Her Daddy's Jewel (MC Daddies Book 5) Page 8
He crossed his arms over his chest. “If you won’t let me look, then a doctor.”
“No.” She shook her head. She wasn’t ready for anyone to see her. To touch her. Not right now. She was raw and scared.
“I don’t want to push you—”
“Then don’t.”
“But I also don’t want to miss anything.”
“I told you that he didn’t beat me or anything.”
“All right then.” He slowly turned around and she quickly stripped off the dress. She had to hold onto the side of the bath as she climbed in. The bubbles surrounded her, hiding her.
“I’m decent.”
He snorted. “A man could hope that you weren’t.”
The smile surprised her. She hadn’t thought she had it in her.
“All I wanted was a little glimpse of a nipple. Just a peek.” He turned and winked at her, letting her know he was teasing.
There was a knock on the door and she tensed. “Is that Grafton again? Is he going to demand I come back to him?”
“You’re not going back to him.”
If only she could believe that.
“And no, it’s room service. Stay here.”
She rolled her eyes. Like she could go anywhere. Truth is, she’d stay right here until the end of eternity if she could. With him.
When he reappeared, his gaze moved over her face as he set a tray down on the floor. “One day you will trust what I say.”
She didn’t reply. There was no reply that wouldn’t end in an argument.
The scent of something fried hit her, making her stomach grumble.
“You’ve lost weight. I tell you to take care of yourself and you lose even more weight,” he grumbled.
“I haven’t felt like eating.”
He simply glared at her. She was coming to realize that the grumbling and scolding was his way of caring.
“What did you order?”
“What do you think?” he replied. He held up a plate and her mouth salivated. “Curly fries.”
“My favorite!”
“Yep.” Satisfaction filled his face.
She loved curly fries. They were fun and delicious.
“Did they include—”
“Aioli? Of course.” He gave her an offended look. Then he placed the plate down and picked up a curly fry and blew on it.
“Uh, what are you doing?”
“Cooling it down.”
But they’re mine.
Chill, Jewel. You’re a grown-ass woman. You can share.
But she didn’t want to share. She wanted all the damn curly fries to herself.
Fuck. What was wrong with her? Why did she feel like stomping her foot and telling him to hand them all over?
Tantrums are for toddlers. Not thirty-two-year-old women with a chip on their shoulder.
“Can you pass me one?”
“As soon as it’s cooled down. Need to have a word with the kitchen, these are far too hot.”
“Wait. You’re cooling it down for me?”
“Well, I’m not cooling it down for myself. I don’t eat fried food.”
“You don’t . . . what? Is that even possible?”
He pointed a finger at her. “You have a terrible diet; don’t think I haven’t noticed. It’s a wonder you don’t have scurvy.”
“I don’t think people get scurvy anymore.”
“They do when they don’t eat any vegetables or fruit. Hate to think of what your bowel habits are like.”
Her mouth opened. Closed. “Jason!”
“That’s thirteen,” he said in a warning voice.
Drat.
“We are not talking about my bowel movements. Talk about a romance killer.”
“You want romance? Interesting.” He held up a fry and she had to take it into her mouth.
Salty, greasy goodness.
She sighed happily.
“We’ll worry about your bowel habits and possible scurvy another day, though.”
The guy was insane.
“For your information, I take plenty of vitamins. I’m not going to get scurvy.”
“You mean those gummy things you eat like sweets?”
“Okay, how do you know that?”
He shoved another fry in her mouth. Oh, he was tricky, this one. Amusement flooded her and she bit her lower lip to keep her smile from filling her face. How could she be feeling such joy when she’d just come from such hell?
At once, her amusement faded.
“Stop thinking.” He tapped her forehead.
“I can’t just stop thinking, simply because you say it.”
He grunted. “Would be a whole lot easier if you did.”
He fed her more curly fries as she lay back in the bath. Her energy was draining out of her.
“No more,” she protested as he held up another fry.
“You barely ate half.”
She shrugged.
He grumbled something to himself, but she paid little attention. She was drifting. Sleepy.
“I need to leave.”
“Nope.”
He started massaging her scalp. Ooh, that was so nice.
She yawned. “Have to. Protect him.”
“Protect who?” he asked. “Who is it that you’re protecting, Jewel? How did you end up with Darrins?”
But she drifted off before she could answer.
Fuck.
He should have gotten her out of the bath before she fell asleep.
And he wished she’d stayed awake long enough to answer his questions. Just who was she protecting by staying with that asshole, Darrins?
He will kill someone I love.
Was it Sunny? If not her, then who? He knew it wasn’t a man. Just the thought made him murderous, but he’d know if it was.
And how did Darrins relate to Maxwell?
What was he going to do now? All he wanted to do was pick her up, dry her off and tuck her into bed.
She was pale, washed-out and thin. He wanted to coddle her. Put color back in her cheeks and take that fear out of her eyes.
But while the physical aspects could be dealt with rather quickly, it was the mental toll that scared him most.
