Reluctantly I pull myself from the bed and head toward the giant dream bathroom. I want to get out of this damn dress and rub this makeup off my face. I turn on the water before I undress, and to my surprise, the thing fills quickly.
A moan pours from me when I slip into the warm water. I lay my head back and close my eyes. I tell myself I’m not going to fall asleep because I want the food Curt said would be downstairs, but damn. All the muscles in my body are starting to relax, and for a moment all the fear and worry leaves me. If only for a few hours I’m safe, and I allow myself to live in the moment as I push all the fear and worry in my life away.
“Fuck,” I hear someone hiss, and it jolts me out of a dream-filled daze.
My eyes fly open to see Curt standing in the bathroom. He closes his eyes and spins around to give me his broad back. I sit up and pull my knees to my chest but realize there’s no way he could even see anything with all the bubbles.
“I called your name.”
“Sorry. I must have dozed off.”
“That’s dangerous. Get dressed. You need to eat,” he says before he makes a quick exit from the bathroom. He sounded pissed. I jump when I hear a door slam closed.
“Damn it,” I sigh, getting out of the tub. The last thing I want to do is piss him off. He brought me to his home to try and help. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep in the tub. No matter what I do, I’m always doing the wrong thing to get myself in trouble.
I drain the tub before I wash my face in the sink and dry off. I try to clean up, leaving everything as I found it. I want to be as little of a bother as possible. For most of my life, I’ve found it better to try and be invisible.
The shirt Curt gave me falls off my shoulder when I put it on, but at least it’s better than the dress. I stare at myself in the mirror and wonder what the hell I’m going to do. I can’t stay here for long because I don’t want to bring trouble to this man’s door. He’s already done more for me than anyone else ever has.
I’ll eat and maybe sleep here for the night, but then I’ll leave. It’s the best and only plan I can come up with.
When I leave the bedroom, I follow the scent of food. I think it’s been almost two days since I last ate something beyond a few crackers.
The second I step into the kitchen, Curt turns my way. His eyes go down my body and slowly venture back up. I swear every time he looks at me he sees deep inside my soul. I wonder if that should scare the crap out of me or not. I’m not even sure who I am under the surface.
“I gave you pants.” His words somehow sound thick, and I glance down at my bare legs.
They aren’t long and sexy like I think most men desire. I’ve always been on the shorter side, but it bugs me that he doesn’t like what he sees. All I have on is the shirt he’d given me, which falls almost to my knees. It’s longer than the dress I had on before. I didn’t want to put my dirty panties back on. They might not have actually been that dirty since I’d only had them on for a few hours, but they felt that way because of what I’d been wearing to begin with.
“I couldn’t get the pants to stay up,” I admit.
“Right.” He grabs one of the tall high-top chairs at the kitchen island and pulls it out. “Come eat. You clearly need it.” I drop my gaze as my insecurities start to rise at my small size. “Demi, come here now,” he orders. My feet move on their own, drawing me closer to him. “You’re not allergic to anything, are you?”
“No.” I go to grab the back of the chair to climb up but Curt beats me to it, lifting me by the hips and setting me down into it.
“Let’s get you a bit of everything.” I watch as he starts to pile food onto the plates in front of me. How long was I out for? It looks like he pulled together a feast while I was in the bathroom. There’s a mix of all kinds of things from pasta to steak to even grilled cheese and fried chicken.
“This is a lot of food.”
“Pierce keeps things ready to make in the fridge for me. You can help yourself to whatever, whenever.” He says it like I’m going to be hanging around beyond this meal.