Page 66 of Inviting Trouble
She slowly sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, accidentally bumping one of his long legs.
He jolted. “Hey, you’re awake. How’re you feeling?”
“Shitty.”
“You need help getting to the bathroom?”
Tears stung her eyes. The room smelled like barf. “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
“It was pretty bad, but you pulled through.”
Her frustration and weakened state crumbled her control and she found herself crying. She crossed her arms, hugging her middle, which still hurt like hell.
“Hey, hey.” Park shifted to sit next to her and put an arm around her heaving shoulders. “It’s okay. Take a shower, brush your teeth, and you’ll start feeling human again.”
She was beyond embarrassed. She was mortified.
“How can you stand to be near me?” she asked.
He brushed her tangled hair back. “You needed me.”
She wiped her eyes. “Thank you. I’m going to try to clean up.”
“I’ll air out your room for you.”
She bit her wobbly lower lip and moved on unsteady legs to the door. A strong arm wrapped around her, helping her there. She managed, slowly and with frequent breaks, to brush her teeth and take a shower. When she returned to her bedroom, clean sheets and a new comforter were on the bed. It smelled fresh too like cold winter air.
She couldn’t even…there were no words for her level of gratitude. She would not cry again. He had dark circles under his eyes from staying up all night with her.
He met her halfway and helped her back to bed, tucking the covers around her, brushing her hair back from her face and kissing her forehead. She suddenly felt like the little twerp hehadto take care of.
“You always going to see me as a twerp?” she asked.
“No.”
“Park—”
“Get some sleep.”
“I just want to say thank you. You went above and beyond the call of duty here.”
His brows drew together, his expression uncertain. “Did I do a good job taking care of you?”
She couldn’t believe he even asked that question. “Yes. You did a great job.”
He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “That means a lot to me. Rest up.”
She was extraordinarily tired. She curled on her side, felt his hand on her head for a long moment like a blessing, and drifted to sleep.
Two days later, Thursday, Mad felt better, enough to eat and drink normally. Park had been sort of fussing over her. It was sweet, but she still felt mortified. After he’d seen her in such a hideous state, she went back to her normal clothes, no hair styling, no makeup. There was just no way to come back from barfing girl. He’d never be able to get those images of her in the throes of food poisoning out of his mind. Nothing sexy about her, as was evidenced by the fact that he never touched her, never flirted, despite the fact they spent plenty of time together alone at home. Her dad was home now but back to working the night shift.
She and Park were sitting on the sofa, binge-watchingSupernaturalsince he’d missed a lot of TV when he was overseas. Her cell rang. Hailey. Park paused the show for her.
Hailey’s voice was high and fast. “There was another break-in at Ludbury House.”
“Oh shit. What’d they take this time?”
“I don’t know. I’m afraid to go look. The police gave me the all clear, but…” Her voice faded out.
