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“Hm?” she murmured.
“You reek.”
Her eyes popped open, and she pushed herself to her elbows. “I just told you I was sick. No one invited you to stay. If I offend your nose, you can get out.”
She glared at him, but her lower lip trembled. Was this the emotional roller coaster she remembered her sister telling her about when she was pregnant? Tae hadn’t spent much time with Janita or Sasha, so she wasn’t sure. Lack of sleep could do it, too.
He stood up, and she folded her arms on the couch and put her head face down on them. Good riddance. She didn’t need him or anyone else either. His footsteps receded, but she never heard the door open and close. Instead the bathroom faucet came on, and she heard clunking around, sounds she identified with the hall closet. The sound the water made changed, and she guessed Jax filled a container with water. If he was thirsty, why didn’t he go to the kitchen and use the dispenser in the refrigerator door? For that matter, what the hell did he use to get the water?
She started to sit up when she heard him coming back. He hurried over to her, water sloshing above the side of the basin he carried. Tae ground her teeth and said nothing at wet splotches on the carpet. Jax dropped to his knees beside her, and a whiff of strawberry rose from the sudsy water. He must have squeezed in her bath gel. When he dipped a washcloth into the water, she drew back.
“What are you going to do with that?”
“Wash you.”
“Dude, seriously? I’ll brush my teeth and gargle, okay?” She tried to sit up, but dizziness assailed her, and she fell back down. Jax caught her and righted her on the couch.
“Lie still.”
“I don’t need your help, Jax. Every woman goes through this when they’re pregnant,” she lied, having no clue if her statement was true. “I can deal with it.”
He ignored her protests and pulled his jacket from his shoulders. That’s when she noticed the gun. Her heart skittered and then beat faster. Jax followed her line of sight, and looked down at himself. “Damn, sorry about that. I came here from a job.”
“You had to carry a gun?”
“I often carry one when I’m working. I have a license to carry a concealed weapon.”
“That seems dangerous.”
“It can be. Now, forget about the gun. I’ll take the holster off. Just relax.”
She kept looking until he’d divested himself of the weapon and set it on the coffee table. “I said I don’t need help.”
He reached out to unbutton her blouse. She smacked his hands. He frowned. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
“Are you going to hit me over the head?”
“No, but I can pin you down.”
“You’d like that!”
“Tae, I’m here to help you. I know you don’t want it, but the last I spoke with Daniel, he decided to work on his marriage.”
She gasped. The words cut. Not that she thought Daniel should stay by her and ignore is own wife, but she had enjoyed her time with him the other day. Even if she never wanted a family, the experience of having Daniel visiting the doctor’s office with her and shopping for the baby with her was kind of nice. But Daniel didn’t have the right to be here. Jax did, and she resented him for it.
“I’m not an invalid,” she said.
“How long have you been sick?”
She shrugged. “A couple days, all day. It’s not fair.”
“When is the last time you ate?”
“Is this twenty questions?”
“When, Tae?”
She rolled her eyes and sighed, then thought about it. The last thing she ate was cereal, and that had been… Wow, had it really been two days ago? “Tuesday.”
