Page 19 of Ruthless

Chapter 8

Ginger

Present

God, was that the smell of bacon? I turned over onto my back and took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the delicious aroma. It was bacon! When was the last time that I’d smelled bacon in my apartment? I jumped from my bed and rushed out to the kitchen, stopping abruptly when my blurry gaze landed on Rebel, who was standing at the stove. He turned my way, giving me a sexy grin that went straight to my core.

"You didn't have anything edible for breakfast, so I went out and bought a few things." His gaze dropped down my body, reminding me that I was wearing little. I liked to sleep in boy shorts and crop tops. Rebel was only wearing jeans.

"There's yogurt in the fridge." I rubbed the sleepiness from my eyes.

He snorted. "Is that how you keep those smoking hot curves?"

I slowly lowered my hands from my face to meet his eyes. I'd always been sensitive about my weight, knowing that my short stature didn't allow for any extra pounds. I had them, however. "Is that your way of saying I'm fat?" God, I hated that word.

His brows shot up over his startled eyes. "Hell, no, angel. I like the curves you have. Nice, suckable tits, a round ass I can sink my hands into, hips I can hold on to when I'm pounding into you." With each syllable he uttered my eyes grew wide, and I ran out of breath, my jaw dropping with disbelief. He winked at me with amusement. "I especially like your mouth, baby."

I snapped my jaw closed, wishing that I could think of a response that would put Rebel in his place, or at least knock him down a notch, because I sensed that he knew exactly what he was doing to me. Heat infused me from the inside out, caused by the intimacy of his explicit words. A pleasant tingle in my pussy revealed that my body wasn't immune to his filthy talk. I was frozen in place, staring at the godly stud that was casually flipping bacon over. Even my stomach was on board, because damn, we hadn't had bacon in a long time.

My belly growled, which caused Rebel to laugh. I was on the verge of going in for the bacon when my eyes caught the clock on the wall above the sink, and I stopped. "Shit! I forgot to check on Della!" I had forgotten to set my alarm the night before, and it was now eleven o'clock in the morning. Without another word I bolted for the door, and then remembered that I needed my keys. When I swung back around to retrieve them, Rebel was standing there, a cocky grin on his sexy mouth, and my keys dangling from his fingers.

"I had to borrow them when I left for the store," he grinned.

This meant that he'd gone through my purse. I'd bitch at him for that later, but right now I had to take care of Della. I snatched the keys from his hand and ran.

Her apartment was just as quiet as it had been the night before and the kitchen light was still on, telling me that she probably hadn't left her bed. I went directly to her bedroom, hearing the faint sound of voices as I approached, and once inside I found that the TV was on. Della was still in bed, and sometime after I'd left her she’d pulled the folded blankets back over her. Shaking my head, I went to her and put my hand on her forehead. She was still warm, but not feverish.

I looked down at the trash can that I'd left her and tried not to gag, taking it to the bathroom and flushing the contents down the toilet. Then I put the can into the tub and filled it with water, adding some cleaner to it before returning to the bedroom for her glass. I refilled it, got a couple more aspirin, and headed back to Della. I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Honey?" I pulled the covers off her head.

"I'm here," she said. "What time is it?"

"Eleven. Do you feel any better?"

She opened her eyes. "A little. I think I know where I got it from."

"Here, take these," I smiled.

She scooted up into a sitting position. "A couple of days ago I waited on a table where one of the customers complained of being under the weather." She took the pills and water, handing me back the glass. "Later another customer complained that someone had been sick in the men's room and left a mess."

"I remember that." I got up and arranged the pillows behind her back. "Which means that I'll probably get hit with this later." I could only hope that the vitamin C that I took regularly would help fight it off.

Della chuckled low. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

"You better," I joked, sitting back down on the bed. "Do you think you can eat something?"

She made a face. "No way. I don't even want coffee."

"Well, you're not going to work today." I decided not to say anything about the trouble that had happened the night before after she’d left. "Vinny will just have to understand."

"I need the money?"

I gave her a stern look. "You're not going in," I said firmly. "And you can't tell me that with all of the hours we've put in this week that you haven't made a killing in tips."

"Yes, but you don't have the huge dental debt that I have, and I wanted to pay it off."

"Honey, you can't go in today. You're too weak, and probably still contagious. Just stay home today."

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