Page 54 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
“It’s fine.” Mia’s hand brushed against her arm. “You screamed. I was worried.”
“Just a bad dream.” Lauren opened her eyes to see that Mia was sitting on the edge of the bed beside her, and thank God the T-shirt covered her panties or Lauren’s brain might have seriously melted down.
“Want to talk about it?”
“When I was walking home earlier, I thought a man was following me,” she whispered.
Mia sucked in a breath, moving closer so that her arm pressed against Lauren’s.
“It was nothing.” Lauren shook her head. “I ducked into a bodega, and he kept walking. Just me being paranoid.”
“It’s never paranoid to be vigilant of your surroundings. You did the right thing going inside the bodega.”
“Anyway, it freaked me out for a minute, but I forgot all about it once I got home and you’d cooked for me.” She smiled into the darkness. “But then I dreamed that I’d woken up, and the door to the apartment was standing open, and he was in the room with me.”
“Shit.” Mia gripped Lauren’s hand. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s a recurrent nightmare I’ve had since I was a girl,” she admitted quietly. “Waking up to find the door open and someone in the apartment. It happened to me for real once when I was little. It was just my mom’s boyfriend, rummaging around looking for drugs, but it scared the life out of me, waking to see the door open and a man creeping through the room.”
“That must have been terrifying.” Mia’s arm came around her, drawing her against the warmth of her body.
“It’d been a while since I had that dream. I guess the man tonight triggered it.”
“Sounds like it,” Mia agreed. “Are you okay now, or do you want to sit up for a bit?”
“I’ll be okay,” Lauren told her, but she didn’t let go of Mia, and Mia made no effort to free herself. On the contrary, she tightened her arm around Lauren’s waist, holding her close. So close Lauren could feel the side of her breast pressed against her arm through that T-shirt.
Mia turned her head, and their gazes locked. Their faces were entirely too close to each other, and maybe it was the dim lighting or Lauren’s rampaging emotions, but she could swear she saw longing on Mia’s face. Hunger. Desire.
She’d only have to lean forward a few inches…
For a moment, she was sure it was going to happen, that Miawantedit to happen.
Lauren’s heart pounded against her ribs until she could hardly breathe. She wanted to kiss Mia more than she’d ever wanted anything, and despite what she’d told her, she wasn’t entirely fine. When she closed her eyes, she still saw the shadow of that man in the living room. She felt the chilling fear of the open door. Her pulse raced impossibly faster.
“Lie down,” Mia whispered.
Lauren obeyed, not quite sure what was happening, but eager to find out. She settled against the mattress, and Mia lay behind her, one hand resting on Lauren’s waist as if she’d known she was still scared and that she needed her touch.
“I’ll stay while you fall asleep,” Mia murmured, her breath warm against Lauren’s neck, raising goose bumps on her skin.
Lauren closed her eyes, wondering if anyone had ever held her like this before, providing comfort after she’d had a bad dream. Lauren had been a caretaker for most of her life, but she’d rarely received caretaking in return. Tears burned behind her eyelids, but they were the good kind this time. She’d never felt more safe or cherished than she did right now.
With Mia’s hand resting on her hip, Lauren slipped into a deep, peaceful sleep. When she woke, that hand was gone, and she was alone in bed. Mia stood in the kitchen, dressed for the gym in a black sports bra and leggings, displaying entirely too much skin for Lauren’s sleep and lust-muddled brain to process.
Not when her mind was still replaying the vision of Mia last night in that tee…bent over Lauren and looking at her like she was desperate to kiss her.
“Morning,” Mia said as she zipped her jacket.
“Morning.” Lauren studied her, looking for any trace of the heat she thought she’d seen in Mia’s eyes last night, but in the morning light, she looked as impenetrable as ever. This was the Mia who was about to go on a date with Beth, not the Mia who’d come to Lauren’s bed after she had a bad dream.
“I’m on my way to the gym.” Mia picked up her water bottle and her keys and headed for the door. So they weren’t going to discuss last night, not that there was technically anything to discuss. Nothing had happened.
Still, Lauren felt a gut punch of disappointment. She hugged her knees and nodded.
“See you at the café later.” With a wave, Mia was gone.
* * *
