At the sink, she stared at herself and couldn’t get over how gaunt she was. She used to be kind of cute, but now she was just thin and pale, and there was no life in her eyes. Would it ever come back? Her life had been one disappointment after another, and she wondered if she would ever be truly happy or if her life would always be one struggle after another.
She slipped on the panties and long dress before combing her hair out. A bottle on the counter said conditioner, so she sprayed some in her hair.
A sound of frustration slipped from her lips when she couldn’t get the comb through her hair. It made sense because she couldn’t remember the last time she brushed it. Fowler hadn’t given her things like that.
There was a knock on the door. “Baby, is everything okay?”
She sighed. “No.”
“Can I come in?”
“Yes, please.”
Grey came in and stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. “What’s the problem?”
“I can’t brush my hair. It’s too snarled.”
“Let me help.”
“I can’t ask you to do that,” she said.
He snorted and pulled the comb from her hands. “You didn’t. Now, tell me if this hurts at all.”
She stayed still as he started at the bottom of her hair and moved up until it all lay in a silky sheet down her back.
He fingered the strands. “You have beautiful hair. I didn’t realize the color was this light.”
She looked at him in the mirror. She couldn’t understand why she felt so relaxed around him after what she’d been through, but she would go with her instincts and wouldn’t fight it. “I rarely got to wash it, so it was greasy and dirty. I haven’t felt this clean in a long time. Thank you.”
He squeezed her shoulders. “Would you like to lie down for a nap?”
She did feel tired but was too wired to sleep. “Not right now.”
“Then come with me. You can watch a movie while I’m making a few calls and get some work done.”
“What movie?” she asked.
“You get to pick.”
That was something else she’d never got to do. Fowler didn’t let her watch TV, and when she lived on her own, she couldn’t afford one.
He held out his hand. “Come on.”
She took it and was shocked at how natural it felt.