Page 109 of Lucky's Trouble

“I’m not asking shit.” I walk over and cradle her face in my hands. “I’ll wait until you’re ready to tell me.”

“What if I never want to tell you any of it?”

My heart sinks in my chest that she wouldn’t trust me enough to help her through this. “Then I guess I’ll never know.”

“What if I want to tell you all of it right now?”

I brush a hand over her head, taming her wild hair. “Then I’m listening.”

She chews on the inside of her cheek, her foot tapping a fast beat as she thinks about what she wants. On the inside, I’m pleading with her to let me in. It’s the only way to bridge the gap between us, but on the outside, I wait patiently, taking her hands in mine.

Only one of the acrylic nails she still had from her dancing days remains. A couple weeks ago, I told her I’d take her to get them done or off or whatever, but she had no interest in it. Instead, when one came loose, she just plucked it off and moved on. She had three remaining the last time I saw her.

“Take a shower with me?” she asks.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

I follow her into the bathroom and close the door in case someone comes looking for me. She opens the shower and starts the water, holding her hand under the spray until she’s satisfied with the temperature. Then she drops the linen and steps inside, leaving the door open for me.

Rage bubbles to the surface when I spot the wounds covering her backside. It doesn’t take a genius to know how they got there. Instead of speculating on what else he did to her, I strip and join her.

She gives me room to step under the spray and get wet, but then I position her in front of it, not wanting her to get cold. She’s quiet as I squirt shampoo into my palm and work it into her hair, giving her a scalp massage to try and relax her. I don’t know what I’m doing since I’ve never washed anyone’s hair but my own, but I think I do okay.

Turning, she rinses it out, the suds moving down her body. I can’t help but have a physical reaction to her sexy-as-sin body, but we both ignore it. Finally, as I’m working conditioner through her hair, she breaks the silence.

For the next half hour, she tells me everything. We take turns under the water, her rinsing conditioner while I wash my hair, me rinsing my hair while she soaps up her body, and so on. We don’t touch, which I’m thankful for, because when she gets to the part where he spanked her with a spiked paddle, she’d no doubt feel the fury burning in my blood.

“The thing that bothers me the most is that if I hadn’t met you, I know I would’ve willingly stayed with him. I would’ve been better off there than with Neal, and that makes me sad.” Her pained, red eyes look up and practically beg me to say something, anything to make her feel better, but what can I say?

“A lot of people have tried to convince you that you’re nothing, because they knew if you figured out how special you were, you’d leave them, and that scared the shit out of them. That church asshole, your parents, Neal, fuckin’ Jeremiah. . . They all saw that your potential was so much bigger than what they had to offer.”

“Jeremiah?”

“He didn’t tell you his name?”

“No, he made us call him Sir.”

“Fuck that shit. I never want to hear that word come from your lips again.”

“I never want to say it again.” She stares off into the distance for a minute before coming back to me. “And what about you?”

“What about me?” I turn off the water that’s starting to run cold before reaching for a towel and wrapping it around her.

“You said all those people saw that my potential was more than they could offer me. What about you?”

I blow out a breath. “You’re so far out of my league, it ain’t even fuckin’ funny. The difference is I don’t want to hold you back. I just want to be by your side as you unleash your Hellcat ways on the world.”

“I am not out of your league.” She smiles a real smile for the first time tonight.

“I’m glad you think that because you’re stuck with me.” I wrap a towel around my waist, and we step out of the shower.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” Her voice breaks, and she rubs the heel of her palm over her chest.

“Gotta be honest, I was a little worried myself.” I lift her by the hips and set her on the vanity. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this about me or not, but I’m a little bit stubborn.”

She gasps. “You are?”

“And I like getting my way.”

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