this fire

chapter thirteen

Laney opened her eyes slowly and panicked. She was in a room she didn't recognize. She didn't move for a minute, and then realized that was because she couldn't move. And she panicked more until she looked down at her stomach and saw an arm draped over it. She followed the arm to a shoulder and then to a head of sandy blond hair and heaved a sigh of relief.

Until she glanced toward the door and saw Aaron's parents standing there, arms crossed and parental looks on their faces. "Er...hi," she said. She shook Aaron.

"Five more minutes," he mumbled, resting his head on her chest and nuzzling her to get comfortable. She stared at the ceiling.

"God give me strength," she muttered before she shoved him away from her and off the bed.

"What?!" he asked blearily, sitting on the floor. He glared at Laney, who gestured to the door. "Oh, hi, Mom. Dad," he said, standing up. "Um. I can explain."

"I had a nightmare," Laney said quickly. "It was really bad. I don't really remember, but I think people were dying, or I died or something. And I got really freaked out and came in here to see if Aaron was awake. Which he was after I came in."

"And I told her to stay because she was afraid she was going to have another nightmare and I thought maybe she'd feel better."

"Which I did. Feel better."

His parents nodded, still giving them that "what'd we tell you?" look, and left the room. Laney burst into desperate giggles and then, when she looked at Aaron, who was still sitting on the floor in his Mickey Mouse boxers, she couldn't seem to stop laughing.

"I'm glad you find this situation funny," he said. She just nodded, unable to speak through her laughter. He stood up and stretched, watching her carefully, as though she might explode at any moment. "Laney?" he asked after a couple of minutes. She was slowing down.

"What?" she asked through peals of laughter.

"I just wanted you to know what I'm going to have a huge bruise on my ass thanks to you."

"I didn't push you that hard," she said.

"Maybe not, but I landed hard."

"You were nuzzling your face into my breast in front of your parents, I'll have you know. I mean, I know I'm hot, but really, Aaron, is that necessary?" She laughed at the look on his face.

"Thank you for waking me up," he said sincerely.

"Anytime," she said. She stood up and walked over to him. "Thanks for helping me sleep." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek before she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Aaron unconsciously put a hand to his cheek, staring at the closed door.

*

They spent all of the next two days hanging out and surfing and watching movies. On the last night before they had to fly back to Texas, they were both sitting on Aaron's bed, reading. "Laney?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

She looked up at him. She was laying on the bed, and he was sitting next to her, leaning against the wall. "What for?"

"For coming. I'm really glad you did. I had a good time."

She grinned. "I had fun too. Thanks for having me. You think your mom will send me food? My mom cooks, but it can't even compare."

Aaron chuckled. "You could ask. Hey, what are you reading?" he asked curiously, trying to look at her book.

"Nothing," she said, putting a finger in her page and hanging her arm off the side of the bed. "Just a book."

He raised an eyebrow. "If it's just a book, why can't I see it?"

"Because I said so. That not good enough for you?"

"Nope," he said, lunging over her to get at the book. She moved it so it was still out of reach and grunted when he landed on top of her.

"Thanks," she said, her voice strained.

"I'm going to get that book," he threatened, grabbing for it. When he couldn't get it, he gave her a quick look and then began to tickle her. "You know," he said calmly as she squirmed, "you could save yourself a lot of trouble if you'd just tell me what book you're reading."

"No," she said, moving around so much she was starting to get away. She slipped out of his grasp and stood up. "HA!" she said, triumphant. He got up and circled her, trying to figure out the best way to grab the book from her. "You realize we're acting insane and now we probably look like those weird men you call wrestlers?"

"I just want to see your book."

"Nooooo," she said. He stopped when she had her back to the bed. He didn't want to hurt her. She eyed him warily and shrieked when he jumped at her, grabbing the book away and causing them both to fall onto his bed. He pinned her hands to the bed and looked at the book. "You realize there is a half naked man on the cover of this book," he said.

"Give it back," she said, trying to get her hands free.

"Nope." He flipped the book over. "When Mia agrees to take her friend's place in a sleep study, she never dreams she'll be sharing a bed with Nate Cafferty — a very fine specimen, if she does say so herself. Still, her life is too complicated right now to start messing around with a guy so hot he could make her forget her own name. And that would be a fatal mistake. Private investigator Nate hopes that posing as a research subject will allow him to get close to this mysterious woman who isn't who she claims to be. But he can't seem to focus on anything but the seductress he's sleeping with! How can he uncover all her secrets…when all he wants to do is play under the covers with her instead?*" Aaron looked at Laney. "You read stuff like this?"

"I read stuff like that," she told him indignantly, trying not to be embarrassed. She was failing.

Aaron sat up and flipped through it; it fell open to a page towards the middle. Laney grabbed for it, but he stood up and wandered around the room as he read the page. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. She flopped onto the bed and buried her face in his pillow as he started to read one of the more steamy scenes out loud. She felt the bed shift as he sat down, and then felt it shake with his laughter. "This is why I didn't want to tell you. I hate when people make fun of me," she said.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just never would have pictured someone like you reading one of these cheesy romance novels." She flipped over and grabbed the book from him, glaring at him and turning away. "Aw, Laney. I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to make fun of you."

"I'll have you know, Peirsol, that every woman in the world has read one – or more – of these books at some point in their life. And making fun of that is not going to get you anywhere."

She stood up and left the room before Aaron had a chance to apologize again. "Laney, I'm sorry," he said, leaving his room and walking down the hall to the closed door to the guest room. He tried the knob and cautiously walked in when it turned. "I'm sorry," he repeated. Her response was muffled, but he was fairly certain there was a swear in there somewhere. "You can swear at me all you want," he assured her, laying down on the bed next to her, facing her. He propped his head up on one hand and brushed a piece of hair out of her face with the other. "I'll read it," he offered. She looked up from the book, an incredulous look on her face.

"You've got to be joking."

"Nope. If it'll help, I'll read it."

"Aaron, I'm not going to make you read the book. You'll just laugh at it and ruin it. It's ok, I just don't like to be made fun of." She put the book down behind her on the floor next to the bed and watched him for a reaction.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. It's fine," she said with a small smile.

He couldn't resist. He tried, he'd tell himself later, but he couldn't do it. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. When he looked at her, her eyes were closed and her mouth was relaxed. He'd meant to kiss her lips the first time and chickened out, but this time his aim was right on.

Laney's eyes flew open and she jerked back, a reflex she wasn't sure she was thrilled about. Aaron sat bolt upright. "I'm sorry," he said. "Um. I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he fled from the room.

Laney sighed and turned onto her back.

"Damn."