She blinked a few times before turning her head to look at him. He saw tears fill her eyes as she rolled toward him, tucked her body tightly against his chest, and cried.
“I’m so sorry. It was all my fault.”
He started rubbing her back and letting her get everything off her chest.
“I thought it would be easy to go to my house and get some clothing. I went to your office door, and I heard you were in a meeting, so I left a note with Clarice. I was looking forward to seeing my mom’s ideas about the house. Do you know there are parts of the house I’ve never seen?”
“No, I didn’t.” He held her against him with one arm and used his other hand to pull off the robe so he could touch her skin.
“Are you really mad at me?” She wiped her eyes and sniffed.
“Yes, pet. But I guess I was more afraid than mad. I also take some responsibility for this because I didn’t take the time to tell you the rules you’ll have to follow.”
“Are you going to punish me?”
“Yes, but not as severe as Beth is probably getting right now.”
Hope stiffened. “Will he hurt her?”
Blake snorted. “No, that man would rather cut off his arm than see her hurt.”
“And are you going to hurt me?” she asked.
He rolled them until her back was on the mattress, and he was on her and between her legs but braced his upper body on his elbows to keep the majority of his weight off her. Then he cupped her face in one hand. “I’ll let you get away with that question once because we don’t know each other well. But I will never lift my hand to you or hurt you in any way.”
She stared at him for a moment. “Okay.”
He smirked. “Although I might do things that are uncomfortable for you.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“How about I show you?”