Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Aspen began to stretch, and she had my undivided attention. I watched every move of her body in fascination. This had to be a fucking joke that fate had decided to play on me. Place a woman in my hands to protect and take care of, who possessed every-fucking-thing I loved about a female, then make her something I could never touch. Not the way I craved. She’d never be able to handle my kinks. She was the kind of girl who needed gentle, sweet, caring shit, and I was not that.
When her eyes slowly opened, I wanted to sigh in relief that she was alive. She was okay. That heart of hers hadn’t done something wrong. Sleepy green pools locked on me, and then she blinked.
“Morning,” I said, hoping that rest would help her deal with the difficulty that today would bring.
She licked her lips, and my eyes dropped to watch. Jesus Christ, I had to stop lusting over her. For all I knew, vanilla sex might be more than her heart could handle. Thinking of her sexually was off the table. I had to compartmentalize. Accept she was fucking sexy as hell, but see her as … someone I had to keep safe. Take care of. Never fuck.
“How are you feeling?” I asked when she continued to stare at me.
She moved to sit up, and I wanted to curse the angels she looked like when the covers fell to her waist. Those more-than-a-handful tits, barely covered by the satin camisole, were hard to keep my eyes from ogling. Even the outline of nipples that I could make out was tempting.
“Did you get sleep?” she asked me in a husky voice that made me want to groan.
“Yeah, I did.”
She frowned. “Are you sure?”
Smiling, I nodded. “Positive.”
I could tell she was concerned about the fact that I was still wearing last night’s clothes. I wasn’t sure she remembered me getting in bed with her and figured it was best not to mention it.
“Oh no,” she gasped in alarm.
“What?” I asked, suddenly on edge, worried something I couldn’t see was wrong inside that body of hers.
“I, uh … I have to take …” She sighed, looking frustrated. “I have medications I need to take. Daily. They’re important.”
Fuck. Her heart. I’d seen the medications listed on her medical records.
“Where are they located?” I asked, taking out my phone.
“The medicine cabinet above the sink in my bathroom,” she replied. “But is it safe? What about that man’s body?”
That bastard had been taken care of last night. Huck had made that call.
“That’s not your concern. I’ll get your meds,” I assured her, then walked over and took out a pair of sweatpants with a drawstring and a T-shirt from my dresser. “Put these on until I can get you some clothes. Trinity cooked breakfast, and you need to eat.”
I didn’t wait for her to say anything more before stepping out of the bedroom to call Six and have him and Bart go get Aspen’s meds and pack up all the clothing and personal items in her room. She had too many things to face today. I wanted her to have her stuff around her.
Why the fuck had I not thought about the fact that she’d need meds? My own damn heart was going to need meds with the way it was racing.
Six answered on the second ring, and I began barking out orders.
Eight
Aspen
When I opened the door and stepped out of Levi’s room into the hallway, he was leaning against the opposite wall, texting on his phone. He lifted his head, and his gaze traveled down my body. His sweats were huge on me, but I’d tied them at the waist, and the elastic at the bottom caught the excess length at my ankles. The shirt had fallen to my knees, so I’d tied it in the back.
“I have your things coming,” he told me. “Let’s go downstairs so you can eat something.”
He nodded his head toward the direction of the stairs, and I followed behind him. I wanted to ask where I would go today, but I decided to wait for him to tell me. I was nervous about him leaving me with someone new. My dependency on him wasn’t good. I had to get over that. Levi wasn’t responsible for me. He’d gone above and beyond already.
He reached the bottom step and glanced back at me. “I know you have questions, and I promise we will talk about everything while you eat.”
“Okay,” I replied, wishing I could tell him I would be fine. That he didn’t need to concern himself.
There were people I had known in the church back in Robertsdale. I could possibly go back there. Irish had put Gran’s house up for sale, but I still owned it. There was a lot that needed to be replaced that I didn’t have the money for right now. Then, there were the utilities I’d need to pay. When the thought of using Irish’s car, using the money she had in savings, hit me, so did the fact that she was gone.