And his inability to simply fix her.
He could order her to eat. He couldn’t order her to forget whatever she’d been through.
And what about what Maxwell did to her years ago? Had those scars fully healed? Would they ever?
He sat on the floor and rubbed at his eyes. What did he do?
First things first. Get her out of the bath. As much as he wanted to do that without waking her, he was well aware of the ways that could backfire on him.
For a moment he took the opportunity to take her in. Then he ran his fingers through her hair. Should he have offered to wash it for her? Would she have let him?
He wasn’t used to being so hesitant.
He blamed the shrinks.
Sometimes, it paid to go with your instinct. His phone buzzed and he stood to go grab it, keeping his gaze on her the whole time.
He checked the message.
Sting: Mansion surrounded. Has a lot of hired muscle. Going to wait another hour until we go in.
Jason: Take Darrins alive. I want him for my own.
Sting: Done.
Jason: You have someone in place to take care of the guards here?
Sting: Yep.
Jason: Good. Let me know when it’s all done.
He’d just set his phone down when she started to cry out, thrashing around in the bath. Fuck!
“No! No, don’t touch me!”
“Jewel, wake up.” He placed his hand on her shoulder.
“No!”
She was killing him. The rage was building. Breathe deep. You’re no help to her if you lose it.
“Baby blue, wake up for me. It’s not real, it’s a nightmare.”
“Pike,” she sobbed.
So she’d use his name in her sleep, huh? Actually, he
r nightmare.
“Wake up, baby blue. I’m here. Daddy’s here.” It was a risk. But he needed to do something to help her.
“Daddy,” she sighed, seeming to relax. His tension eased.
“Baby, I need you to come back to me. Wake up, now. Nothing bad is going to get to you while I’m here.”
Should he have told her the plan? But no, she’d just worry. Best to tell her once it was over and done with.
He’d learned that from his cousin when he dealt with his wife. Of course, Josh spent a lot of time sleeping on the couch as well.
He wouldn’t allow that with his woman. There would be no sleeping apart. She was going to be right where he could watch her. At all times.
Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly.
“I’ve had everything backward. When I should have gone fast, I went slow. And now, when I need to go slow I want it all. Everything. I’m gonna fuck up. I know it. But know that I will never leave you. Never let you down.”
She kept sleeping, her face free of the fear and tension from before. He hated having to wake her when she was peaceful. But he also didn’t want to do anything to undermine her trust in him.
Trust that he knew wasn’t easily come by.
“Baby blue, I don’t want to take you out of the bath while you’re asleep so you need to wake up for me.”
“Tired. Don’t wanna to get up. Let me sleep.” She waved her hand through the air. Then she rolled onto her side and slipped straight under the water.
“Fuck!”
He grabbed hold of her, dragging her up out of the water. She was spluttering, her hair wet, face dripping.
“What . . . what happened?” she asked. “Why am I drowning?”
He snorted. “You weren’t drowning.”
She pushed back her wet hair. It had fallen out of the bun she’d put it in before hopping in the bath. “I was under the water and I wasn’t swimming, that means I was drowning.”
“As if I’d let you drown. You fell asleep, then when I tried to wake you up you told me to go away.” He raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I don’t like being woken up. I’m not a morning person.”
“It’s the middle of the night,” he pointed at dryly.
“Hmm, maybe I’m just not a waking-up person.” A shiver worked its way through her.
“Okay, enough of this. You’re cold and wet. Out you come.”
He grabbed a towel and held it up. Then he turned his face away. “I won’t look.”
When he felt her grab for the towel, he let it go and picked up another one to wrap around her head.
To his surprise, she let him care for her. That told him more than anything how exhausted she was.
Death wasn’t enough for Darrins. Cutting off his fucking dick and stuffing it in his mouth wasn’t enough. Torturing him for the rest of his days . . . hmm that might take the edge of his fury off.
He should have kidnapped her. Knocked her out and taken her, consequences be damned. Because what did he care if someone else got hurt? If it came down to her and anyone else, he would always choose her.
I’ll never forgive you.
She’d meant it. That had given him pause. Because there was something he was missing here.
“You need sleep.”
“I’m too tired to dry my hair tonight,” she told him, swaying on her feet. “I’m too tired for anything.”
There was a sniffle at the end of those words, that he knew she’d never allow him to hear if she wasn’t so terribly exhausted.
“I know you are, baby blue. It’s okay. I’m going to take care of you.”
“I need to brush my teeth. I can’t sleep unless my teeth are clean.”
“I have you covered.” He set her on top of the bathroom counter, keeping an eye on her while he grabbed the brand-new toothbrush he’d had the butler put in here.
Yep, this suite came with its very own butler.
After putting some toothpaste on, he held the brush up to her mouth. She reached up with a tired gesture. “Thanks.”
He took the brush away with a shake of his head. “Nope, I got you.”
“You can’t brush my teeth. That’s weird.”
