbing into the same bed together.
“Why didn’t we?” he demanded. His words were slurred, but she could see him fighting to stay alert. “Did we not have a condom?” Then his face cleared as if a light bulb had come on inside his head. “I don’t carry condoms.”
“Lack of a condom wasn’t the issue.”
“Then . . .” He frowned again, but then another knowing look came into his eyes, and he nodded as if with sudden understanding. “You’re on birth control.”
“I—”
“But I’m clean,” he interrupted. “Did I forget to tell you that? It’s just been me and Megan for years.”
“You . . .” She blew out a breath and found herself wishing the meds would go ahead and pull him under. She really would prefer to skirt the issue altogether. Not only would she not have to be talking about having sex with him if she hadn’t drunk so much, but also . . . most men wouldn’t take the information she possessed especially well.
At this point, though, she had the feeling he didn’t intend to stop until he got an answer that made sense. So heck, why not have a little fun with it? She liked Jaden best when they were laughing, anyway.
“You actually did tell me that,” she confessed. “And I am on birth control.”
She didn’t know why she’d just shared that.
“Then why didn’t we have sex?”
Because one plus one didn’t always equal two, she thought. But instead of confusing him more with her convoluted logic, she glanced surreptitiously at his lap. “Because someone drank too much whiskey before making it to the bed.”
He
studied her, clearly not catching on, then glanced to where she’d been looking at his lap.
“Are you saying that I passed out?” he finally asked. “That after getting you naked and getting into bed with you”—his gaze lowered to trail over her—“I just passed out?”
His disbelief stroked her ego. “You eventually did. First, though . . .”
She glanced at his lap again, this time more pointedly, and he finally seemed to understand. Then she laughed at the look of horror that passed over him. Her chuckles grew even more pronounced when he lifted the sheet covering his body and gawked at whatever he discovered underneath.
“Oh geez,” he mumbled, and he dropped the sheet. “Are you saying I couldn’t get it up?”
“I’m afraid so.”
He looked under the sheet again, and disgust lined his features. “That’s bullshit. I can get it up. I never have that problem.” He looked at her. “Do you want me to show you?”
“No.” Arsula laughed again and reached out to push the sheet back down to his chest. Painkillers made him hilarious.
“But I can,” he argued again.
“I’m sure you can.”
“Don’t patronize me.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “I recognize the tone. If you patronize me, I’ll show you right now.”
He made a face of concentration then, his gaze glued to that particular area of the sheet, and Arsula couldn’t help but watch.
Only . . . nothing moved.
He finally groaned and collapsed with exhaustion. “Dammit,” he growled out. “Why isn’t my dick working?”
Arsula snickered. “I’d say right now that’s thanks to the quantity of pain medication coursing through you.”
This brought his gaze back to hers. “You can tell they’ve given me something?”
“Yeah, Jaden. A little bit.”
“Great. I thought I was acting normal.”
He went back to glaring at his unresponsive member, and Arsula shifted farther onto the bed. She hiked a knee up onto the mattress and ended up watching what he watched—but there remained no movement. She knew she should get out of there and let him sleep. He’d be released later today, and from what she’d gathered by talking to Susan, he had a long road to recovery ahead of him. He’d no doubt need all the energy he could muster just to be wheeled out of the hospital and transferred to his own bed.
However, she couldn’t bring herself to go. She liked hanging out with him.
“Arsula?” He finally spoke again, and she shifted her gaze to his.
“Yes?” The lightheartedness of the previous moments disappeared.
“Thank you for coming to see me.”
She offered a tight smile. That was the sweetest thing he could have said.
He rested his head back against his pillow, both of them seeming to sink into their own thoughts, before he once again reached out a hand to her. This time his palm slid over her knee, and she instinctively knew that whatever he was about to say, it was important.
“Will you do me a favor?” The deep timbre of his voice made the hairs on her arms stand.
“If I can.”
“Will you let me stay with you when I leave here?”
Her features dropped. Stay with her?
They’d only met two days ago!
“I . . .” She shook her head, unable to utter another word.
“I won’t be able to go back to Seattle immediately,” he explained. “And I don’t want to go to the house. I don’t like it there.”
“But”—she swallowed—“I don’t think staying with me would be appropriate, Jaden.”
“But you said you’d help.” He nodded his head toward the flowers she’d brought in. “You said all I had to do was say the word.”
“Yes, but—”
“Word,” Jaden whispered, and she heard so much in that one syllable.
She saw even more in his haunted look.
He didn’t like staying at the house he’d grown up in . . . Why not?
Did it have to do with the house itself? The orchard?
Or simply the fact that Megan was currently living there?
She bit down on the inside of her lip as her thoughts continued to churn. Jaden had said he didn’t “like it there,” which was more than being uncomfortable with Megan’s living arrangements. So it had to be something else.
