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He studies me closely for a second, as if he’s trying to solve a puzzle. “What’s she saying?”
My heart jumps in my chest. “Nothing.”
He frowns. “Layla, I can’t help you if you’re not honest with me.”
“It’s just the usual bullshit. That I’m pathetic and you—” I falter, because I don’t want to say the words out loud. I don’t want to put the idea in his head.
“I what?”
“She says you don’t really want to be here with me.”
His lips flatten as he shakes his head. “Layla, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to.” He cradles my hand in his, holding it to his chest. “I promise. Are you okay to go back to sleep?”
I have a hard time getting back to sleep after a nightmare, but it’s late—three o’clock in the morning. I can’t keep him up half the night. “I’ll be fine.”
He doesn’t look convinced. “Do you want me to stay with you for a little while? Just until you fall back to sleep?”
My pulse jumps at his offer. I never once asked Sean to sit with me. I never trusted him that much. But I trust Jason. “Would you mind? For just a little while?”
“I don’t mind.” He motions for me to scoot over and then he crawls in beside me, on top of the blankets. He arranges two pillows beneath his head, settles in, and sighs. “Did I ever tell you about the time I delivered my boss’s baby?”
“No.” I fold my hands over my belly and feel the tension leave my body.
“Yeah, I delivered Shane and Beth’s baby in the attic over a convenience store.”
“How in the world did she get up there?”
“Crazy, right? It was during an armed robbery. They were taking a little road trip, along with Beth’s bodyguard, Lia, who happens to be Shane’s youngest sister. When Shane stopped to get gas, Beth and Lia went inside the convenience store, I’m guessing to get snacks. While they were in there, armed robbers attacked the store. Lia was able to sneak Beth—who was not quite eight months pregnant at the time—into the rear storage area, where they found stairs leading up to an unused attic.”
Jason reaches over and lays his hand on mine. It’s a simple touch—just skin and warmth—and yet it comforts me.
He goes on. “Beth went into labor, and—to make a long story short—Shane and his team managed to get me up into the attic with her while the robbery was going on downstairs, and I delivered her son, Luke. He was six weeks premature, and I had a heck of a time getting him to breathe. It was touch and go for a while, but ultimately, he started breathing, and then we whisked him off to the hospital.”
I stifle a yawn. “Was he okay?”
“Yeah, he did great. He’s fine now, just over a year old. He’s a cute little kid. You should meet him sometime.”
Jason continues on, talking in a low voice I find soothing. My eyelids grow heavy, drifting shut as I concentrate on his words.
“She was lucky to have you there,” I say.
As he proceeds to tell me all about the little boy he helped deliver, my muscles ease and my mind begins to float as sleep takes me over.
Chapter 16
Jason
Layla and I settle into a comfortable routine over the next week. She spends each morning catching up on her schoolwork while I work out in the home gym. In the afternoons, I try to get her out of the house as much as possible because I think it’ll do her a lot of good. We take long walks in the park, and we visit the zoo. We go see a Cubs’ game at Wrigley Field. She wears my baseball cap low over her eyes, and not a single person recognizes her.
One evening, we go to Ian and Tyler’s townhouse and hang out with them up in their rooftop greenhouse. Tyler cooks burgers on a gas grill, while the rest of us enjoy the view of Lake Michigan in the distance.
Ian stands and nods toward the door. “Hey, Jason, come down and help me in the kitchen.”
I glance at Layla, who’s busy chatting with Tyler. “Sure.” I follow him downstairs.
Ian digs around in the fridge and pulls out prepped ingredients for a salad. He grabs a bowl and starts tossing ingredients in. “Layla seems in good spirits.”
“It’s been a good week. We’ve been to the park and the zoo. I’ve been working on getting her out of the house a little each day.”
