"Did you…sleep okay?" he asked, not looking at me.

So he did know I slept at the foot of his bed last night.

"I should have asked before I snuck into your room." I placed the mug in front of him. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't sleep after what happened."

He caught my hand and squeezed. "Are you sure you don't want to take my advice and report it?"

"No. It'll only be embarrassing to talk about. But I never thanked you for intervening. If you hadn't been there…"

A class act. That was what I was, choking on a manufactured sob. In a split second, Shaw was up and pulled me into his arms. I hid my face into his chest and smiled at the comfort I found there. This was home. Always. Not even a twinge of remorse rippled through me for what happened last night. Rich deserved it for past unforgotten wrongs. I wasn’t done with him yet.

"Do you want me to stay home with you today to ensure you're okay?" he asked. "I can take a personal day."

As much as I'd love that, I had errands to run. "I'll be fine. I just need a minute."

"Take all the time you need. You're safe now."

Eventually, he had to release me, and I sighed when he did.

"Better?" he asked.

"Everything's always better with a hug. Your hug."

I busied myself with preparing him a plate but sent surreptitious glances his way. He watched me, and a shiver ran down my spine. I liked his eyes fine where they were. Firmly placed on me. Was he feeling it yet? How right we were for each other?

"This is great, Ari," Shaw said as I set down his plate laden with lightly browned waffles and hash browns with a slice of raisin bread and apple butter.

"I like taking care of you," I said softly. "You've always been good to me."

"You're too good for this world."

I giggled. "Not when you're in it."

Too much too soon? He didn’t speak, a frown marring his forehead like he was struggling to decide what to say. I knew that well enough, always measuring my words so I didn't push too far.

"Sit with me," he said. "Did you eat already?"

"I'm not really hungry in the morning."

"If I'm eating breakfast, so are you. You could do with a little fattening up."

I ran a hand down my body. "Is that your way of telling me I'm too skinny?"

His mouth bobbed open as he watched my slowly wandering hands down my sides and hips. If only they weren't so narrow, but I couldn't do anything about it that didn't involve going under the knife.

"Um, you're perfect the way you are." He cocked his head to one side. "Isn't that your mother's?"

He gestured at me. I’d found a shirt of my mother’s in their closet. It was too big for me, but with a woven belt wrapped around my waist, it fitted me perfectly as a dress.

"I hope you don't mind. I didn't bring many clothes with me."

He nodded. "Does that mean you're not staying long?"

He'd asked me that question last night, which I'd ignored, teasing him with one of my own instead.

"It depends." I bit my bottom lip and peeked at him through my eyelashes. Take the hint, Daddy. You're the reason I'll stay, even though I'm not supposed to.

"On what?"

Tags: Gianni Holmes Dark
Source: readsnovelonline.net