Seaside Kisses: A Sweet Romance (The Seaside Hunters Book 4) (8 page)

"Mental note," he mumbled. "Get an actual flashlight for the house." But he doubted he would actually remember without noting it in his notes app.

He lifted the lid of the sandbox and found just enough sand for a litter box. He dumped it in the cardboard box and went inside, preparing himself to get in and out of the bathroom without the cat escaping.

Somehow he managed, and then he went to the entryway and slid off his shoes. His stomach rumbled.

"Forget it," he said. "My exhaustion wins, you lose."

He unzipped his jacket, and then he heard footsteps and voices outside. Rafael looked around for a makeshift weapon, but realized the voices were feminine. Maybe they were selling cookies or something.

The doorbell rang.

Rafael looked out the peephole, and though he couldn't see their faces, they looked harmless enough. He opened the door, and nearly passed out when he saw Amara standing there with Janelle Anderson.

"Rafael?" Amara asked. She looked equally surprised to see him, focused on his jacket.

The cold breeze from outside reminded him that he had no shirt on. He zipped it up all the way. "Amara. What are you guys doing here?"

Janelle looked like she was holding in a laugh. She recovered quickly, though. "Actually, we're looking for my cat. He didn't come home for dinner, and he never misses a meal."

"What's he look like?" Rafael asked.

"Gray tabby with a black nose."

"And he doesn't like to be picked up?"

Janelle's eyes lit up. "You've seen him? Where?" She looked around.

"He's downstairs. Come on."

Amara and Janelle exchanged a look.

"You rescued her cat?" Amara asked. She looked at Rafael like he was a hero.

He had to admit, he liked that. "Well, the cat pretty much found me. I was going to try to find the owner tomorrow." He motioned for them to follow him downstairs, and he led them to the bathroom. "Watch out, he might try to escape."

Rafael opened the door, but found the gray tabby fast asleep on his shirt.

"Max!" Janelle ran to the cat and picked him up. He squirmed, but purred.

"Look at this set up," Amara said.

Rafael raised an eyebrow. "It's just sand in a cardboard box."

"You've got a bed and litter box for him—you could have just left him outside."

"That's not where I found him. He was inside my garage."

"How'd he get there?" asked Janelle, rubbing behind Max's ear.

"Someone broke a hole in my garage door, and Max made it his job to protect the house for me."

"That's my Maxy-waxy," Janelle cooed.

Amara made eye contact with him and rolled her eyes. She picked up Rafael's shirt from the ground. "And I guess this explains… your… uh… jacket."

Rafael felt heat creep up his neck. He wasn't one of those guys who strutted around shirtless. The only time he went without was when he was at the beach—in the summertime. He shrugged like it was no big deal. "He needed the shirt more than me."

Amara's eyes widened. "You gave him the shirt off your back."

"To be fair, he did scratch it."

Janelle looked over at him. "I'm so sorry. Did he ruin your shirt?"

"It's no big deal."

"He designs clothes," Amara added.

"Nice," Janelle said. "I can't thank you enough for taking care of him. If you ever—are you okay?" Worry covered her face.

"I'm fine," Rafael said. "It's just a shirt. Really."

"No. Your face."

Rafael looked in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot and the skin around them was red and splotchy. The right eye appeared to be swelling.

Amara moved beside him, studying his face. "Are you allergic to cats?"

Rafael touched his red skin. "No… I don't think so. Well, maybe."

"Looks like a cat allergy to me," Janelle said. "You should go to the hospital."

"I'll probably clear up as soon as you take Max home. Can you take my shirt, too, since he's been sleeping on it?"

Amara held it up and handed it to Janelle. She still had it?

"Consider it done," Amara said, and then turned to Janelle. "You take Max home, and I'll help Rafael."

"Okay. Feel better. Thanks for taking care of Max."

Amara was going to stay with him? Maybe he hadn't scared her off with the kiss after all.

Eight

Amara looked around the bathroom. "Okay, since you're breathing fine, let me clean out this room, and you go upstairs and run water over your eyes. Try to get all the cat dander off. Oh, and change your clothes. If you want, I'll wash them right away, but we seriously need to get all traces of Max out of here."

Rafael just stared at her, and with his eyes swollen, she couldn't read his expression.

"Sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, but you don't have to stay and clean up."

"I can't let you be alone," Amara said. "You're allergy could get worse."

He raised his jacket sleeve and rubbed his arm. There was a long scrape on his arm, and it, too, was red and swollen.

"Is that where Max scratched you?"

Rafael looked down and his swollen eyes grew wide. "It didn't look like that before."

"I'm no doctor, but I'd say you definitely have a cat allergy."

"It's beginning to look that way. I wonder why it didn't start when I first picked him up?"

Amara shrugged. "Probably just took a while. Doesn't matter. Just get cleaned up, okay? If the swelling doesn't go down, I'm going to insist on taking you the urgent care clinic."

"I have allergy medicine I can take."

"Good. Take that, too. Maybe we should call your brother, too."

"Brayden? He's a cardiologist."

"Right." Amara's face burned. "Well, try the medicine, then."

Rafael mumbled something as he left the room. Amara wondered if he could be embarrassed about the allergy. Though, she still thought he looked fantastic, even with a little redness. She picked up the box full of sand and took it outside, dumping out the sand and stuffing the box into the recycle.

