She flinched. “I—”
He pointed at the plate. “Eat first.”
She closed her eyes in pleasure as her lips closed around the first bite.
Gavin bit back a curse. First, because he very definitely should not be finding that sight so sexy. But also because this confirmed what he’d already known to be true. She’d been surviving off the crap in her cabinet and tiny fridge for too long. She was halfway through the omelet in under a minute, and he stood back up. He slid his plate over toward her. “Eat this one. I’ll make myself another one.”
“But—”
He turned away before she could say anything else. She was damned well going to eat until she was too stuffed to eat any more.
She’d finished hers and most of his by the time he’d cooked his second omelet. She got up to make them both coffee in a tiny four-cup pot as he sat down to eat.
“I guess I owe you a thank-you. Seems like you’re going to have to start a tab for stuff I owe you.”
He didn’t want thanks. He wanted answers. “What exactly happened to you last night?”
She turned back to fiddle with the coffee pot. Was she going to answer him at all? She poured some coffee into a mug and handed it to him, then sat down across from him clutching her own mug. Still she didn’t speak.
“Listen,” he said finally. “Are you on something? Drugs? Honestly, I thought you’d overdosed and might be about to die last night. You scared the shit out of me. Nothing I could do would wake you up.”
He could see her weighing what to tell him. How much of it would be the truth? “I suffer from chronic insomnia.”
“Insomnia?” That didn’t make sense. “Last night seemed like the opposite of not being able to sleep.”
“Last night was what happens when I go too long without any real sleep. I can push through for a pretty long time, but then my body eventually completely shuts down.”
He had to admit that lined up with what Anne had said. “How long has this been going on? Should you see a doctor or something?”
Once again she looked like she was trying to figure out how much to tell him. “I’ve seen a doctor, more than one actually, although it has been a while now. My insomnia originated because of some drug use. I’m no longer using the drugs, but my body is conditioned not to sleep well, so sleep and I have a very complex love/hate relationship.”
That was perhaps the most honest sentence he’d ever gotten out of her. “Okay.” It was time for him to be honest too. “Do you need me to help you find a doctor or counselor of some sort? Your drug use didn’t show up when I ran your name, so I know you weren’t arrested or in court-ordered rehab for it.”
“You did a background check on me?”
“Yep, and found out Lexi Johnson has no criminal record or outstanding warrants.”
She didn’t look as mad as he’d expected. As a matter fact she looked quite pleased with herself. “There you go.”
“You’re not mad that I ran your name through the system?”
That perfectly made up face didn’t flinch as she took a sip of coffee and studied him.
It was hard to believe this cool, composed woman was the same woman who had collapsed outside the door so helplessly last night.
“I’m less mad at that than at your seduction-for-information technique a few weeks ago. Does that usually work for you? Quinn told me you were suspicious of her too. Did you try to sleep with her to get information since she’s also new in town?”
He’d been an ass. He couldn’t deny it. “Actually, I think Baby volunteered for that duty.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, thank God there are good soldiers like you guys willing to take one for the team and sleep with all the suspicious newcomers.”
She got up from the table and walked over to the fridge. She pulled out some of the orange juice he’d ordered and poured it into a tiny juice glass.
She didn’t offer him any. He wasn’t surprised.
“That kiss wasn’t planned. I didn’t mean for it to turn into an interrogation. But I did think you were trouble. I thought you might be here to take advantage of Mac. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. I still don’t know why you’re here.”
“Maybe it’s not any of your business why I’m here, Sheriff. Maybe you’re going to have to accept that I’m not here to steal the Eagle’s Nest or hurt Mac in any way. Maybe you’re going to have to accept that I’m not going to spill my guts to you just because you’ve got a pretty face.”
Damn it, he didn’t want to fight with her. The time watching her last night had made him realize he wanted to help her. Protect her. Stand between her and whatever it was that sometimes put that terrified look in her eyes.
He didn’t want to fight. Didn’t want to add to whatever burden she was already carrying.
“You really think I’m pretty?” He batted his eyelashes at her.
She broke out in a huge grin, and for a split-second, she looked familiar. Like what everyone else kept saying.
“What?” she asked.
But then it was gone.
“I like it when you smile.” He picked up his plate and walked it over to the sink, rinsing it.
“If you just let me live here in peace, Sheriff, then I will walk around smiling all the time.”
She got up and walked her juice cup over to the sink, raising an eyebrow at him. Suddenly, this tiny kitchen in this tiny apartment seemed even smaller. He reached out and trailed his fingers down her arm. He couldn’t help it, he had to touch her. He’d been very careful not to touch her all night as she slept except for medical concerns. Touching her while she was unconscious went against every personal code he had.
But now, she wasn’t unconscious, and he wanted to touch her almost as much as he wanted his next breath.
“I do want to see you smile more, Lexi Johnson. But I don’t know that I can leave you in peace. Do you want me to leave you alone?”
“I—honestly, I don’t know.”
He kissed her. What should have been their first kiss. He had no agenda, no ulterior motive. Just a need to feel her lips under his. When her fingers dropped to his waist, clutching him closer, he slid his hands into her hair at the nape of her neck. He kept the kiss gentle, easy. She’d opened up to him a little bit today, and he didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize that.
Besides, he wouldn’t mind just kissing her for a few dozen hours.
Eventually, he pulled back. He leaned his forehead against hers. “Lexi, I want to help you. Whatever it is that scares you sometimes... that has you looking at the nearest door like you need to be prepared to run through it at a moment’s notice? I want to help. Let me help.”
Those huge eyes blinked at him, and for a moment he thought she was going to share whatever burden it was she carried. She was going to let him help her.
Then the shutters came down.
“I think you’ve got too much soldier on the brain, Sheriff.” She pulled away so they were no longer touching, closing in on herself. “Not everybody is a damsel in distress in need of a white knight. Some of us are just ordinary waitresses with no fancy story to tell.”
He didn’t believe that for a second. “Lexi, please. Whatever it is, I want to help. Let me help.”