six in the morning.” She moved away and he had the ridiculous urge to pull her down against him. These past few hours had been the soundest he’d slept in years. Something about having this woman close soothed the demons that waited for him in the dark.
“I’ll give you a ride,” he told her, rising from the chair. His lower back ached, and as he looked around the small apartment, reality came crashing over him like a tidal wave. Today was going to be awful. “I’ll need to wake Rhett and—”
“One of my girlfriends is on her way.” Erin shoved a thick lock of hair behind one ear. “Rhett needs all the sleep he can get. He’s coming to school today, right?”
“Yes,” David answered, mentally listing all the things he had to get done. “He needs a routine now more than ever.”
“How’s your sister?”
“She feels terrible and says she’s committed to straightening out her life once and for all. I need to pick her up this morning and then make arrangements to get her to a treatment facility.”
“So Rhett will be staying with you while she’s in rehab?”
“Yes. Not here. I live in a loft above the brewery.”
“How long is the program?”
He sighed. “A month. Rhett doesn’t know she’ll be gone. I’ll tell him when he wakes up, but she won’t leave until tomorrow afternoon. I want him to spend time with her—to know that she’s okay.”
“It could be traumatic,” Erin said with a nod. “But we’ll get him through.”
He didn’t want to admit how much her words resonated with him. When had he suddenly become afraid of dealing with things on his own? David prided himself on never being dependent on anyone, let alone a woman who’d been a stranger only twelve hours ago.
She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, a nervous habit he’d seen her do several times since they’d left the bar. That moment when he’d caught her staring at his ass felt like a lifetime ago.
He ran a finger across the seam of her lips. “You need to give that lip a break. It’s too pretty to take so much abuse.”
“Oh,” she breathed, pink rushing into her cheeks. He wasn’t sure what had surprised her more—his touch or the fact that he thought her mouth was pretty. Pretty and far too kissable to be good for either of them.
“I appreciate your help,” he said, the words rusty and unfamiliar on his tongue. “I’m going to make sure Rhett has a stable home life, but having a teacher who understands what he’s going through will be important.”
She inclined her head to study him. After everything she’d witnessed and what she’d clearly inferred about the dysfunctional McCay family, it must seem odd for him to suddenly be speaking so formally.
“Of course.” Her brows knit together, causing a small crease to appear on her forehead. He resisted the urge to smooth it away...barely. “I should go. Melody doesn’t live far from here. She’ll be waiting.”
She moved across the small space, and he didn’t say anything until the door to the apartment had almost closed.
“Erin.”
She turned, one hand on the doorknob. “Yes?”
“I’d like to repay you for last night.” The thought of remaining in debt to her—to anyone—chafed his skin like an itch he couldn’t quite reach.
“There’s no need—”
“There is a need.” The need pounding through him to claim her. He tried to convince himself the longing would be quenched if he could do a favor to repay her for—in large part—rescuing him last night. “I could make a donation to your class or host the school’s Christmas party at the bar, free of charge. What do you want?”
She stared at him for several long moments, the air between them growing thick and hot. She cleared her throat and said clearly, “I’d like to have an affair with you.”
Then she was gone, the door clicking shut behind her.
And David was left staring after her, wondering if the whole thing had been some kind of bizarre dream.
“You asked him to hit the sheets?” Melody let out a hoot of laughter. “Who are you and what have you done with my friend Erin?”
Erin kept her palms pressed tight against her cheeks, willing her face to stop burning. “Oh my gosh,” she repeated for the tenth time since she’d climbed in Melody’s minivan and told her friend how she’d left things with David. “I’m nobody. I’m delusional. He’s going to think I’m crazy. Maybe I am crazy.”
“You’re not crazy.” Melody reached out and gently pulled Erin’s hands away from her face. “But did you ever think of asking him out on a date?”
“Clearly I wasn’t thinking at all.” Erin shook her head. “And of course I didn’t ask him for a date. David McCay would never go out with someone like me.”
“Bargaining for sex seemed like a better idea?”
Erin groaned. “Oh my gosh.”
“Why wouldn’t he go out with you? You’re cute. You’re nice. You have decent teeth.”
“Decent teeth? My best friend thinks one of my top three selling points is decent teeth? This is even worse than I thought.”
Melody laughed softly. “Suzie and I saw the way he looked at you at the bar last night. It was kind of hot.”
“The way he looks at a parking meter is hot. That’s David. He’s not for me. We both know he’s not for me.”
Her friend didn’t deny it, and Erin wasn’t sure whether to feel justified or hurt by the silent validation.
“Then why make your little request?”
Erin thought about how she’d felt with David watching her across the small apartment. The way she’d seemed to come alive when he’d placed his hand on the small of her back. The longing for something more in her life.
“He asked me what I wanted and my mouth formed the words before my brain could catch up. He is what I want. Not forever. Not for real. But the chance to be with him...”
Melody sighed. “Can you imagine?”
For Erin, fantasizing about David was akin to fangirling over a comic book superhero played by some hot Australian actor on the big screen—larger than life. He was so handsome he took her breath away, but was a whole galaxy out of her league.
He’d probably even look darn good in tights. Erin giggled at the thought, and the fact that she had asked him for an affair. What had she been thinking?
“I want to be seen,”
