Concerned, he moved off the bed and went to her. “Hey,” he said softly, taking her hand in his. “Is everything okay?”
Moonlight streamed through the uncovered window, lighting the delicate angles of her face, and the anguish in her eyes sliced right through him, sharp as a knife.
“Yes . . . no.” Her voice was small, her expression uncertain as she shifted anxiously on her bare feet before saying more. “I don’t want to be by myself tonight. Can I sleep in here with you?”
Refusing her didn’t even cross his mind. In fact, he’d sleep better knowing she was right beside him, where he could keep an eye on her and see for himself at any given moment that she was resting peacefully.
“Of course you can stay with me,” he said, and with her hand still clasped in his, he led her to the other side of the bed.
He pulled back the covers, watching as she crawled onto the mattress wearing a threadbare tank top and equally old and worn sleep shorts. Clearly, her pajamas had seen better days, and the thin material did little to conceal her small, firm breasts and the too slender curve of her hips and ass.
Having her in his bed tonight wasn’t about sex, but that didn’t stop his dick from sitting up and taking notice of her tight nipples and those smooth legs he’d love to feel wrapped around his waist as he plowed deep inside of her.
He swallowed back a groan before it could slip from his throat and beat back the provocative thoughts that would only lead to a hard-on and a restless night’s sleep. Once she was settled beneath the comforter, he walked around to his side of the bed and rolled to his side. Their heads were on separate pillows, but they were facing one another, less than a foot of space between them.
“I really am sorry, Levi,” she said quietly, though he could still hear the wealth of regret in her voice. “I keep causing you a lot of trouble.”
“How so?”
She tucked her hands beneath her cheek, her brows pinched in a frown. “The robbery at the store and you getting shot, for one thing,” she reminded him.
“Awww, that was nothing more than a little bruise,” he said, grinning playfully in an attempt to lighten the conversation.
She didn’t smile as he’d hoped. “And you having to bring me back to your place so I have somewhere to stay for the night.”
“Not just for the night, Sarah,” he said as he reached out and caressed his thumb tenderly along her jaw. “For as long as you need.”
“It won’t be long,” she insisted in a raspy voice that was steeped in emotion. “I swear it won’t be.”
“I don’t care if it is,” he said, realizing how true that was—how quickly he’d come to care about her. And how much he wanted her, and more than just physically. “There’s no time limit on my offer.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, as if he’d just given her a precious gift.
He watched tears of gratitude shimmer in her eyes, and she swallowed hard. He suspected she wasn’t used to someone giving anything without demanding something in return. Or just kindness in general. As a kid of a known drug addict and crack whore, he hadn’t had a whole lot of kindness in his young life, either, but as an adult, at least he was surrounded by good, decent people he could count on if he needed anything at all.
Sarah didn’t seem to have that luxury.
He wanted to be that person for her, the one who protected her and chased away her demons, real or imagined. He wanted to be the man she could turn to. And right now, he understood what he could offer—comfort and a sense of security in the midst of her unstable life.
He gently grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. “Come here and let me hold you.”
With a soft, inarticulate sound, she moved quickly and scrambled across the short distance between them. Clinging to him like a lifeline, she buried her face against his naked chest. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, the warmth of his body absorbing the chill from hers.
“God, I’m such a mess,” she said, and he felt her wet tears on his skin. “My life is such a mess.”
He ran his free hand through her hair and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. “You’re not a mess, Sarah.”
She laughed harshly against his neck, as if he had no idea what her life was like, and it irked him that he didn’t. Not really.
“All that money gone . . . and now I have to start saving all over again.”
She sounded so defeated, but her comment gave him an opening to gently prod for deeper answers, and he went with it. “Saving for what, sweetheart?”
“To leave.” Her arms tightened around his waist, as if to contradict the words she’d just spoken by holding on to him. “I need to leave.”
“Why do you need to leave?” he asked calmly, when he really wanted to demand, what are you running from?
She shook her head. “Because I do.”