My eyes widened. “What? How did she not know you cut a piece of her hair off?”
“Had a pair of those kiddie scissors stuck between my fingers when I went in for a hug. Made my move nice and quick.” He winked. “It was all innocent fun.”
“It’s all innocent fun until someone gets arrested, yeah,” Milo said.
“I have some other hair samples in the drawer if you want to see ’em?”
Milo and I looked at each other. I could tell he was just as freaked out as I was.
I pretended to yawn. “I’m feeling kind of tired, actually. Think I should turn in.”• • •There was one bathroom down the hall from our bedrooms. I took a shower, which was badly needed after our long day. The water pressure was good and the temperature hot.
As I settled into bed, Milo peeked his head inside my room.
“Just checking on you. You still feeling okay here?”
I sat up a little. “Well, Mr. Hooker, I think this detour definitely takes the cake.”
“I couldn’t agree more. At least the rooms are nice. The sheets smell good.”
I was certain his sheets smelled amazing—because they now likely smelled like him.
“Last chance, Mads. I’ll sneak us out of here right now if you’re not comfortable.”
I honestly loved how protective Milo seemed, how considerate he was about whether or not I was happy.
“This bed is really comfortable. I’m good. I might have nightmares about stuffed mice, but I’m good.”
There was a moment of silence, and I wondered if he was thinking about our moment earlier, when he’d put his hand on my face. It was the closest we’d come to crossing the line. Well, aside from that striptease I’d given him.
Even though I knew there was no point in fantasizing about his touch, I couldn’t help it.
After he left, I fell asleep quickly. Today had been an active day, so that was no surprise.
But sometime later, something woke me in the middle of the night. When I opened my eyes, I could’ve sworn I saw the door to my bedroom move. Was someone leaving my room?
What the hell?
Was it Milo?
Old Man Wyatt?
Am I hallucinating?
Not knowing was starting to freak me out. So, I got out of bed and went to Milo’s room.
He turned at the sound of the door opening.
“What’s up?” he asked groggily.
“Did you just come into my room?”
“Can’t come into your room if I’m asleep. You woke me up. Anyway, why would you think I was in your room?”
“I could’ve sworn someone was in there. I saw my door close.”
“Not me, babe.”
His calling me babe made me tingle inside.
Snap out of it, Hazel.
“Okay. Well, sorry to wake you.”
“It’s okay. Try to get some sleep and not worry,” he said. “I’m right next door if you need me.”
Back in my room, I spent the next several minutes tossing and turning.
Milo must have heard my bed creaking, because no more than ten seconds later, there was a knock at the door.
“Mads, can I come in?”
I straightened in the bed. “Yes.”
Milo entered, and I sat up against the headboard as he took a spot on the corner of my bed.
“How did you know I needed company, Milo?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m starting to know you. We’ve spent every waking minute together for days.”
“Can you stay here with me for a bit?”
He didn’t immediately answer. “Yeah. Of course. I’ll stay on the floor.”
“No. This bed is big enough. We’re both adults. We can handle it.”
As soon as he laid next to me, I started to feel like something was brewing. Given how close we’d come to kissing earlier, that was a safe assumption. As much as I needed him here in order to be able to sleep, I knew if I slept next to him I would end up in his arms. And then he would end up inside me.
I flipped around so my head faced the foot of the bed. If I turned my head now, I only saw his big feet. Since I was short and my legs didn’t reach the top of the bed, the only thing he’d see if he turned his head to kiss me was an empty space.• • •The following morning, Milo and I got dressed in our respective rooms and prepared to hit the road.
It seemed Wyatt was a late sleeper, because he was nowhere to be found when we ventured downstairs.
“I say we grab coffee and breakfast on the road and skip it here. At this rate, it’ll be noon by the time we get out of this place.”
“Yeah. That’s a good idea,” I agreed.
We were just about to head out when Milo’s expression changed. He bent down to pick something up off the carpet. “Holy shit.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a piece of hair. But it’s the same color as yours.”
I approached to examine it. That wasn’t just a random piece of hair. It was my hair.