Page 57 of Her Sensual Protector

He called down to the front desk and asked if they could send somebody up to gather her garments for a laundry service. They promised to send someone right up. In the meantime, he pulled out one of his black T-shirts for her to wear. He snuck into the bathroom and pulled her dirty clothes off the floor and left his T-shirt on the sink.

The shower seemed to be reviving her, since she wasn’t leaning against the wall of the shower.

Don’t stare, don’t stare, don’t stare.

He left with the dirty clothes and added them to the pile. There was a knock on the door. He opened it to a woman who held out a laundry bag so Leo could put all of the clothes inside.

“These will be returned tomorrow,” she promised in English.

“Thank you,” he said in Dari. She gave him a shy surprised smile.

Leo closed the door, then heard the water shut off in the bathroom. He waited what seemed like forever for more movement. When he didn’t hear the shower door open, he knocked.

“Daisy?”

“Yeah?” she said.

“You all right?”

Even from outside the bathroom he could hear her sigh. “Yeah. I think so.”

God, she sounded so fragile.

“Honey, do you need help?”

“Yeah. I think I do.”

Fuck.

He pushed open the door. She was still in the shower with her head leaning against the tiled wall. Because of her big personality, he often forgot just how small she was. He was in the bathroom like a shot, and had the shower door open with his arm around her before she had a chance to fall down.

She was shuddering.

“I’m fine, I can do this.” Even her voice was trembling. She was totally lying.

He picked her up and took her into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed.

“I’m getting it wet.”

“Just this side. Hold on, I’ll get a towel.”

He was back with all of the towels in the bathroom. She was curled up on her side. Now instead of just trembling, he could see goosebumps. “I’m cold.”

The fact that she was cold in this hot room told him that she was past her last drop of endurance.

He pulled her up and gently wrapped a large bath towel around her as he pulled her onto his lap. He took another towel and started to squeeze the excess water out of her hair. He looked into her face and concern raced through him. He’d never seen her look so pale, not even when she’d been so distraught over her father. Then she smiled. Not the biggest or happiest smile, but it was something.

“Yes, Ms. Squires? What are you smiling about?”

“Are you destined to take care of me in hotel rooms?” she asked.

He laughed out loud. “Sure seems like it.”

Her eyes opened and he saw a little bit of a twinkle in those beautiful gray eyes. “That was it,” she slurred.

He could barely hear her. Then she yawned.

“What did you say, Honey?”