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“Even a tough person doesn’t mind having a warm body next to her.” She moved down to the mattress. “Strictly for the heat, you understand.”
He hesitated a moment.
“Yes, I’m sure.” She touched his injured arm. “As long as you think you can sleep.”
“No problem.” He sank down beside her and leaned against the wall, rearranging the covers over both of them.
She clung to the edge of the twin-sized mattress, not daring to move. The icy air creeping under the stiff blanket plunged half her body into a deep freeze. His body warmed her other half, and she closed her eyes. For about a minute.
Thirty seconds later, a baritone voice broke the silence. “I sleep with my eyes closed.”
She turned her head to find him watching her. “Maybe the problem is we’re both sitting up.”
“I can put an arm around you if that will help.”
“Worth a try.” This didn’t eliminate the sitting-up part, but she could snuggle against his warm chest. Which felt so good. He felt so good. Wouldn’t more togetherness be good, too? Didn’t she have enough confidence now that a relationship with him wouldn’t be a disaster? Or if it was, she could handle the consequences?
Square-peg Mitch didn’t fit the round holes of the other men she’d known. Seeing him and Paul side by side tonight had shown her how different they were. Not just in the clothes they wore or their physiques. She could depend on Mitch. If a fire alarm had gone off, his would be the hand she would have grabbed.
His voice rumbled under her cheek. “You said you almost didn’t go to the bar to meet your brother. Why did you?”
An invisible hand tightened around her throat. They’d talked all this out already, hadn’t they? “I wasn’t thinking.”
“Not that. I meant what did I do to cause you to distrust me?”
Why not come completely clean? “This is one of those it’s-not-you-it’s-me things. I didn’t trust you in the beginning so I suspected everything you did. I have this bad habit of falling for guys who wind up taking advantage of me, and I thought you would.”
He tucked his chin to look down at her. “When did I take advantage of you?”
“You didn’t, but I was sure you would because I was attracted to you.” She levered herself back to her side of the bed. “It was like a protective mechanism.”
“Because you liked me?” He tugged her close again. “I told you I’ll do what I can to protect Les.”
From this angle she couldn’t see his face in the dark, but he had to be frowning. “I’m explaining why I was so difficult at first. It’s not just from being homeless. I got over that. In high school I fell for a boy who was the star football player. I followed him to college because I didn’t think I could bear being apart. I know, so sappy. At college, we used to study together. Then he stole my English essay. When I handed in the same one, I was accused of plagiarism because a star football player could do no wrong. He didn’t even come to my defense.”
She clenched the top of the blanket. “Still makes me so mad.”
“He used you.” Mitch rubbed a thumb over her knuckles.
“I thought I’d put this trauma behind me, but I set myself up to be used by another guy when I moved to New Orleans.”
“Paul DiMartino.”
His words hit her like a slap of cold water. “How’d you know?”
Mitch lifted a shoulder. “Probably extrasensory perception.”
Or simply plain, old observation. His ability to understand her had been scary when she’d had something to hide, but everything he’d done proved Mitch cared about her. “Anyway, I got a job at VIP Tours. On the same level as Paul. If he’d been my boss, I never would have dated him, but it makes me sick to think I ever did.” She shivered at the thought.
Mitch tucked her between his legs and wrapped both arms around her. He must think her cold, but she didn’t protest. “VIP Tours belongs to his family so when he took credit for a joint project, I had no recourse. I expected you to treat me in the same high-handed way, but you didn’t. I only realized tonight how much I’ve misjudged you.”
* * *
“I figured it was something like that with DiMartino.” Mitch stroked her soft, silky hair. “I misjudged you too. I thought you were too stubborn to change your mind.”
“About what?”
Me. “Things.”