For His Brother's Wife

Paige was extremely frightened and he could understand why. He’d already been awake when the lightning struck. But to be awakened out of a sound sleep by something that loud had to have been a shock to her system.

As they made their way from one room to another, he opened the doors to a couple of bedrooms before he discovered where the damage had occurred. Apparently lightning had struck one of the trees surrounding the house, sending the top of it crashing through the bedroom’s windows.

“There’s nothing I can do about it tonight,” he said, closing the door. “I’ll take care of it tomorrow when I can clear the tree away from the house and see the extent of the damage.”

“I think I’ll just stay up,” she said, walking beside him toward their bedrooms.

“It’s barely past midnight,” he pointed out. “You worked hard clearing out the room for your studio, and I’m sure you’re worn out. You need to rest.”

She shook her head and the feel of her long, silky hair rubbing against his shoulder sent a shaft of longing from the top of his head to the soles of his bare feet. “I won’t be able to sleep as long as it continues to storm.”

He tried to concentrate on what she had said. “Why not?”

“I was never afraid of storms before,” she said, sounding a little embarrassed. “But I was home alone the day the tornado came through and even though it missed the house, the sound of the wind and the way the house shook was terrifying. I’ve never been through anything like that before and I never want to go through it again.”

Her fear was understandable, and he hated that she had been by herself the day the deadly twister caused so much destruction. It was nothing short of a miracle that it hadn’t hit the house, and the thought of what might have happened if it had was more than he could bear.

“Where did you take shelter?” he asked, tightening his arm around her shoulders.

“I really wasn’t sure where to go until I remembered the tornado drills they made us practice when we were in school. They always had us go into an interior hallway, sit on the floor and cover our heads.” She shuddered against him. “I took a throw pillow from the family room couch to cover my head and crouched in the storage closet under the staircase in the foyer.”

He nodded. “Other than a basement or storm cellar that was the safest place.”

The storm outside thundered loudly, causing her to jump. “I hate being afraid,” she said on a soft sob.

Taking his cell phone from the pocket of his jeans, Cole checked the weather app he had installed six months ago after the tornado had torn up the area. Other than thunder and lightning, there wasn’t anything severe coming their way. Without a second thought, he steered her toward his bedroom.

“What are you doing?” she asked as they entered the room.

He stopped halfway to the bed to gaze down into her amazing gray eyes and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Do you trust me, Paige?”

“Of course,” she said without hesitation.

“I’m going to hold you while you sleep,” he said, leading her over to the bed.

“I...um, do you think that’s a good idea?” she asked, looking doubtful.

“It will be fine,” he said. Cole briefly wondered if he had lost the last ounce of sense he possessed. But he would gladly suffer through whatever he had to in order to ease her fears. “I gave you my word this afternoon that nothing is going to happen between us and I meant it. All I’m going to do is hold you and make you feel safe so that you can get some rest.”

“What about you?” she asked, looking uncertain. “Will you be able to sleep?”

“Sweetheart, I can sleep through just about anything,” he answered.

It wasn’t exactly a lie. Normally, after working with one of his construction crews all day, he was out like a light the minute his head hit the pillow. But with Paige in his arms, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to so much as blink an eye.

Thunder rumbled overhead and that seemed to seal the deal for her. “My nerves aren’t going to allow me to argue the wisdom of this,” she admitted, shaking her head as she got into bed.

Although it was dark in the room, Cole could make out her slender silhouette lying on the king-size mattress and her dark auburn hair spread out across the pristine white pillowcase. He swallowed hard and, taking a deep breath, stretched out beside her to hold her in his arms.

At first she remained stiff, and he knew she was as nervous about the sleeping arrangement as she was about the storm outside. But as she began to relax, he noticed a couple of important details that he had missed before. The fabric of her nightshirt was a lot thinner and the hemline a hell of a lot shorter than he had realized. Of course, his attention had been claimed by easing her fears and assessing the damage from the lightning strike when they were out in the hall. But now?