Page 19 of Aspen's Defense

"I…" I stare at him blankly, trying to take stock. Everything is fuzzy and muted, like I'm still half asleep. "I was having a nightmare."

"Yeah," he mutters, his tone grim. "A bad one from the way it sounded." He perches on the side of the bed beside me, reaching out. I flinch without meaning to do it. He notices but doesn't say anything. He simply pauses for a moment to give me time to adjust and then slowly continues moving his hand toward me to brush hair out of my face. "Want to talk about it?"

I try to remember details, but they're hazy. "I think I was dreaming about what happened at the shop," I say through a yawn. "I remember someone chasing me with a gun."

"Jesus."

"I should probably talk to someone," I sigh.

"Probably," he agrees.

"I did after the accident." I'm not sure why I tell him this.

"Yeah?"

I nod, dragging myself into a sitting position and then draping the sheet up with me to cover myself. Being the only one mostly naked feels a little too exposed right now. "I had nightmares for a long time afterward. Nash thought therapy might help, so I saw a shrink twice a week for the first year to try to work through everything, and then once a month until I was like sixteen."

"Did it help?"

"I guess so." I rub sleep from my eyes and sigh again. "I stopped reliving the accident every night, at least. What time is it?"

"It's a little after noon."

I blink twice. "I've been asleep for four hours?"

"You needed it. You had a shit morning."

I laugh abruptly. "That's one way to put it."

Noah cracks a smile.

"Did you sleep?"

"A little," he says. "The sheriff brought over some photos for you to look at. And I had to make some calls."

"Practice!" I cry. "You had practice this morning."

"It's cool, Dimples. I let Coach know what was going on. He's not stressing about me missing one practice." He grimaces. "We do have to bus out for a game the day after tomorrow, though. It's in Oklahoma."

"So you'll go to your game, and I'll stay here," I say.

His brows furrow. "I already talked to Jack. If the sheriff hasn't caught the fuckers who broke into the shop by then, we're going to hire a bodyguard for you until I get back."

"You're…what?" I splutter, certain I heard him wrong.

"It won't be permanent, baby. Only while I'm gone," he says, confirming that I didn't mishear him at all. The crazy man actually wants to hire a bodyguard.

"Are you insane?" I press my hands to my overheated cheeks, and the sheet slips.

To his credit, his gaze only drifts to my boobs for a brief second before returning to my face. "Someone tried to shoot you this morning, Aspen. Had his aim been better, he would have shot you."

"I'm aware. I was there," I remind him. "I'm the one who had to flee for my life. But hiring a bodyguard is taking this to an extreme."

"They'll sit outside," he says, trying to convince me. "I'd feel a helluva lot better leaving if I know you're not completely on your own while I'm out of town."

"Before we get carried away, can I at least see the photos Dillon dropped off?" I ask, more to buy myself time to think than anything. The more he talks, the less I like the thought of being on my own right now, and I'm not sure I really like how that feels. I've never been afraid in my own home before. I don't want to be afraid now, either.

"Shit. Yeah." He hops up from the side of the bed. "I'll go get them."