Clare tore her gaze from his to focus on brushing her teeth. As she brushed, she thought that being with Aidan in his bathroom in the middle of the night seemed so natural. She’d have to ponder the meaning of that when she wasn’t battling a fever.

“Ready for a ride back to bed?”

She nodded, and when he carried her back to the bedroom she curled her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder as if it belonged there. He had changed at some point into an old Red Sox T-shirt and sweats.

He tucked her in under several blankets and got her to take two more Tylenols to stay on top of the fever. When he was satisfied she’d had enough to drink for a while, he got in bed with her. “Hot? Cold?”

“Just right for the moment, but can we pretend I’m cold so you’ll come over here with me?”

“We can do that,” he said, slipping an arm under her.

She turned toward him and used his chest as a pillow. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Taking care of me. I don’t know how a cold got so out of hand so fast.” She ran a hand over his chest and stomach, discovering he was all muscle.

“It’s probably pneumonia.” He captured her wandering hand in his and brought it to his lips. “You’d better cut that out, or I’ll be taking advantage of a sick person.”

She snorted with laughter. “Oh, God, you’ve got to be kidding. I’m a disaster area.”

He lifted her chin and kissed her lightly. “You’re sexy and beautiful, and I want you, sick or not. So behave.”

Her chest contracted, and not because of her illness. “Does this count as our first date?”

He laughed. “Go to sleep.”

She squeezed his hand, snuggled closer to him, and was asleep a minute later.

Clare slept through most of the next day. She awoke at one point to the thwack, thwack, thwack of an axe cutting wood and assumed Aidan was outside getting some work done. She couldn’t keep her eyes open long enough to check. When she woke up the next time, it was dark. Her head pounded for a moment when she pushed herself into a sitting position.

Across the room, Aidan looked up from the book he was reading. “Hey, sleeping beauty, you’re awake.”

She groaned. “I can’t believe I slept all day.”

He came over to sit on the edge of the bed. “You must be starving. I tried to wake you up to eat earlier, but you weren’t budging.”

“Sorry. I’m a little hungry but not starving.”

“I have an idea. Why don’t you take a bath in the Jacuzzi while I make us some dinner?”

“I’d love that. I feel so disgusting.”