“I’m going to shove it in the trash can so I never have to see it again.” She looked down at the balled-up gown in her hands.
“Seems like a good plan.”
She nodded, and tears filled her eyes.
“Norah.” Harley crossed towards her and pulled her into his arms.
“I’m sorry, I just don’t think it’s all hit me yet. Everything that happened at my apartment and then at Hewitt and Hewitt.”
“It’s a lot.” He rubbed her back as she leaned against him.
When she pulled away, Norah felt the chill from not being in Harley’s embrace.
“Would you mind sleeping in there with me? I’m scared, and with you nearby I don’t feel so alone.” She looked down at the floor, afraid to see his eyes. Would he be disgusted? Angry with her for asking? She had asked Clayton to share her bed once, not for sex, but just because she was lonely, and he had gotten angry and told her she was trying to tempt him.
Norah felt fingers under her chin and looked up into Harley’s soft eyes. “I will. Let me get a shower and I’ll be in afterwards.”
She nodded and headed for the pulled-out couch. She could wait here for him. Norah leaned back against the pillows. Damn, she was tired. How was she still tired after taking two naps? The shower turned on, and the white noise was enough to have her giving in and closing her eyes.
* * *
TEN MINUTES LATER, Harley came out to see Norah sleeping on the pullout couch. He couldn’t help but be amused. Seems she needed sleep, he couldn’t blame her after everything she’d been through. He lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. Once he had her tucked under the blankets, he stood staring at the empty space he was supposed to occupy.
This was going to be torture, he thought to himself. To lie so close to her, but not be able to touch her. Still, it was better than sleeping on the couch, so he climbed into bed and rolled to his side to face the wall.
It was going to be a long night.
8
Norah opened her eyes and stretched. It felt as if she had slept for days, but as she checked the alarm clock on the bedside table, she saw it was only seven in the morning. The room was dark, the shutters blocking out most of the light. A few rays managed to sneak past their defenses and they shone on the still-sleeping Harley.
Norah snuck a peak at him. Damn, he was gorgeous. She couldn’t remember coming in the room last night, so he must have carried her. And he had stayed with her all night. She smiled. She had never slept in the same bed as a man before. Even though she hadn’t fallen asleep with him next to her, she felt as if she slept more soundly with him there.
Norah stretched and crept from the room in search of coffee. After she had fixed a fresh pot, she turned to the fridge and cabinets to see what she could make for breakfast. It was her favorite meal to cook, and she was ecstatic to find everything she was going to need in order to put together a nice pancake breakfast.
Norah preheated the oven and then prepped the batter. She lined a cookie sheet with some tin foil and placed the strips of bacon on it. Once it was ready, she slid it into the oven and started cooking the pancakes.
As she cooked, Norah didn’t think about what was going on in her world at the moment. She let her mind escape and thought only of the task at hand. Cooking had always been a way for her to release any stress, and as she poured the batter and flipped the pancakes, it worked just as it always had.
* * *
HARLEY WOKE TO find an empty space where Norah had been. The momentary panic was quickly replaced with hunger when he smelled the food cooking in the kitchen. He stood for a moment, stunned as he watched her cook. She was in her own world and hadn’t even noticed him watching her.
She smiled and sang quietly to herself while she danced around the kitchen to the music that was in her head. He was struck with another type of panic, one that was caused by his reaction to seeing her.
How was he supposed to combat this?
She finally saw him and jumped slightly. “Harley!” She put her hand to her chest. “You scared me!”
“Sorry.” He smiled, although his insides were having a full-on panic attack. “Breakfast smells amazing.”
“Thanks. It’s my favorite meal to cook and eat.” She turned back to the stove and flipped the pancakes that were cooking.
“Coffee is fresh. Grab some and have a seat.”
“Thanks.” He did as he was told, both excited and nervous at the chance to watch her again.
She bent and pulled a pan of delicious-smelling bacon from the oven, and Harley’s mouth watered.
“I’ve never seen it cooked in the oven before.”
“Really? It’s pretty much the only way I cook it. It comes out so crispy and makes much less of a mess without the popping grease from the pan.”
Norah spooned some scrambled eggs onto a plate along with four pieces of the bacon and placed it in front of him. Then she went to work setting the table with silverware, a huge platter of pancakes, syrup, butter, and, to his surprise, peanut butter.
“Peanut butter?”
“It’s so delicious on pancakes.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” He smiled, said grace, and then started eating. The eggs were cooked to fluffy perfection, and the bacon was crispy and loaded with flavor. “Norah, this is possibly the best breakfast I have ever had.”
“Thanks.” She grinned. “Like I said, it’s my favorite meal, and a lot of times I would eat it for dinner.”
“Nothing like a good brinner every now and then.”
Norah let out an unguarded laugh, and the sound was music to Harley’s ears. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard breakfast for dinner referred to that way, but I like it.”
Harley watched as she pulled a pancake onto her plate and smothered it with butter and peanut butter. After a generous coating of both and topped with syrup, Norah cut a piece and ate it. She closed her eyes, and Harley studied her.
“That good, huh?”
“You should try it. It’s amazing.”
Harley did just that and was surprised when it indeed tasted amazing. “Damn, that is good.”
“Told you,” she bragged. “So, what’s our first step?”
“Towards?”
“Taking down Tom and anyone else involved in Clayton’s organization.”
He eyed her. She had somehow made him forget that they had to do something. Harley cursed at himself. Stay focused, dammit. “I don’t have any of my files from the original case; those are all back at Hewitt and Hewitt. So I’m going to start by writing down everything I remember and then going back over it.”
“I can help. Maybe I know something you don’t,” she suggested.
“Maybe.” He doubted it, though. He had spent damn near every moment of the last two years tracking Matthews’s movements. “We need to find something solid on Tom, so at some point we are going to have to track him down.” Her face paled noticeably, and he reached across the table and touched her hand gently. “Only observation at first, and you don’t even need to go with me.”