When It's Right(25)
Dee handed over a tissue, and Gillian helped Justin blow his nose. Justin lay on her shoulder while she rubbed his back. His little body trembled against hers. Dee sat on the bed beside her and brushed her hand over Justin’s head. Touched, Gillian smiled.
“I’ll go get his medicine. He’s on fire. We might need to call the fire department,” she teased.
Justin’s cheek scrunched on Gillian’s shoulder when he smiled at Dee, and Gillian’s heart felt lighter.
“Thank you.” She glanced at her grandfather and Blake. “He’s okay now.” She couldn’t help but take a second look at Blake, with his hair disheveled and his wide chest bare. The man looked rumpled and gorgeous. She felt like someone stuck her in the middle with a hot poker and the fire spread from there to encompass her whole body and throb low in her gut. He should register those biceps as a lethal weapon. All that strength, yet he stared down at Justin with such warmth and sympathy.
Did the man have to look so damn good in the middle of the night? More than the expanse of muscles rippling over his chest and belly, it was that damn hair of his that made her want to touch him. It looked like he’d run his fingers through it half a dozen times. She wanted to push her fingers through the thick mass and grab a handful and let the softness of it glide through her fingers.
She tore her focus from the half-naked man and tried to remember Justin needed her—she didn’t need Blake.
“Justin. Look at me. You are safe here. Look, Grandpa and Blake came running when they heard you needed help. They won’t let anything happen to you.”
Gillian caught the startled look on her grandfather’s face when she called him “Grandpa.” Maybe like her, he was settling into it. She hadn’t quite made up her mind completely about him, this place, or the too-handsome-for-his-own-good Blake. She gave both men a stern look, making sure they understood they better not make a liar out of her. Both of them gave her a reassuring nod they understood her silent message.
Justin turned to Blake and his grandfather. “I’m sorry I woke you up.”
“No trouble, buddy.” Blake came closer and bent in front of him. “I’m glad you’re okay now. Everyone has bad dreams once in a while.”
“Do you have bad dreams?”
“Sometimes,” he confirmed. Not tonight, though. He had a feeling his dreams would be filled with Gillian and her gorgeous, creamy skin, her long legs and silky hair. He’d dream about stripping her out of her pink tank top and flannel boxer shorts. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and the thin tank top fabric didn’t leave much to his overworked-since-the-moment-he-met-her imagination.
“I was once in a car accident.” Bud came closer and bent on his knee so he could be at Justin’s level, like Blake had done. “It’s scary to relive bad things in our dreams, but I can tell you, they’ll go away. I hardly ever think about that car crash, and I don’t dream about it anymore. The same will happen for you.”
“I don’t want to think about him anymore.”
“We’re going to work real hard to make that happen. Tomorrow will be your first full day here with us, and you’ll see that living here is much different than living with your father. I think you’re going to like the ranch, and especially the horses.”
Blake wanted to help reassure him, too. “That’s right. Your grandpa and I will take you around the ranch, and maybe we’ll even take you horseback riding.”
“I can ride them.” Justin pulled away from Gillian to look at Blake.
“Sure you can. I’ll teach you how.”
“Can I, Gillian? Can I ride them? Please. Say yes.”
“If your grandpa says it’s okay. You’ll have to follow the rules and do what Blake says.”
“Will you come, too?”
Blake answered for her. “Sure she will.”
Dee handed Gillian Justin’s medicine. “How about we all go back to sleep? Morning comes early on the ranch, and Justin can barely keep his eyes open.”
Gillian poured the proper dose of medicine and handed the small cup to Justin to drink. He did so with a sour grimace at the end, but didn’t complain. Gillian handed him the glass of water she’d left by his bed. He took a sip and laid back on her shoulder again.
“Thank you, Dee, for being so kind. I think we’ll be fine now.” She brushed her fingers through Justin’s hair again. “You want to sleep with me?”
Blake wished she’d asked him that question.
“Yeah,” Justin answered.