His mother? According to Erica, Jaden’s mother had been a manipulative person. She’d also mentioned that Gabe still suffered some lingering issues due to his childhood.
Had whatever affected Gabe had an impact upon Jaden as well?
It was possible. If their mother had been that manipulative a person.
So was that it, then? Her heart began to race. Was Jaden’s problem that he had deep-rooted issues concerning his mother?
“I can’t be there like this.” Jaden spoke again before she remembered to reply. “I don’t want to be a burden to anybody. I don’t want to have to ask.” The last part barely whispered out, and his gaze once again shifted away.
Arsula waited to see if he’d say more, and when he didn’t, she forced herself to speak. She had to say something. But what came out floored her. “I have all those stairs.”
Would she really consider taking him in if she didn’t?
“I forgot about the stairs,” he mumbled, and sadness seemed to pin him to the bed. “Maybe I can just stay here then. I’ll talk to that nurse. See if she can make that happen.”
“That nurse’s name is Susan.”
Blue eyes flickered back to hers. “Yeah?”
Arsula nodded and once again bit her lip. She wanted to comfort him with a hug.
“She seems nice,” he went on. “Do you think she’ll let me stay?”
“I . . . doubt your insurance company will let you.”
Dejection covered his face. “Oh yeah. I forgot about that. It’s not like this place is a hotel, is it?”
He lifted his head and peered toward the door then, his head bobbing drunkenly as he kept his gaze locked on it. Then he swung his eyes to the cell phone lying on the bed beside him. He picked it up and stared at it before putting it down and turning back to Arsula.
“Then will you do me a different favor?”
She nodded. “Whatever you need.”
Insecurity filled Jaden’s eyes. “Will you tell Megan that we didn’t sleep together? Tell her . . .” He gulped, and it was a moment before he finished. “Just ask her to still love me?”
The plea ripped her heart out. Because she couldn’t do that, either. At least, not the last part.
She could speak with Megan, however. And she probably should do that much, anyway. Because whether a relationship had reached its ending or not, thinking an ex had slept with someone else the very night it ended would hurt anyone.
“I can’t lose her.” Jaden’s eyes were closed now, and his words had slowed. But his thumb began to move over her knee. “Don’t tell her I sent you, though. I don’t want her to see me as weak.”
Jaden’s deep breathing indicated he’d once again fallen asleep, and against her better judgment, Arsula still didn’t get up. She’d figured out the source of his hurt, she was certain. His mother. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get him to open up so she could determine the specifics. And then help him to overcome it.
The door opened behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder, moving almost as if she were as lethargic as Jaden. She expected to find Susan looking back at her from the doorway, but instead she found Dani, Nick, and Nate. Three siblings come to check on their little brother.
Three siblings shocked to find their little brother with a woman sitting on his bed.
Chapter Six
Embarrassment flooded Arsula when she realized that Jaden’s siblings all simultaneously readjusted their gazes to Jaden’s hand on her knee.
“It’s . . .” She hurried to stand, not allowing herself to once again voice the “it’s not what it looks like” argument, and faced them, guilt h
eating her cheeks. Because it had been what it looked like.
It had been Jaden needing the comfort of another person’s touch.
It had been her sitting on his bed next to him. Way too close for someone he’d just met.
And it had been her, understanding that she was the person he needed to connect with. And her willingness to be that for him.
“How’s he doing this morning?” Dani spoke while her brothers remained mute. All three of them filed into the room, and each took up a spot around Jaden’s bed.
Arsula stepped out of their way. “I think he was hurting pretty badly before I got here. He was awake and talking until just a few minutes ago, but a lot of it was slurred as the pain medicine kicked in.”
“And what was he talking about?” Nate looked at her from the other side of the bed, his gaze unreadable.
She fidgeted with the zipper of her purse. Nate made her nervous. She knew Nick fairly well, having met him shortly after arriving in town, but until Friday night, she’d never seen nor spoken to the other twin. And though he might be physically identical to his brother, the two men were entirely different creatures. Nate struck her as someone walking around inside a six-inch impenetrable shell.
“He was talking about when he’s released from the hospital,” she shared.
“Good.” Nick gave a nod, and the move had the ability to ease Arsula’s nerves. “Maybe he’s come around. He refused every suggestion we offered last night.”
Arsula chewed on the corner of her lip and studied Jaden’s sleeping form. “Something tells me he’s still going to refuse them,” she finally admitted. Then she lifted her eyes back to his siblings. “He suggested he’d rather stay here instead of going to your family home.”
She didn’t know where she’d gotten the chutzpah to say that to the three of them, but it wasn’t as if Jaden could do it for himself.