Kiss me?
Throw me down on the floor and ravage me?
None of that could happen, so I chickened out and cleared my throat. “Thanks for breakfast. It was really good.”
The smile he gave me made it feel like he knew all about my internal struggle, and he was just waiting for the moment I weakened enough for him to swoop in and take full advantage.
That moment is never going to come, I told myself. Problem was, I didn’t believe it.
Sixteen
Stella
This morning marked the third day of being a guest in West’s house, and while my ribs still hurt like a mother, it was a serious improvement over the days before. I was able to get away with taking the wrist brace off for a couple hours throughout the day, the bruises were starting to turn from deep, angry purple to an ugly greenish-yellow around the edges, indicating healing, and the split on my lip was completely closed.
I was feeling a thousand times better than I had the day before, so I decided it was time I repaid West’s kindness. In the past few days, he’d insisted on taking time off work so he could be here for me if I needed anything. I wasn’t sure a more thoughtful man had ever existed, at least not in my lifetime. He cooked three meals a day, and brought me a pain pill every time my expression started to draw up because I was stubbornly trying to fight it on my own.
I had to admit, these past couple days had been pretty nice. Too nice. It was something I could easily get used to if I didn’t watch it. As it was, trying to remind myself was getting harder and harder. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t try to pay him back for all his kindness. When I’d woken up earlier, I’d made the bed the way it was supposed to be made, and went about straightening up the bathroom, picking up the clothes on the floor near the hamper and putting them inside.
Wanting to do something more than just tidy things up, I looked beneath the sinks for cleaning supplies and stumbled on something I hadn’t been expecting. “No shit,” I breathed, reaching into the cabinet and pulling out the box of condoms from underneath that had the word ‘Magnum’ in big bold letters.
Of freaking course the man was packing. Because it would have been a cruel joke from God if he hadn’t been.
“What are you doing?”
At West’s voice, I gave a startled yelp and threw the box as hard as I could across the bathroom. “What?” I asked, trying to sound casual as my heart threatened to beat right out of my chest and onto the bathroom floor with a thud.
He looked to the condoms and back to me, his expression neutral, but his eyes dancing with humor. “I was wondering when you’d get around to snooping. I was surprised you hadn’t done it by now, honestly.”
“I wasn’t snooping!” I defended, my tone making me sound like a guilty liar. “I was looking for cleaning supplies.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to clean up. As a thank-you for everything you’ve done for me. It’s lame, I know, but I don’t really have any other way of paying you back.”
He extended a hand to help me up from my crouched position in front of the vanity. “Stella, you don’t have to pay me back for anything. I’m happy to help.”
This guy really was too much. It was getting easier and easier to forget all my problems when I was with him. He was funny and considerate, clever, smart, and just all around amazing in pretty much every way. Sure, he could be bossy and a bit of a pain in the ass, but no one was perfect. I could be a pain in the ass as well, and a lot more often than he was. Truth was, all the good of him outweighed the bad by tons. No matter how determined I was to keep those walls of mine fortified against the beating they were taking due to West’s kindness, it was damn near impossible.
“I know, but I can’t just sit here day after day and do nothing. Especially when you’re doing so much. I need some kind of purpose, West.”
Reaching up, he tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, then he gently rubbed the pad of his thumb beneath the bruise that ringed my eye, careful not to touch the tender flesh. “Your purpose right now is to heal. That’s it. Now come on, breakfast is ready.”
My stomach let out a growl as he took my hand and started leading me out of the bathroom. He walked right past the box of condoms, not even sparing it a glance, pretending he hadn’t busted me with them right before I chucked them. I knew he did that for my benefit, to keep me from feeling embarrassed. Just another example of how awesome he was. That didn’t mean I wasn’t wondering about . . . it. Most specifically, if he knew how to use that magnum to its full potential.
When we got to the kitchen two bowls were already sitting in front of the stools West and I had eaten at the past two mornings, full of sweet-smelling, steaming oatmeal, with fresh blueberries and sliced strawberries.
As had become routine for us, I hopped up onto my seat as West moved around the kitchen, pouring each of us a cup of coffee and doctoring mine to perfection. All the while, Rollie’s routine was to wedge himself between the two stools on the off chance either of us dropped anything and plop down to continue his morning snooze.
I opted against the pain pill this morning, feeling much better than I had been, and together, we tucked into our breakfast. He’d said that first night he wasn’t much of a cook, but so far, everything he’d made me was absolutely delicious, and the oatmeal was no exception. He’d added cinnamon and sugar to flavor it, and the berries added a nice texture and tartness that devouring every bite in record time.
“Oh, I ordered this for you the other day,” he said, putting an end to the companionable silence between us.
I looked up from licking my bowl clean, literally, to the box he slid across the counter to me. “What’s that?”
“It’s a new phone. I know your sister said something about bringing you another, but I went ahead and took care of it.”
“West, I—” I swallowed at the sight of the all-too-familiar logo on the box. “That thing is hundreds of dollars more than my old phone. It’s like four upgrades at once. You didn’t have to do that.”
He shrugged, spooning up more oatmeal. “It’s not a big deal.”
That was part of the problem. What he considered to be “not a big deal” was huge to me. First he’d been adamant about covering the cost of my ER visit, and now this. I’d never had someone show me so much kindness before, and it was getting harder and harder to resist. If he wasn’t so damn genuine, if that instinct I had to spot a liar hadn’t remained so quiet, I almost would have thought this was all an act simply to get into my pants. But it wasn’t. This guy was way too damn good to be true.
I carefully pulled the box to me and lifted the lid, staring in awe at the phone inside. The screen was black, but the sides and back were a pretty rose gold color. It was, hands down, one of the nicest things I currently owned.
Feeling a bit misty-eyed, I clutched the phone to my chest and sniffled, trying to get control of my emotions before looking back at him. “Thank you,” I croaked.
He reached over, cupping my cheek in his large palm and running his thumb beneath my bottom lip. “Don’t mention it, sweetheart.”
He returned to his breakfast a second later while I pulled out the instruction manual on the phone to try and get a feel for it.