The Traveling Kind by Janet Dailey Page B

nights. She listened for the longest time, waiting for the sound of Shad’s footsteps on the stairs. She dozed off without hearing, then awakened later and strained to hear-sounds of him sleeping in the other bedroom. Finally fatigue overtook her and she fell into a heavy sleep.
    The buzz of the alarm clock was insistent, dragging open her eyelids despite her attempt to ignore it. She climbed wearily from the bed, irritated that the one time she had managed to sleep, she had been forced to waken. She dressed in her usual garb of blue jeans and blouse and left the bedroom in a kind of daze.
    At the door to the bathroom, her glance was attracted to Shad’s bedroom. The door was shut. She didn’t know whether he was still sleeping or was already downstairs. Not that it mattered, she told herself and entered the bathroom. With her face washed and her teeth brushed, she lost some of that drugged feeling.
    At the bottom of the stairs, Charley was shocked to find Shad sleeping on the couch in the living room. Too tall for it, he was sprawled over the length of the cushions with his feet poking over the end of the armrest. From somewhere, he’d gotten a blanket. It was loosely draped over him. She couldn’t imagine what he was doing sleeping on the couch. She walked over to waken him.
    Her hand touched his shoulder and he stirred, frowning in his sleep. The second time Charley gripped his shoulder more firmly and combined the action with the use of his name. “Shad. Shad. It’s time to get up.”
    With a flex of his shoulder, he shrugged away her hand but he opened his eyes. They focused slowly on Charley’s face as she stood half- leaning over him. His mouth tiredly curved into one of his slow smiles.
    “Good morning.” His voice was husky with sleep, its drawl thicker.
    “Good morning,” she returned the greeting and started to ask him what he was doing on the couch, but his hand reached out to snare one of hers and pull her onto the cushion beside him.
    “Don’t I get more of a greeting than that?” Shad mocked and hooked his hand behind her neck to force her head down.
    Charley stopped needing direction when she neared his mouth. Her lips settled into it naturally and moved in response to his sampling kiss. She wasn’t breathing quite formally when she finally straightened. He started to shift his position and winced from a cramped muscle. The discomfort made him take note of his “bed.” He seemed to register vague surprise when he found himself on the couch.
    “Why are you sleeping here?” Charley finally asked her question.
    “The mood I was in last night, if I had gone upstairs, I would have ended up sleeping in your bed.” There was rough impatience in his expression as his hands settled onto the soft flesh of her upper arms and began rubbing them absently.
    “Oh, Shad.” She trembled with the quick onrush of desire.
    “Yes, you should say, ‘Oh, Shad.’ I don’t think you know what you’re doing to me,” he muttered. “At this rate, I’m going to be sleeping in the barn next, just to keep my hands off you.”
    Neither of them heard the muffled thud of Gary’s crutches. They were too engrossed in each other to pay attention to anything else. Neither did they see him enter the living room and stop to stare at them.
    “What’s going on here?” he frowned suspiciously, puzzled to see Shad using the couch for abed.
    Charley turned swiftly to face her brother but Shad was slow to let his hands slide from her arms, showing no signs of guilt.
    “I was just waking up Shad,” Charley explained, aware that her cheeks felt warm.
    “What are you doing sleeping on the couch?” Gary ignored her to question Shad.
    “All things considered—” his glance briefly touched Charley to indicate what things were considered “—it seemed the proper place to sleep last night.”
    Gary came farther into the room, his gaze not leaving Shad. “Are you getting any ideas about fooling around with my sister?”