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“Who puts out just because someone has given her a random act of kindness,” she hisses, her mouth thinning with displeasure.
“You think that this is what that is? Some kind of convoluted booty call?” I shoot back just as quietly, given the kid seems to have dozed off.
“Then what is it then?” she asks, her cheeks flushing angrily, her suspicion thick and cloying between us.
“Look, I ain’t like that. I meant it when I said that I just wanted to help.”
“Why?” she counters, her worried gaze flicking to her son.
“Because you look like you need it.”
“I can look after my son just fine,” she replies tetchily, moving to grab her kid from my arms. He lets out a stuttered sob, cuddling closer against my chest. Her hand drops away.
“Yeah, but who’s looking after you?”
Her eyes snap up to meet mine, heat flooding her cheeks. “I can take care of the both of us.”
“Is that why you’re sleeping in your car?” I reply, instantly regretting my harsh tone of voice. Whatever she’s been through, she’s projecting it onto me, and that makes me mad, not her need to protect her son.
“You’ve no right to judge me,” she counters shakily.
“I ain’t judging you,” I sigh, wishing I was better equipped to deal with this situation. She’s so fucking skittish, and I do my best to even my features to stop her from ripping the kid out of my arms and running out of the bar.
“Then what is this exactly?”
“Just hear me out,” I say, wondering why I’m about to say what I am, given she clearly wants to get the fuck out of here and as far away from me as possible. “I have a spare room at my place. You can stay there for the night. Clean the kid up properly. Take a shower. Have a good night’s sleep. Then tomorrow you can decide your next move.”
“You want me to go back to your place?” her voice rises with every word, and I wince at how my offer sounds.
“To sleep. To rest. There’s nothing more to it than that. I swear.” I add.
She bites on her lip, uncertainty a dark cloud marring her pretty face. “I don’t know you.”
“You’re right. You don’t,” I reply, trying to put myself in her shoes. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out she ran from her partner given Toby mentioned his dad earlier, and from the way she’s acting there’s no doubt he’s abused her in some way. My offer of help seems a lot more loaded, and frankly, down right scary for a woman who’s cleary fucking terrified. I need to approach this differently. “Okay, look. I have a friend whose family owns a hotel here in town. I’ll get you a room no problem. You can stay there.”
“I don’t have money for a hotel room,” she quickly replies, more heat flooding her cheeks.
“That’s okay. He’s my best mate, he owes me a favour.”
More like a thousand. The amount of times I’ve helped Dalton out when he’s gotten into trouble with his womanising ways is a joke. So asking for a room for one night in the hotel he manages for his father isn’t going to be an issue. Besides, I know for a fact he keeps at least one room free so he can take women back there to fuck. Looks like tonight he’ll have to find somewhere else to go if there isn’t any other rooms free at the hotel.
“I have no means of paying you back,” she whispers after a moment.
“Just call this–”
“A random act of kindness?” she finishes for me.
“Do you have an alternative to sleeping in your car tonight?” I counter, ignoring her sarcasm.
She flicks her gaze away. “No,” she eventually whispers.
“Then you stay at the hotel. Sleep in a decent bed. Wash up. Rest. You can have a big breakfast in the morning.”
“A big breakfast?”
“Like I said, my best mate owes me. A room for the night, and a full English breakfast is the least he can do.”
“I don’t know…” her voice trails off with indecision, but I can tell she’s close to agreeing. She looks dead on her feet, physically exhausted and no doubt emotionally and mentally too.