“I think we’ve established that I’m weird,” he said dryly.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“Don’t be. If it means I get to do things for you, I don’t give a fuck if I’m considered weird.”
“So weird,” she whispered.
“Hush and open your mouth.”
“Like I haven’t heard that one before.”
“That so,” he growled in a dangerous voice. Her eyes widened.
Easy, asshole.
He glanced down at where he was gripping the toothbrush handle. His knuckles were white.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “I have a feeling I’m going to be a possessive, jealous type of boyfriend.”
“Were you like this with your past girlfriends?”
“Never had a girlfriend before.”
Her eyes widened and he took advantage of her opening her mouth to start brushing her teeth.
She gave him a death glare, but he ignored it.
“Spit.”
She spat it out. “Never?”
“Never.”
He brushed her teeth again. Hmm, there was something rather relaxing about this.
“I think I’ll do this every night.”
Her eyes widened.
“Spit.”
“You can’t do this every night.”
“Sure, I can.”
He was insane.
But why are you arguing? It’s not like you’ll be here past tonight. Let him have his fun. It wasn’t easy for her to let go and let people in. But with Jason, it was surprisingly easy.
It felt right.
God, this was a mistake. It was going to be so hard to go back to her reality now.
But she had to. There was no choice. So no use in crying about it.
Just get on with it, Jewel. Whining about shit never got you anywhere.
“What do we need to do about your hair?”
“I’ll deal with it in the morning.” It would probably be in such a mess that she’d have to chop it all off.
She’d always loved her hair. But now, she was starting not to care.
“I think we can do better than that,” he told her then picked her back up in his arms.
Pausing by the toilet, he looked down at her with an arched eyebrow. “Gotta go?”
“No! Sheesh, man. You got to learn some boundaries.”
“Do I? Like what?”
“Like toilet stuff. Toilet stuff is a boundary.”
“Seems like a ridiculous rule to me. And you haven’t gone in hours. Does that mean you’re dehydrated? It probably does. You need to drink.”
“I’m not dehydrated.” Maybe. It was possible.
“You haven’t been looking after yourself. You need me.”
He carried her into the bedroom. This suite had a Californian king bed. It was huge enough for them both to use it without touching each other.
That was kind of too bad. She wasn’t opposed to a hug. At all. In fact, the only time the fear eased from her mind seemed to be when he held her.
He laid her down on the bed and grabbed a T-shirt of his from his suitcase.
“Wear this.”
He placed the T-shirt next to her then walked back into the bathroom. She heard the bath start to drain as she unwrapped her hair then her body and drew the T-shirt on. It was enormous on her. But so soft.
She sighed with happiness as she sat back on the bed, unable to do anything more. She was completely spent.
When he returned, he held a hot pink hairbrush in his hands.
“Is that for your luscious locks?” she joked.
“I don’t think so, woman,” he replied haughtily. “I have a manly black one to tame my luscious locks.”
He winked and to her shock, she giggled.
Her eyes widened
as he stared at her with satisfaction. “Did I seriously just giggle?”
“Yep.”
“But I don’t giggle. I’m incapable of giggling.”
“Seems you are capable.” He settled against the headboard then spread his legs.
“It must have been the near-death experience.”
He tensed. “Being with that fucker? Did he threaten to kill you?”
“What? No, I was referring to nearly drowning in the bath.”
He gave her an incredulous look.
“It was scary,” she defended. “Also, I’m really tired. Can we go to sleep? Just for a few hours, before I have to . . . to go back.”
Something softened in his face. She fully expected him to argue that she wasn’t going back. Instead, all he did was pat the mattress between his legs.
She could argue. Refuse. And maybe she would have if she wasn’t exhausted, stressed, and just plain in need of some gentle touch.
So she crawled over and settled herself between his legs. She braced herself for him to tug at her hair. It was a knotty mess and he was a guy.
To her shock, he was patient and careful as he brushed the knots out. It wasn’t long until he had her hair completely tangle-free.
Her eyes were closed, peace filled her.
“You’re good at that.”
“Had some practice.”
She stiffened at that. What? With who?
“Got a younger sister. Did her hair a lot.”
Oh my God.
That was pretty much the sweetest thing she’d ever heard. She turned her head to look back at him. “You really did your sister’s hair?”
“Yep.”
“Who are you?”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Same guy I’ve always been.”
Then she’d obviously been blind.
“Turn around, I’m going to braid it.”
Sheesh, would the shocks not stop coming? She wasn’t sure how much more she could take before she slammed him to the bed and demanded that he never let her go.
“Have you got just one sibling?”
“I wish.”
He tied off the end. Then climbed from the bed and walked around to draw the blankets back. “In you get.”
Too tired to even think she rolled into bed, looking up at him as she lay on her back. “How many?”
“Three.”
“Wow. I don’t have any. Brothers or sisters. Or family.” Her eyes closed as he sat beside her. Then she felt his fingers massaging her scalp.