Read Online Twice the Trouble by Sandra Dailey - Free Book Online

Alex sleeping. She’d resisted it all night. But she couldn’t ignore that noise. Alex lay on his right side on the sofa. His right hand reaching over, softly batted at his left arm. His brow was furrowed as he growled deeply and continually. He was dreaming about the fire.
    Lacey quietly approached him. She knelt on the floor by the sofa and took his right hand in hers. She stroked his left arm.
    “Shhh,” she whispered. “Everything’s going to be okay. You’re okay.”
    He grabbed her hand in both of his. “Promise you’ll tell her.” His eyes were still closed. He was still dreaming. “Tell her I love her. Tell her I need her,” he said in a garbled plea. He brought her hand to his strong, wide chest. “Lacey…”
    After an hour, he hadn’t made another sound. It had been hard to resist lying next to him, holding him. Lacey slipped her hand from his and went to bed. She knew she wouldn’t sleep, but she didn’t want Alex or the twins finding her there in the morning.
    ****
    Alex woke on Lacey’s sofa with the sun streaming through the lace curtains. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so soundly. He supposed it was due to the fresh country air. He’d get plenty of that today. There was a lot that needed to be done, good old-fashioned physical labor.
    Alex was no stranger to the gym. He worked out twice a week. Also, he ran at least four mornings a week, depending on his schedule. But it would feel good to actually work with his hands again. Fixing the front porch the week before had whetted his appetite for physical, constructive, outdoor activity. Besides that, he was tired of Jerrod’s implications that he couldn’t handle real work. It was time to show the boy what a man could do.
    As he staggered to the bathroom, he caught the aroma of fresh brewed coffee. He desperately wanted a cup of that coffee.
    Alex brushed his teeth and shaped his beard. He changed out of the running shorts and T-shirt he’d slept in. He didn’t own a pair of pajamas, but it wouldn’t do to sleep in the buff on the family’s sofa.
    He thought about Lacey. He hoped he’d have a few minutes alone with her before the kids got up. For as long as he’d known her, he’d never seen her first thing in the morning. He had a theory that you could tell the most about a woman by what she was like when she woke. A woman tended to lower her guard after a cozy night between the sheets. Would she be soft and drowsy, or coarse and grumpy? Did she wear frilly nightgowns or warm pajamas? There was a lot he wanted to learn about Lacey Carlyle, only in order to break through her barriers, of course.
    Alex was still a few feet from the kitchen door when he realized Lacey wasn’t alone and hadn’t just woken up. Dammit, it was early Saturday morning. Didn’t kids sleep in on the weekends? Despite the allure of the coffee, Alex hung back a moment to listen.
    “Are you sure everything is finished?” Lacey asked.
    “Yes, ma’am. All four legged creatures are feeling fat and happy.” Jerrod seemed to be in a better mood this morning.
    “The two legged ones should be feeling about the same.” Lacey chuckled. “You two have put away more biscuits and gravy than any two truck drivers I know.”
    “We’ve probably put in more work than most truck drivers,” Jerrod replied. “And, we still have a lot left to do. When is that lazy friend of yours going to haul his butt off the sofa?”
    “Jerrod!”
    That’s when Alex decided to make his presence known. He lightly stepped backward down the hall and began whistling as he approached the kitchen a second time. “Morning everybody! I can’t believe I didn’t hear you get up. I’m usually a light sleeper, but all this fresh country air must have really put me under. What smells so good?”
    “Mom made sausage gravy and biscuits this morning.” Jenna jumped out of her chair. “Can I make you a plate?”
    “I don’t usually eat right away, but I’d love a cup of