Flick came awake with a start. The nightmare still held her in its grip. The dredges of it clawed at her. She shivered, she was sweating, yet she was so cold. She tensed as someone loomed over her. Someone big. She gasped in a breath to scream.
“Sh, sunshine, it’s me. It’s all right. It’s just me.”
Her mind scrambled as the voice penetrated her haze of fear. What the hell was West doing in her bedroom? A light flickered on beside her, and he sat down facing her.
Memories flooded her mind. Beau coming to get her, taking her away from Spencer’s house. It didn’t feel like her home. Nowhere she lived with him anymore did. Then Alec, West and Mia. The sheriff arriving. Doc giving her some pain killers.
West holding her as she drifted off to sleep.
“Did Doc drug me?”
“Yep,” he replied.
“That wily old bastard.”
West laughed, and, for a moment, she froze, just listening to the sound. She couldn’t remember ever hearing him laugh before. He was always so serious.
She looked around the dark room. “What time is it?” How long had she been asleep? Shortly before Doc had drugged her, Jake had come back to the room to tell her that her brother had been arrested.
“About three in the morning.”
She winced. “What are you doing in here? Did I wake you up?”
“I was sleeping on the floor and heard you cry out. Nightmare?”
Why was he sleeping on the floor of her bedroom? She looked over the side of the bed, sure enough there was a sleeping bag and pillow on the floor.
“Um, isn’t there a spare bedroom you could use?” This house was huge, and she knew the boys all slept out in the bunk rooms.
“Wanted to be in here in case you needed me.”
“I’m used to looking after myself, you can go sleep in a real bed.” She didn’t quite know how she felt about him being in her bedroom while she slept when she’d had no idea he was even there.
At least she hadn’t woken up to find him in bed with her. She blushed at the thought. As if he’d want to sleep with her.
That thought made any warmth leave her body. West didn’t want her. He was just there because he felt guilty.
“Well, seeing as you just woke up from a nightmare, I’d say it was a good thing I was in here.”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve woken from a nightmare,” she told him dryly. Oh, shit. Why did she say that? She watched as his eyes flared open then narrowed. His anger filled the room, and she shied back a little bit. He must’ve seen the movement because he quickly tamped down on his emotions.
“Scared of me, sunshine?”
She couldn’t let him know how much she loved that nickname. He’d never called her anything but Felicity or girl. Heat flooded her as she felt the heat of his thigh against hers.
God, he was gorgeous. How had she ever thought he’d be interested in her?
Spencer would never let her go. But, for some reason, she’d let herself dream when she’d seen West. It had been an instant thing. She’d just known he was her one.
A stupid, foolish, naïve dream.
No wonder he kept referring to her as a girl.
“No, I’m not scared of you. I don’t think every man is bad. I don’t even think my brother is a completely bad man. He just has demons that haunt him.”
“Demons don’t give him the excuse to hurt you,” he said fiercely. “He doesn’t get to take those nightmares out on you. There are a lot of people with bad things in their lives, who don’t hurt good people because of them. I want you to know that I’d never hurt you, sunshine. Never raise my fist to you. I know I probably scared you earlier when I talked about discipline, but I didn’t mean to.”