Page 6 of Finding Solace
Her hypnotizing eyes connected with mine and held my stare for a beat before she responds, "You mind letting me in first before I explain why I'm here?" she says soundingpissed.
She's out here ringing my damn doorbell, waking me up and she's pissed off? "What do you want? I'm not in the mood for visitors," I tellher.
"InCare sentme."
What? Hell no. This isn’t going to work. I won't have Mila doing those things for me. "No" Iclip.
"No?" she answers a bit taken back by my attitude, but she quickly recovers, "Look, I admit, I had some reservations at first when I was given your file yesterday, but I need this job, Reid." When Mila crosses her arms over her chest, the move pushes her ample chest up further, causing my attention to shift briefly. "I'm also not going to stand here and beg either," She retorts, giving me a little attitude inreturn.
I bring my eyes back up to her face only to see hers glaring back at me. "I understand the requirements are full-time, for at least four to eight weeks, depending on recovery time. Am Icorrect?"
"You read the chart, Kitten, so I would assume you already know that," I continue to stare at her and notice her eyes flare in irritation at my calling her Kitten. "I'm not a damn pet. I have a name," she hisses. "So I would appreciate you usingit."
"Nah, I think I like Kitten better," I interject with a grin and watch as her face reddens and she balls her fists up at her side. When I open my mouth to retort, I'm effectively cut off by the raise of her hand. Not many people would get away with that shit, but Mila doing it shows me she's got a nice set of lady balls and I can respectthat.
"My daughter would have to come too," she grinds out through clenched teeth, ignoring my laststatement.
I'm not prepared to deal with the noise and hassle involved with a kid running around my home.Shit.No matter what my mixed-up feelings are about my current situation or the fact that I'm crazy attracted to the woman standing in front of me, I'm not going to be the reason she can't take care of her little girl. Giving in, for now, I make my way to the kitchen table, and she follows. Pulling a chair out, she takes aseat.
"You realize what you're in for? I'm not a small man, Mila," I gesture to myself with my hands, "You may have to help me get in and out of things like this chair, a vehicle-" I pause and try to hide a grin, "the shower. And sometimes I need help getting my clothes on. It's not something I want done for me, but with one good arm…" I shrug my shoulders keeping eye contact withher.
She scans my body. And it doesn't go unnoticed she didn't linger on my leg. Most women do. They keep staring as if it's an alien life form or something, but shedidn't.
Clearing her throat, she sits up straighter, "I'm more than capable of doing all those things, Mr. Carter. It's my job, and I'm pretty good atit."
Oh. It's Mr. Carter now."I thought you were an OB nurse?" I questionher.
"I'm certified in In-home care as well. I wouldn't have been sent here if I wasn'tqualified,"
"Alright, then I'll give it one week for you to show me you can handle it," Irespond.
Relaxing, Mila leans back in her chair, "I apologize for waking you this morning. I can make some coffee if you like?" she scans the room then stands, making her way to the counter where the coffee potsits.
I watch the way she moves as she makes her way to the counter "Sounds like a goodstart."
What have I got myselfinto?
"I can find my way around the kitchen. You can get dressed if you want. Put on a shirt," she says opening and closing cabinets until she finds what sheneeds.
Maybe I make her just as uncomfortable as she makesme.
"That’s okay, Kitten. I'mgood."
Her back stiffens when the word Kitten leaves my mouth once again, but chooses to ignore it this time. She shrugs her shoulders, "Suit yourself. You hungry? I could cook you something. It's all part of my job description." Walking over to the fridge, she opens it, only to find some expired coffee creamer and a jar a mayonnaise. "Or maybe not," she mumbles closing thedoor.
"I need to get some groceries. Quinn was here and found what food I did have was all spoiled before leaving yesterday." I say, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand and recall his face when he took a bite of the bad lunch meat he had slapped on to some bread while making a sandwich yesterday. Mila lets out a soft laugh that surprisingly relaxes me enough to smile aswell.
"Yeah, I've noticed the few times I've been around Quinn he's alwayseating."
"Come on. I'll show you around while we wait for the coffee," I offer. "As you can see this is the kitchen and living roomarea."
We make our way towards the hallway. I stop at the spare room and open the door, moving my chair enough for her to squeeze by and look inside. The room is empty. I've had no reason to have furniture put in there. Until now. As she brushes by me, I inhale, breathing in herscent.
"Did you just sniff me?" Mila turns to faceme.
"It's called breathing. You're a nurse. You should know the basic functions of the human body," I smart off, and move further down the hall, showing her the bathroom, "It's all yours. I have my own in my bedroom." Continuing the tour, I give her short-clipped conversation. Stopping, I show her the master bedroom. She walks around and takes in the equipment I had installed yesterday before stepping into thebathroom.
"I'm happy to see you are trying to do some things on your own, but that shower is an accident waiting to happen," she says walking back out from looking at the shower stall, "You really should get a non-slip shower stool to sit on and not that tiled bench seat. Oh, and one of those non-slip tub mats too," shestates.
