Chapter Two
Gia
What a dick.
This guy may be a walking, talking wet dream, but the moment he’d barged in on me like I was the biggest criminal in known history, I was done with him.
And now, I was carefully moving around the spare bedroom that I’d been planning on staying in while I was here with Sera.
Not that I’d actually spent any time in here, other than the few minutes I took to throw some clothes into the drawers.
I groaned as I opened them, remembering that I was wearing a part of his pants because so many of mine were in the wash and I couldn’t bear to put anything with a real waistband on my still-tender stomach.
I had escaped here when he went to take Sera her Cheerios, but now I was going to have to go back out to get my clothes all over again.
My body was still not back to normal, and I knew that if I dared to eat anything right now, it would no doubt come right back up—again.
But still, I had to get out of this place.
I was embarrassed and didn’t want to spend one more minute making a fool of myself in front of this man.
I adored his daughter, true, but I could give her a quick hug on my way out. Maybe her mom would let her call me in a few days, and I would explain how sorry I was that we couldn’t get to those things on our to-do list.
It wasn’t her fault that we’d gotten this stomach bug. Or that her father was a grade-A asshole.
There was a soft knock at my door.
“Gia?”
I wanted to fall to the ground in a heap.
Colton Marlatt clearly couldn’t take a hint.
“Just a moment,” I responded loudly, shutting a drawer as I moved slowly to my suitcase.
Then, moving as quickly as I could, I walked to the door and opened it a crack.
My underwear—what wasn’t already in the washer from earlier—was strewn over the bed, and I wasn’t about to have any conversation with this man over my panties.
“I’m sorry it’s taking so long; I just need to find—”
“These, maybe?” Colton’s serious face twitched as he held up a laundry basket. “Sera told me…uh…about how your past few days were. I thought I’d get them for you.”
I swallowed, feeling even more awkward than before. I had been hiding the underwear from him, and here he was, holding a basket in which I could clearly see one of my bras lying right on top. A pink one. With lace.
Fuck my life.
“Oh, um, yes. Those are mine.” I cringed. Of course, they were mine. This man was clearly a bachelor and didn’t’ keep pink bras lying around for himself. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t have time to grab them.”
“Gia,” he said, and for the first time I really paid attention to his voice. It had softened, gentled.
My stomach swooped a little when our eyes met.
His hazel irises were sharp on my face. “Can we start over?”
“What?”
The man rolled his massive shoulders, making my eyes drift to the heavy set of muscles that lined his chest. I swallowed. Had he been this big a few minutes ago?
“I’d like to start over. I was stressed and worried. I took it out on you.”
I stared, letting the door open a bit wider. Colton’s gaze never wavered from my face. “I moved the laundry; you have one more load before your things are all done. Why don’t you lie down and relax a little? The past few days couldn’t have been easy on you.”
I was reeling, and it must’ve shown on my face, because Colton’s expression tightened. “Please. Let me make up for the way I treated you before.”
My belly gave a little twist, immediately followed by a small wave of nausea. “Okay. I’d like that.”
Colton nodded. Balancing the laundry basket on one hip, he slowly put a hand up onto the door and then pushed it inwards against my hold. “Let me set this down for you. I can see you’re not very steady on your feet yet.”
“Oh God. That’s okay. It’s just…” I stuttered to a stop as the mountain-sized man moved past me into the room, carefully setting the laundry basket on the floor and then lifting my half-full suitcase from the bed to the chair off in the corner.
My entire face was burning as I watched my employer’s hand brush over my lacy thong as he set it down on the chair, still open.
“What?” He was looking at me curiously.
“Thong,” I croaked out, sitting on the edge of the bed before my legs gave out from sheer humiliation.
Colton must’ve thought something different though, because as soon as I peered up at him from between my fingers, I realized that the man was on a knee between my knees, somehow still staring right into my face, even in that position.
I squeaked.
He reached a hand out, making my heart stammer faster as he pressed the back of his hand into my forehead. “You still seem too pale. Have you managed to eat anything yet?”
“No,” I told him honestly. I’d been too busy taking care of Sera. But this wave of sickness was mostly from embarrassment. Unfortunately, it was too late to tell him that.
“Lie down, Gia. I’ll get you some electrolytes and a snack, and you can rest while your laundry dries.”
He’ was commanding me again, but this time, it felt different. There’ was no edge or accusation in his words. I expected to want to argue back with him or at least glare his way. But God, the idea sounded amazing. And while I’ wasn’t used to someone taking care of me like this, it sure felt good.
“What about Sera?”
His lips twitched. Almost a smile, I thought. “Happy and half-asleep. Let’s get you feeling better now.”
I nodded, beginning to scoot back up the bed, when a pair of thick arms slipped around my waist, the hands bridging the entire space around my ribs as Colton lifted me and pressed me back towards the pillows.
As soon as I was situated, he released me and then covered me with one of several throw blankets that had been folded at the foot of the bed.
It’ was warm and soft and smelled just the tiniest bit like the man who was still leaning over me. He pressed his hand against my cheek one last time. “You’re going to be fine, Gia. I’ll make sure of it.”
I’ nodded, the sleepless nights and anxiety over Sera finally catching up with me.
I curled my hands around the bedding, accidentally brushing a calloused hand as I did.
But I was too tired to worry about it. I simply let my eyelids fall into the sweet bliss of what I hoped would be a healing sleep.