Maybe that was Jason's problem. She wasn't beautiful anymore, and she was kidding herself if she thought he hadn't fallen in love with her beauty, at least at first. Oh, maybe a part of him loved who she was underneath it all, but it was the face that had attracted him and now the face was ruined.
Anger tried to push its way up through the grief, but she was too tired to let it. Opening the glass door to the shower, she ran the water as hot as it would go and stepped inside. Standing under the spray, she couldn't seem to find the energy to even wash her face. For a moment, she closed her eyes, letting the steaming water run over her skin. But as soon as she did, the image of her father sprawled on the floor of her parents' perfect living room, his empty eyes staring at the ceiling, popped into her head.
Heart pounding, her eyes snapped open and she tilted her head back and focused on the ridges on the ceiling above her. Deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Until the thundering of her pulse calmed to somewhat normal levels.
She stayed there, barely moving, until the water ran cold. When she began to shiver, she finally shut it off and climbed back out to wrap herself in a towel. She should really get Jason some better towels. The ones he had were like drying off with sandpaper.
Not bothering with any of her nightly skincare routine, she wandered back to the bedroom with the towel wrapped around her. Sitting on the nightstand was a sandwich and a bottle of water. Evie studied the meal for a moment before turning away. Laid out on the bed was one of Jason's old Navy shirts, she assumed for her to wear to bed.
She let the towel fall to the floor and reached for the shirt. Unlike the towels, the shirt was soft against her skin. And it smelled like him, which helped her system settle a bit more. Wrapped in his scent, she crawled into bed and finally let the oblivion of sleep take her under.
* * *
"Evie. Wake up,tesoro."
Jason. Curling up into a tight ball, she ignored him. Was it asking too much to just be left alone?
"I know you're awake, little one. Time to get up and get dressed."
"Go away, Jason," she mumbled.
"Nope. Time to get up. Daddy has a surprise for you."
The anger she'd been too tired to deal with the night before suddenly reared its ugly head. Pushing up in the bed, she glared at him. "Oh, so now you're my Daddy again?"
Hurt and confusion filled his eyes, and he frowned. "Tesoro, I never stopped being your Daddy."
"Could've fooled me," she snapped.
"What do you mean?"
"You haven't cared about what I'm doing or not doing for a week now. But now, you want to play Daddy again? Fuck you, Jason."
The flash of anger in his eyes disappeared as quickly as it came. "I'm sorry if you felt that way, Evie. What can I do to make it better?"
She opened her mouth to tell him exactly what he could do, though she wasn't sure what she had in mind was anatomically possible. But she couldn't bring herself to say it. "Nothing," she finally told him. Exhausted all over again, she fell back against the bed. "Nothing at all."
Strained silence filled the room until he finally spoke again. "Get dressed and meet me downstairs in twenty minutes."
Rolling her eyes at the command in his voice, she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. "Leave me alone."
"No. Twenty minutes,tesoro. Or you'll be taking this trip with a sore bottom."
"What?" Shocked at the unexpected threat, she twisted around to stare at him. "You can't spank me!"
"I don't want to, but I certainly can. And I will if you don't start doing as you're told. Twenty minutes." With that, he turned and strode out of the room without giving her another chance to argue.
Fine. She'd get dressed, but she was not taking another shower or putting on makeup. Irritated, she rolled out of bed and jerked on a pair of yoga pants and one of his old sweatshirts before pulling her hair up into a messy ponytail and stomping down the stairs.
"There's my beautiful girl." His easy grin made her heart do that funny fluttering in her chest. She'd almost forgotten he could have that effect on her so easily.
"Where are we going?" she asked, deliberately ignoring his "beautiful" jab.
"It's a surprise. Go get in the car. I'll finish loading our bags."
Rolling her eyes again at his sudden return to "Daddy mode,” she grabbed her purse and stomped out to the black SUV in the driveway and climbed up into the passenger seat. Maybe it was petty of her, but she had zero desire to make small talk, so she slipped her earbuds in and turned on a random playlist from the music app Ro had insisted on putting on her phone. When Jason joined her, he just shook his head and smiled before backing out of the driveway.
Fifteen minutes into the drive, she fell asleep. Car rides had always had that effect on her, for as long as she could remember. She woke again when the car slowed and the drive grew bumpy. Blinking herself awake, she squinted at their surroundings, her heart racing when she realized where they were.