****
Once back in the bedroom Angela gave a huge sigh of relief. Except for her talk with Lloyd, she’d never enjoyed an evening less, and if this would set the tone for the rest of the stay then she had her work cut out for her. The last thing she wanted was to give Shane reason to complain about her performance. She knew she didn’t carry out her ‘girlfriend duties’ perfectly tonight but that couldn’t be helped. Hopefully she’d smoothed everything over with his dad at least.
She’d liked him…and Valerie too. Crap! She couldn’t just fall for the guy. Oh no, she had to get attached to the whole damn family.
As she got ready for bed she wondered how long Shane would take before he came up. Would he linger over after-dinner drinks with the others?
Angela sighed heavily, turning over to switch off the lights as she told herself to go to sleep. She’d barely closed her eyes minutes later when she heard the bedroom door open. Her breath went still and she automatically feigned sleep even while feeling childish for doing so.
She sensed more than heard Shane come up to her bed. Since her back was to him, she could only imagine that he leaned slightly over her form in its fetal position. She could almost swear she felt the shadow of his hand reaching up to brush her hair, but he seemed to withdraw with a shallow sigh and straighten to walk into the dressing room.
She must have fallen asleep waiting for him to come back out and prepare for bed. The next thing she knew she woke to a dark bedroom, light barely making itself known through the gap in the curtains. She could barely make out Shane’s form sleeping beneath the duvet on the couch. For some reason she felt comforted that he was there just a few feet away. Until she heard the screams.
Dear lord. She stirred from sleep a second time and shot up from her pillows to find Shane thrashing on the couch. She quickly switched on the bedside lamp, her heart thumping. Sure enough, those harsh sounds of pain were coming from him. She called out his name but he obviously didn’t hear her, his head tossing from side to side on his pillows.
Without thinking it through first, Angela stumbled out of bed to his side, noticing he’d kicked off his covers in the process and now was dressed in just his navy blue silk boxers. She barely took the time to register the long strip of scars marring the right side of his torso. Falling on her knees by the couch, her hand rested on his bare shoulder which she shook gently in a bid to calm him.
“Shane! Oh god…wake up, Shane! You’re having a bad dream!”
Why didn’t someone else rush in to help? Angela was frantic with worry until she realized their room was secluded from much of the house. Possibly no one could hear the noises Shane made that sounded like they could rip her soul out with the agony in them.
She clutched his shoulder again and shook Shane harder than ever.
He groaned and flailed his arms, almost smacking her in the jaw. She placed a calming hand on his cheek and stroked, her voice soothing. “It’s okay. It’s only a nightmare.”
His chest stopped heaving, and he tossed his head in her direction even though his eyes remained squeezed shut, his face a grimace. “Angela?”
Her name on his lips shocked her to the core. “Yes, I’m here. Right here, Shane. Go back to sleep.” God, but those sounds he’d made! They’d cut straight through her heart. What could he be dreaming of that made him form those terrible cries? Obviously the wreck and the fire. She combed the silky hair from his damp forehead as thankfully, he began to calm down. But just as she made to withdraw, he grabbed her retreating wrist with surprising strength. Angela gasped, instinctively drawing back.
“No,” he managed on a groan, his forehead crinkling as if in pain. “Don’t go. Please.”
Don’t go? Confused, Angela opened her mouth to object, to say she really needed to get back into bed. But lost the power to form words when he tugged on her arm to pull her on top of him.
“Stay. Please,” he whispered, head falling to the side just inches from hers as his flinching expression eased, though his eyes stayed closed. Angela hadn’t the heart to protest further. She slowly, carefully rested her head on his bare shoulder, letting her body soften into the hardness of his. Angela didn’t know what else to do. He had a death grip on her wrist and still seemed to be lost in between sleep and consciousness. At least he’d stopped screaming, thought Angela with a shuddery sigh. His body was warm, almost too warm, but she drew comfort in sensing that he became calm with her beside him.
Her body slowly lost its stiffness as she stretched her body next to his. His deep sigh had her finally allowing herself to totally relax, a strange emotion swelling her chest. In the soft light from the lamp by the bed, she could see his face at close range and every inch of scar tissue seemed softened in the night’s gleam.
God! She had it bad for this man. What the hell was she going to do now?
She hadn’t planned to fall asleep in his arms, but she did. The heat of his body, the reassuringly broad bulk of his frame, had lulled her to sleep once his breathing slowed. By the time she woke up, she found herself back in her own bed.
Everything was righted in the room; nothing to show that last night had been broken with the sound of terrifying screams. Angela shook her head as she tried not to think about it. She could only guess what tortured him and her heart melted thinking how no one could see this side of him that was vulnerable. All they saw was the disfigured playboy and racecar driver.
Angela picked out a demure sundress to wear after her shower. She didn’t know what to expect of today except that it was Shane’s mother’s birthday and there was of course going to be a large party. She hoped his parents weren’t still planning on going through with the intervention. It would be terribly embarrassing for Shane.
Angela was on the lookout for Shane once she reached the ground floor. She couldn’t help but notice the flurry of activity going on around her, with trays of food being carted into the house and people moving in and out so fast she couldn’t keep count. She was able to grab a sandwich from the kitchen and a cup of coffee when she decided to go hunting for Shane.
She made her way into the living room where Valerie was running around in a nervous panic. Valerie gave her a big smile. “Angela dear, are you hungry? You missed breakfast with us earlier.” Valerie’s expression held real concern and Angela drew in a calming breath.
“No thanks, Valerie, I grabbed a sandwich and some coffee earlier. I guess I must have overslept.”
Shane’s mother walked over and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re here Angela. I can’t tell you how happy it’s made me to see Shane out and about again. You’re a good influence on him and I want you to know how grateful Lloyd and I are.” Her eyes teared up for a moment. “We’ve been worried sick about him for the longest time.”
Angela patted her arm in a comforting gesture. “I know.”
“Well here you two lovely ladies are,” Shane said, walking into the room. He reached out an arm to pull Angela closer to his side and she eased into his welcome frame. “I hope you aren’t talking about me.”
They all laughed. “No,” Angela replied. “I was wishing your mother a happy birthday. The party tonight sounds like fun.”
“It will be,” Valerie exclaimed. “But there’s tons of work left to be done. I’d better go and check up on the preparations. I hired a caterer from a barbeque place in town but I still need to keep my finger on things. Maybe you can both go for a walk around the farm away from all the noisy commotion. I’m sure Angela would love seeing the baby ducks down at the pond,” Valerie suggested with a sweet smile to both Shane and Angela.
Once she turned the corner Angela self-consciously tried to draw away from Shane’s hold.
He pulled her tighter. “I’m sorry for dinner being so awkward last night. They’ll be more comfortable around you once they get to know you better. Are you holding up okay?” Shane asked, his hand gripping her chin and tipping her gaze up to meet his.
Angela didn’t know what she was feeling. Emotionally, the whole arrangement was beginning to take a heavy toll on her. She sighed heavily. “I guess I’m fine. How do you think things are going so far?”
He smiled. “My dad adores you already. He made a point of telling me so. And Mom seems to like you too. So I guess it’s fair to say you’re a big hit; like I knew you would be.”
“Mission accomplished then?” she said, hating the thought of their arrangement soon coming to an end.
“Almost. We still have the birthday party to get through. I have a good feeling about things though.” He took her hand in his. “Let’s go see those baby ducks.”