“Do you want to come in?” She stepped back, opening the way into his bedroom.
He nodded; his onyx eyes locked on hers. “Is that okay with you?”
“Of course it is.” She swept her arm out, inviting him in like she owned the place. “It’s your room,” she added, dropping her gaze and disliking the awkwardness already setting in.
He crossed the threshold and looked around as though he’d never seen the space before. “Actually, I haven’t used it all that much, so it’s not really mine. You should take it. I can move my stuff into one of the staff rooms behind the kitchen.”
No! Too far, her mind screamed. “I don’t want to put you out,” she said instead.
“It’s no trouble.”
“How’re you feeling?” they both asked, and he grinned.
Grinned. At her. And she wanted to cry at the familiarity of it. The devilishness. The warmth. The spark it ignited down deep. Underneath the years of separation, a bed of glowing embers had always smoldered, and all it took to fan the flames…
One fucking grin.
The tears came on hard and fast, blurring her vision as they threatened to spill. Oh God. Not now. She clenched her fists, her nails pressing crescent moons into her palms while she did her best to keep her emotions in check.
Her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths, each one catching slightly, betraying the tempest waging beneath her crumbling exterior. Her jaw clenched, she forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat, and blinking hard, she tilted her chin upward to keep her tears from obeying the laws of gravity.
“Shit, Becca. I’m so sorry.” She heard the door close, and then he pressed his hand to the back of her head and pulled her in tight to his solid chest. “This is all my fault. I could’ve handled this better, baby. I know a lot has happened in a short amount of time. It’s overwhelming, and scary, and a lot to process. I swear I?—”
“It’s fine. I’m fine. None of this is your fault.”
“No. It’s not fine. I should have been better prepared. Found another way. Done anything that didn’t land you in the crossfire. I’m so fucking sorry.” Hand buried in her hair, he brushed his thumb back and forth in a soothing arc. “Can you forgive me?”
She sniffed, and his scent flooded her with happy memories. “There’s nothing to forgive, Jay. You tried to reach out, but I couldn’t let you in. Roman was watching me. Monitoring my computer. I couldn’t let him find you or discover the truth.”
“That you were Becca and not Maya?”
She nodded, and a slight tremor shook her at the sound of her twin’s name coming from his lips. “There’s so much I have to tell you.”
His hold on her tightened a fraction before he let her go. “We’ll get to that,” he said. “But right now it’s late, and you need a good night’s sleep, because tomorrow’s going to be a big day.” His hand swept down the length of her spine to land at the small of her back. “Come on.” He gave her a little nudge to set her in motion. “Let’s get you settled in bed.”
He walked her over, bent at the waist, and stomach muscles rippling, he adjusted her pillow and shifted the covers as best he could with one arm.
“What about you?” she blurted, a slice of fear cutting through the comfort of having him near. “You’re injured. You should sleep in your bed.” She flapped her hand toward the recliner in the corner by the window. “I can sleep in the chair.”
“You’re not sleeping in a chair.”
“But—”
“Nope. Get in bed, Rebecca.”
Oh, no. Defiance stiffening her spine, she stood taller. He did not just try to order her to do his bidding. “Now you listen to me, Jay Mann. You may think you’re the big bad alpha in your world, but in mine, you’re a blindfolded stuntman behind the wheel of a Tonka truck. You’re injured and need proper rest to recover. So lay your ass down, and don’t make me go find Jamie or Adam, because I will, and they’ll back me up. You know it.”
He grinned and shook his head. “Already using my team against me, sweetheart? That hardly seems fair.”
She scowled at his teasing expression. “Whatever it takes to make you see reason, you idiot. You drove a dirt bike off a cliff, and you fucking died in the process, so you are not sleeping in a chair. Not tonight, egg head.”
“Nobody said anything about me sleeping in a chair, sugar cube. I’m not all that tired, so I’ll head back down to the clinic to see if Grant’s awake, then crash on the cot when I’m done giving him shit.”
“No, that’s too far!” Jay falling into his familiar habit of dropping random pet names into their arguments had her heart picking up speed, but the thought of him leaving sent it crashing to a halt in a painful collision with her ribs. “I mean, what if something happens?”
“Nothing’s gonna happen. Trust me, you’re safe here. Surrounded by people who’ll defend you to their last breath. There’s no reason for you to be scared. I promise, you can rest easy, and tomorrow we’ll figure out the rest.”
“I’m not scared,” she lied. “But what if something happens to you? What if you fall down the stairs?”
