“I have one.”
“How old is it?”
“I can’t remember.”
“Are we talking a week, month…”
“Oh, no, years,” she said. She almost smiled at the horror that filled his expression.
“No, baby. We use them for a month at most.”
“It’s just that they cost money, and I thought mine was fine.”
“That’s all right. But let’s throw yours away, and I’ll get you a new one. What color is your favorite?” he asked.
She was led into the bathroom. Rylan opened a cabinet and pulled out a plastic box, and she watched him go through them. “Pink or purple.”
“Hey, I have one that has both colors in it.”
“I’ll take that one.”
He handed it to her, and she couldn’t believe how pretty it was.
He chuckled. “Honey, it’s just a toothbrush.”
“But to me, it’s something I’ve never seen before. I didn’t even know pretty ones existed, much less than I would have been able to buy it.”
He handed over the toothpaste. “I hate hearing that you had to do without. Has it always been like that for you and your family?”
She nodded. “As long as I can remember. It was just my mom and me, and she had to work three jobs to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. She didn’t graduate from high school, so her choices were limited.”
He raised one of his brows. “I thought you said your mom and dad were retired, and you had two brothers, one sister, and a lot of nieces and nephews.”
Oh, God, she’d forgotten about that lie. Hell, she didn’t remember a lot of what she told him. “It was a lie.”
He cupped her cheek. “I know it was, honey. Now I want your promise that you’ll never lie to me again.”
She nodded. “I won’t.”
“Where is she now?”
“She died about a year ago. She had pneumonia and wouldn’t go to the doctor. When she finally let me call the ambulance, she was gone by the time they got there.”
He pulled her into his arms. “I’m so sorry.”
She sniffed. “What sucked was I was able to help pay for everything at the same time I went to the community college. I was going to get a degree and get us out of poor housing.”
“How far did you get?”
“I had one more semester.”
“What degree?”
“I decided on a business degree because it would be more versatile.”
“You’re right about that. I think we should look into having you finish.”
“Oh, wow, that would be great, but I don’t have enough money yet.”
He gripped her shoulders and bent to look her in the eyes. “I want you to listen carefully. You will not pay for anything. I want to take care of you in every way. Can you let me do that?”
She didn’t know what to say. It would be a dream come true being with him. It was something she’d dreamt about every night since she met him, but she didn’t like him paying for everything.
“Can we talk more about it later?”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Yes, honey. Brush your teeth and come to bed.”
She watched him walk out and shut the door behind him. She uncovered the toothbrush and brushed her teeth. It even felt different than the ones she’d always used.
Then she opened the door and turned off the bathroom light. She could see all right because Rylan had a lamp on, and his laptop computer sat on the low table. He was pulling the blanket down on the side away from the bathroom.
“Let’s go, honey.”
She walked around the bed, slid onto the mattress, and almost groaned. Never in her life had she felt anything as comfortable as the bed.
He tucked the blanket around her and sat by her hip. A shiver coursed down her spine when he smoothed the hair from her face.
“Goodnight. If you need anything, just ask. All right?”
She nodded.
Her breath caught in her chest when he bent forward and pressed his lips to hers. Her mouth opened, and she felt his tongue touch hers. Before one moment and the next, his upper body had pinned hers, the kiss had turned hungry and desperate, and she circled her arms around his neck to hold him against her.
He jerked upright and out of her arms. “Hell, baby. I didn’t mean for that to get out of control. I was just going to give you a goodnight kiss.”
She put her fingertips to her lips. “I enjoyed it.”
He groaned. “Get some sleep.”
She nodded and watched him walk to the sofa to sit and pick up some papers. Even though she was exhausted, she didn’t want to miss a moment of being able to look at him. The way he crossed his ankle over his knee, the tilt of his head when he was likely thinking, and the way he rubbed his bottom lip as he studied the paper fascinated her, and she didn’t want it to end.