Once inside, she opened the cupboard doors under the sink only to find them empty. She wanted to scrub everything with a cleaner, but wasn't sure where he kept the cleaning supplies. Then she remembered how he thought elbow grease was in a bottle. She smiled, but lost hope that she'd find any cleaners in his house.

She opened a linen closet next to the bathroom and found a few bottles. Those would probably do. She took a rag and got to work. A few minutes later, she heard the shower upstairs. Not wanting to think about Rafael in there, she sang her favorite song to distract herself. That didn't work, so she scrubbed the floor even harder, making her arm sore.

The water turned off overhead, and she let out a sigh of relief. After a couple more minutes of cleaning, she was done. The solvent was really strong, so she closed the bathroom door, hoping it would dissipate by the next time he went in.

Amara paced the lower level, not daring to go upstairs. She'd hardly been invited, and who knew what he'd be wearing? It was too much to think about. She had a hard enough time taking her eyes off him when he wore long-sleeved shirts. And when he'd answered the door with no shirt under his coat, she'd nearly stopped breathing.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs.

"Are you still here, Amara?"

Her heart raced. "Yes." She hurried over to the staircase.

Rafael stood on the middle, wearing a long red and royal blue robe that wasn't revealing in the slightest.

Amara let out a sigh of relief. "How do you feel?"

"Itchy, but all right. I took the allergy pill when I first got up here, and I think it's already working."

She walked up the steps and stood next to him, only inches away. She could smell his shampoo and soap—it was a heavenly combination. Amara reached up to feel his face, but he backed up.

"I washed my hands—I swear. No traces of cat. I wouldn't do that to you."

He laughed nervously. "Okay. What about your clothes?"

"The only thing that touched Max was my coat, and I left it downstairs."

Rafael didn't look convinced.

"If you start to feel itchy again, I'll go home and change."

"Okay."

She pushed on his face gently. "It still seems swollen to me."

"I'm sure I'll be fine after some sleep."

Her eyes widened. "But what if it gets worse while you're sleeping?"

Rafael leaned against the railing, folding his arms. "You aren't going to try to force me to go to the urgent care, are you? I'm fine."

"Or prideful?" she teased.

He chuckled. "That's not the first time I've been accused of that."

"How about I stay for a little longer?" she asked. "Just to be sure."

"I can take care of myself, you know. I've been doing it for years."

"But you didn't even know you had this allergy. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I left and something happened."

"You think I'm going to die?" he asked.

"Hopefully not."

"Okay, here's the deal. I'll sleep on the recliner. You can take the love seat or couch."

Amara shook her head. "I'm not going to sleep. You're going to take the couch, and I'm going to watch TV. I hope you can sleep through noise."

"I grew up with five siblings. I could probably sleep through an erupting volcano."

Amara laughed. "Perfect. Get some blankets. Do you need anything to drink or anything?"

"No thanks. I just need some rest."

"Have you drunk any water?" she asked. "That would help, I think."

"Are you a nurse?" he asked. "I thought you worked in a candy store."

"I know a thing or two about allergies. My dad has a ton of them."

After a few minutes, she had gotten Rafael settled on the couch with a pillow and some blankets.

"Your eyes look a little watery," Amara said. "Mind if I find a wash cloth and pat them with some warm water? I think it'll help."

"Sure," he said, his eyes closing. Poor thing looked exhausted.

Amara found what she needed easily enough and then dabbed his eyes. She felt really bad for him. He was acting tough, but he looked miserable. She set the cloth into a bowl of warm water and leaned against the couch. Rafael's breathing warmed her neck.

"You can turn on the TV," he said.

She jumped, not realizing he was still awake. "Okay, thanks."

He opened one eye. "No. Thank you. I really appreciate you staying to look after me."

"My pleasure," she said, never having meant anything more. She scooted over to the recliner, which was closer to him than the love seat. "Goodnight," she whispered.

Amara thought she saw him smile. Butterflies danced in her stomach. She watched him sleep, listening to his deep breathing. She could still feel his lips on hers from the other night. It was time to think about something else.

She grabbed the remote and then found a movie to stream, but she couldn't pay much attention. Not when Rafael Hunter slept only a few feet away.

Amara found herself glancing over at him often enough that she couldn't keep up with the movie's story line. The swelling around his eyes did seem to be going down, but mostly she just liked watching him… and reliving the brief kiss.

Part of her wished she could go back in time and tell her teenage-self about this. They would squeal together, jumping up and down. Teenage-Amara never would have guessed Rafael would ever kiss her, or that Amara would be alone in his house taking care of him. Grownup Amara almost had to pinch herself.

Her phone alerted her that she had a text. She quickly turned it on silent, not wanting to disturb Rafael, despite his claims to be able to sleep through an exploding volcano.

The message was from Janelle.

What's going on? Did you get lost?

Hardly. Looks like I'm staying over at Rafael's.

What??????? Get out! I didn't think you were that type of girl.

Amara laughed.

That's not what I meant. He's asleep on the couch, and I'm just making sure he doesn't stop breathing.

Likely story.
Two kissing smilies followed the words.

Stop. Want me to send a picture as proof?

Of him sleeping? I'll bet he's still hot as Hades.

If he suddenly clears up, I'll go back to your place.

You'll do no such thing. I'm fine. See you in the morning?

We're on for breakfast, and then I have work to do.

Nighty-night.

Goodnight.

Amara put her phone away in her pocket, wondering if she would actually be able to get any work done the next day. If she stayed up all night watching Rafael sleep, she would need to crash as soon as she got home the next morning.