Chapter Five

SIMON

The sight of Magnolia—freshly showered, smelling like me, and in my clothes—damn near stops me dead. This girl…I’ve always known she was special, but chalked it up to her being in the Myla Rose zone—in other words, more like a sister—but seeing her now, I’m feeling anything but brotherly. When she pulled her hair up off her neck—have mercy.

Looking at her curled up on my couch, my sweats hanging from her hips and my T-shirt hugging her curves, I’m feeling things I’ve never felt. I’m feeling possessive and needy and hungry for her, which I know is all kinds of wrong. Poor girl has had a rough go of things yesterday and today, and judging from her nervous stutter, she’s running from something. But, my God, I just want to swoop in and slay her demons, even though it’s not my place.

“Si-Simon.” Magnolia’s voice brings me back down to earth. “Are you okay? You’re just staring…”

“Fine, totally fine. Just thinking. We need to talk.” Magnolia flinches at my words, and I quickly attempt to put her at ease. “Nothing bad, just gotta talk.”

“O-okay. About wh-what?”

“For starters, we need to talk about what happened today.”

Magnolia gives a small gasp, and her eyes flash before she drops them to her lap. I wait, giving her time to collect herself, but she doesn’t. If anything, she seems to sink deeper into her mind.

“Hey.” I reach out and tap her wrist. “You okay?”

She nods. “Uh, sure.”

“You wanna tell me what happened? How you hit my truck like that?”

“I…I-I…um,” Magnolia stutters out, her chest heaving as she gasps for air.

On instinct, I hop from my cushion and go to her, wrapping her in my arms, murmuring in her ear for her to take deep breaths, to follow the pattern of my breathing. Once she’s calmed, she makes no effort to move away from me, and I’m okay with that. I keep gently running my hands up and down her back in a soothing motion.

“We don’t have to go into that right now, Goldilocks. Not saying we aren’t gonna discuss it…just not now.” I don’t want to let her go, but I remove my arms from around her and settle onto the couch beside her, warming when she lays her head on my shoulder. “Let’s talk about your car instead. While I was in the waiting room, Mateo called from the auto shop, said he couldn’t be sure until the adjustor came out, but that it looked totaled to him.”

“No, it’s fine. I-it’s so s-stupid r-really.” Blushing, she twiddles her thumbs. “I was thinkin’ a-about y-y-you and got distracted. I m-missed the brake and punched the g-gas instead.”

“You were thinkin’ about me, huh?” I ask, secretly pleased to know I was on her mind, when suddenly she blurts out, “Oh God! This is my second accident…”

“You know what? Let’s not worry about filing this.” My words seem to surprise her just as much as they do me. “I doubt you’d have gotten much for your hunk of metal anyway, so when you’re feeling up to it, we’ll talk about getting you a new car. But, before any of that, driving lessons—you need ’em.”

“You’re right, I do. Thank you, Simon,” she says into the fabric of my shirt before bolting upright. “Your truck! Oh, nononono. Your truck!”

“Don’t worry about my truck. Your car took the hit more than my truck did. Nothing more than a messed-up bumper.”

“Really?” she asks, looking up at me, her eyes shining.

“Really,” I assure her, leaving out the fact that my bumpers are custom and in addition to replacing the back one, I also need a new quarter panel and backup sensors. All that’ll come of telling Magnolia is her feeling bad—not bad, worse—about what happened.

Our conversation lulls, and I notice her breathing is now deep and even. A glance down at her confirms what I already know: Magnolia’s dead asleep. With ease, I lift her and carry her down the hall to the room she’s staying in, even though some part deep inside of me is screaming for me to take her to my bed. The rest of our talk will have to wait until tomorrow.

Even though she’s been alert and coherent, I still set an alarm to check on her in two hours, and another two hours after that to give her some pain meds. Better safe than sorry and all that.

§

After a sleepless night due to checking on Magnolia even though she didn’t need it, I wake up exhausted. But, knowing she’s safe—yeah, that’s more than worth it.

With a groan and a grumble, I make my way into the kitchen to start the coffee, only to stop short at the sight of Magnolia standing in front of the already percolating pot.

I take a moment to appreciate the view. While I’m fairly certain Magnolia’s a real-life angel, her body is made for sin.

Clearing my throat, I announce my presence as to not startle her. Slowly, she spins to face me, and her eyes rake over my body like hot coals, reminding me of the fact that I’m shirtless.

I stand stock-still, letting her look to her heart’s content. Once her brilliant blues land on mine, I grin, loving the scarlet that blossoms across her cheeks.

“G-g-good morning,” she mumbles, dropping her eyes to her feet.

“Good mornin’ to you too. You sleep all right?” I ask, even though I damn well know she did.

“Mmhmm,” she mumbles, and I walk toward her, stopping when we’re toe to toe, so close that I can feel the heat from her body and see her nipples pebble beneath her shirt.

With my thumb to her chin, I tilt her head so her gaze meets mine. “Nothin’ to be embarrassed about, pretty girl. I looked my fill too, only you had your back to me.” My words only seem to make her more flustered, so I step back and set about pouring our coffee.

After grabbing two mugs from the top rack of the dishwasher, I turn to the fridge, pausing to ask her how she takes her coffee.

“Cream and two Splendas.”

“I only have plain sugar, that okay?” I ask, making a mental note to pick up some Splenda from the store.

“Sure, that’s perfect.”

I close the refrigerator door with my hip and doctor up our mugs just right—only cream for me—then carry them over to the table, where I pull out a chair for her. “Come, sit.”

“Thank you.” Magnolia cradles her mug in her hands, gently blowing on the steaming beverage.

“Not a problem at all. Got a few things we need to discuss today too—is now good?” She nods. “I need to swing by your place and get some stuff for you. Make me a list?”

“I…okay, Simon, but h-how’re you gonna get there?”

“Mateo offered to set me up in a rental, but my dad’s old junk truck still runs just fine.”

“Junk truck?” Magnolia questions, tilting her head to the left.

“Mmhmm. It was his until he quit driving, and I drove it in high school. It’s rusted and needs work, but it has good bones and runs just fine. I never got rid of it after he passed.”

“Ah. Well, thank y-you. I hate that I’ve caused all this tr-trouble,” she murmurs into her coffee.

“Shit happens. It’s how we deal with it, yeah?” She nods, and I smile. “I’m gonna go shower. There’s a pen and a notepad over on the counter by the fridge. Why don’t you make me that list?”

“Okay.”

With one last, lingering look, I drain the rest of my coffee and retreat to my bathroom.

§

With my towel wrapped around my waist, I use my forearm to wipe the steam from the mirror. Yesterday’s five-o’clock shadow is now full-on scruff, but I think I’m kind of digging it and decide to skip shaving.

Dressed in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved, dry-fit shirt with the school’s logo printed on it, I make my way back out to Magnolia. I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face when I find her snuggled up in my recliner under the throw blanket I keep draped over the back, happily watching TV.

“You look comfy.”

She gasps in surprise. “Oh, um…sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for, Goldilocks. In fact, I was thinkin’ about how that chair seems to fit you just right.” Magnolia smiles and blushes at my words, and damn if I don’t want to beat on my chest in a show of masculine pride.

“I don’t usually watch too much television. I prefer to read, but my Kindle’s at home.”

“Is it on your list?” I ask, mentally making a note to grab it.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Great. Rest up, and I’ll run by your place then grab some lunch on the way home. Any requests?”

“Anything you want sounds good to me.”

I smirk, because if anything were an option, I’d choose her. “See you soon. Call me if you need anything.”