Nope. Not happening.
“Baby doll, look at me.”
Why’d he have to use that ridiculous name? And speak in such a kind voice? If he was going around demanding and being all gruff then she could keep resisting him. Maybe.
As it was, she had to fight the urge to lean on him. To take from him. Just for a moment.
“I’m fine. Sorry. I need to go in by myself.” She kept her head lowered.
“Still not looking at me.”
She looked up at him. “I need to go in by myself. I’ll be quick, I promise. Can I have the keys?”
“Can’t do that.” He sighed. She thought she heard a hint of regret in his voice. He unlocked the door. “Stay here. Wait for my okay.”
Stay here? She gaped at him as he set her to the side of the door. The driver, she noticed, remained by the car watching their surroundings.
Spike turned on the lights quickly and she walked into the doorway, shutting the door behind her. He gave her a fierce scowl that almost had her apologizing. He prowled through the room, checking the closet and under the bed.
This was kind of over-the-top.
Yet, she didn’t protest, because there was a part of her that liked it. Liked how protective he was, even if it was over-the-top. She always enjoyed reading books with those crazy, protective heroes. Maybe because she’d never had anyone worry over her. Not like this.
She glanced around, noting that Chompers was sitting on her bed, right beside her onesie.
There’s no reason to be ashamed. Lots of adults have onesies, and soft toys. He’ll never know.
Still, as he walked into the bathroom she strode quickly over and gathered them up, wrapping the onesie around Chompers. Then she placed the small bundle as well as her handbag carefully on the floor before climbing up onto the bed. She stretched up for her suitcase, which sat on top of the wardrobe. It had been a pain in the ass to get it up there in the first place, but she hadn’t had anywhere else to put it. As she grabbed it, her foot slid out from under her on the loose covers of the bed and she started to fly backwards.
A screech of surprise escaped her before she found herself gathered into two thick, muscular arms, and pressed against a wide chest.
“Christ,” he grunted.
Oh hell. Had he hurt himself? “Are you okay? You should have just let me fall!”
She tried to scramble out of his hold. He set her on the floor on her feet, giving her an incredulous look.
“Let you fall?”
“I could have hurt you! I didn’t, did I?” she worried.
“How the fuck would you hurt me?”
“By falling on you!” She thought that was obvious.
“Jesus,” he muttered. “You’re fucking crazy.”
Okay, that hurt. More than it should have. It was like thousands of needles working their way under her skin and then pushing deep. She took a breath. Reality check, Millie. It wasn’t the worst thing anyone had ever said to her. It wouldn’t be the last mean thing anyone said. In the grand scheme of things, his opinion didn’t matter.
Right. She could tell herself all of that until the cows came home. Still, didn’t make it hurt less.
“I’ll just start packing,” she muttered, side-stepping him. Or she attempted to. He reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist, turning her. A big hand tucked itself under her chin, tilting her face up.
Those kaleidoscope eyes of his studied her. He ran his thumb over her cheek. She knew she wasn’t crying. But it felt like he was trying to soothe away her tears.
“Didn’t mean to hurt you, baby doll.”
Well, whether he’d intended to or not, he had.