I’d been planning to give Alyssa her surprise before now, but she’d been extra tired and nauseous. I’d probably worn her the fuck out and then with the stress of the incident piled on, she needed rest. Plus, she’d been sick a few times but had assured me it was just the flu. Since she didn’t have a fever, she managed to convince me to hold off on calling the doctor, insisting it would clear up in a few days.
She’d appeared to be better last night, but she’d still been restless. I was relieved she seemed to be sleeping deeply when I woke up. She didn’t stir when I climbed out of bed, or when I opened a drawer and grabbed a pair of sweatpants to pull on. She’d need food to help her body recover, so I decided to make her breakfast while she slept in.
“Good morning, sexy.”
I was mixing pancake batter at the kitchen counter when I heard Alyssa’s sleepy voice and sultry greeting. My head turned in her direction, and I licked my lips at the sight of her standing there with her mussed hair, flushed skin, and wearing one of my T-shirts that had shrunk enough to fit her like a nightgown, rather than a tent. “Morning, baby.” I set down the whisk and sauntered over to take her in my arms.
I gave her a long, lingering kiss and smiled at the dazed expression on her face when I pulled away. However, it melted away as I took in the sight of the purple hue under her eyes and the slightly glassy sheen to her eyes. “How did you sleep?” I asked as I brushed her hair away from her face. “You look tired.” She screwed her face up, and I laughed before adding, “Gorgeous, but tired.”
Alyssa sighed and leaned into me. “Yeah, I just can’t seem to get a good night’s sleep. Hopefully, now that everything is over, it will return to normal.”
“If you’re not sleeping better in a couple of days, you’re going to the doctor,” I informed her. She didn’t say anything, but she nodded, so I accepted that for now. “Hungry?”
“Not really,” she sighed. “My stomach is a little upset.”
“Will you try to eat something?” I asked softly. “For me?”
“Okay, but you aren’t always going to get away with stuff by using that voice with me.” She pretended to glare but couldn't hold it when I laughed.
I put her on a stool and walked back around the island to the counter and the pancake fixings. On the way, I pushed the envelope in her direction.
“What’s this?”
I glanced at her, my lips curved in a sly grin. “Open it.”
Grabbing up the items and tools I was using, I transferred them to the island so I could watch her.
She pulled out the sheaf of papers, then turned it over so the ring of keys fell out. Her eyes drifted up to mine, but I just winked. “Go on.”
Lifting the papers, she scanned the top document, but instead of lighting up, she frowned, her expression puzzled. “You bought a house?”
“That disappoints you?” I was as perplexed as she seemed to be.
Alyssa shrugged, trying to appear casual. “I guess I just thought we’d choose a place together. I thought you, um, didn’t you say something about, um, moving in? Maybe I heard you wrong…”
I suddenly realized she thought that by buying a house on my own, I didn’t expect her to move in with me. Chuckling—and receiving a heavy scowl for it—I took the top paper and set it in front of her, tapping one specific section. “Look at the address, baby.”
A second later, her whole countenance lit up like I’d been hoping it would. “You bought this house?” she gasped. Almost shyly, she looked at me again, her cheeks tinged with pink. “For me?”
“Of course, it’s for you, baby. Everything I do from now on will be for us.”
She looked around, her face filling with wonder, and breathed, “Us. This is our home.”
“They threw in everything, so you can keep or toss whatever you want,” I told her as I grabbed two mugs and fixed us each a cup of coffee.
“Seriously?” she chirped as I set her drink in front of her.
“Seriously.”
Alyssa took a small sip of the steaming liquid, then bounced in her seat excitedly. I started to say something else, but the color abruptly drained from her face, and she hopped off the stool and raced out of the kitchen. I was hot on her heels, and when she fell to her knees in front of the nearest toilet, I held her hair back while she released what was in her stomach. Which wasn’t a lot because she hadn’t eaten much yesterday and hadn’t had her breakfast this morning. Unfortunately, her body didn’t care, and she dry heaved, her small body shuddering as sweat beaded on her skin.