“Good.” Rylan turned the dryer back on and finished her hair before he set it aside. “Can I help you with the sleeves?”
Her gaze jerked down. “Yes, please. I do have sweats I usually sleep in.”
“I want you in something of mine. You can do that for me, can’t you?”
She nodded. At that moment, she’d do anything he wanted. “Yes.”
Rylan unrolled both sleeves and then started to roll them up neatly. He scowled as her arm came into view.
She looked down at what angered him, seeing the bruises for the first time. Bruises showed around both wrists and up to one arm, and she knew there were other places they’d been rough with her and hurt her.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you.” He gently rubbed his thumb across the marks.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I feel like I should have taken better care of you.”
She looked up at him in amazement. “It’s not your job to take care of me, Rylan.”
“Yet.” His eyes focused on her face. “But I want it to be.”
Faith inhaled. Did he really mean it?
He stepped closer and cupped her face in his hands. “Will you be able to depend on me for everything? I want to take care of you and make you smile. I don’t want you to have to worry about anything ever again.”
God, if that were only true. To find a man she felt so profoundly about to want to be with her. “F … for how long?”
“Forever.”
Her eyes widened, and then she thought of all the lies she’d told him. “There’s so much about me that you don’t know.” She was afraid when he found out, she’d be out the door.
“We’ll learn all about each other in time.”
Her stomach tightened when she thought by the time she got around to telling him the truth, she’d be so deeply in love with him. It would crush her if he didn’t want to be with her anymore.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“What?” he asked.
“Us. We’re from two different worlds.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up against his chest. “That’s not true. We live in the same world, baby. You’ve just had a rougher time of it, and that’s what I want to change.”
“What if I’m not what you thought I was? Can I still keep my job?”
“Sweetheart, I don’t want you to work at all.”
“What would I do?”
“Whatever you wanted, within reason.”
“I can’t think of anything I want to do besides work.”
“What about shopping?”
She huffed out a breath. “I hate shopping.”
He smirked. “We’ll figure it out. Tonight, I want to get you fed and then into bed.” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out of the room.
“Where are we going?”