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She was here for a reason. And it wasn’t because Alejandro De Leon was the most gorgeous, sexy guy she’d ever met.
Moving into the bathroom, she closed the door, noting there was a lock.
Thank God for that.
She turned the lock and glanced over at the bath, which was filled with bubbles. It smelled amazing in here. Vanilla and caramel?
Yum.
Her tummy rumbled, reminding her that it had been a long time since lunch. Which had consisted of a handful of crackers since there hadn’t been anything else in the cupboard. She’d eaten the last of the bread for breakfast.
With a sigh, she started stripping off her clothes. Shivers racked her body as she threw them on the floor. She never wanted to see those clothes again. Even if it were possible to salvage them.
Which it wasn’t.
She stared at herself in the mirror. Looking back at her was a girl with wide eyes filled with fear and resignation.
That girl looked like she expected the world to beat her down.
She didn’t want to be that girl.
Turning away, she ran her hand through the water. The temperature was pleasant, but not hot enough.
She needed it boiling hot. That was the only way she was going to feel clean again. She let out some of the water, then turned the hot tap on. Placing her hand under the water, she hissed at the heat.
Good.
There was a red mark on her skin, but she ignored it.
Soap. Was there something to clean herself with? She sat down in the bath and found the shower gel sitting on a shelf built into the wall. Grabbing it, she started to scrub.
And scrub. And scrub.
11
Alejandro walked back into the bedroom. It was empty, but the bathroom door was closed.
He should have told her to leave it open.
Moving to the door, he turned the handle.
Then, stared at it in confusion when it didn’t open. What the hell? What was wrong with it? He turned the handle again.
Then it clicked.
She’d locked it. Locked him out.
Oh, he didn’t think so. This was completely unacceptable. She was in his house. She was his guest.
And she’d abide by his rules.
He knocked on the door.
“Yes?” she called out.
Was the water running? Why would the water be running when he’d ensured it was at the perfect temperature?
“The door is locked.” Perhaps she’d locked it by accident. Because that was the only acceptable explanation.
“Um, yeah. I know. I locked it.”
“Open it.”
“Oh, do you have something for me to put on? If you could just leave the clothes there, I’ll grab them when I’m out.”
Why did she sound so off? So flat? And why was she arguing with him instead of immediately obeying him?
This wasn’t happening.
“Open the door.”
There was nothing. No answer. No noise.
This disobedience couldn’t be allowed to continue. Alejandro looked at the lock. Unfortunately, it was good quality, but he could have it taken off from this side.
And then this girl was in big trouble.
The water was finally boiling hot. Good. It might stop this scratchy feeling working its way across her skin.
Clean. She’d just get clean.
Then she’d be fine.
There was a strange noise over by the door and she glanced over. “Alejandro? Is that you?”
“Yes.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to cut out the lock,” Alejandro said.
“You . . . you what?”
“I’m cutting out the lock.”
“Why would you do something crazy like that?” This man was insane. But she couldn’t deny that being around him made her feel better than any bubble bath ever could. Her heart rate started slowing, she felt more settled.
It was bizarre.
“Because I do not like locked doors between us. And I need to see that you’re all right.”
“I’m fine.”
“You do not sound fine.”
The saw started up again.
Dear. Lord. He was not cutting the fucking lock off this gorgeous door.
“Wait! I’ll unlock it.”
“Get out of the bath carefully,” he told her. He didn’t protest or sound surprised. Jerk had probably figured that she would open the door once he went all chainsaw massacre on her.
She climbed from the bath and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself. Thankfully, the towel was enormous and covered her completely as she moved to the door and unlocked it.
He immediately walked in, filling the room with his presence.
He turned thunderous hazel-colored eyes onto her, his gaze running over her before he scowled. “Why are you so red?”
“What?” That was a weird question.
“Your skin is red.”
She glanced down at her arms and gulped. Shoot. They were red. And now that he’d mentioned it, she felt overly warm and the red patch on her hand was throbbing painfully. Maybe she’d made the bath a touch too hot.
“The bath was too cold.”
“It was not cold. It was perfect. You ran the hot water, didn’t you?” He stormed past her to test the water, hissing as he dipped his fingers in. “Far too hot. What do you think you were doing? Were you trying to burn yourself?”
