AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I never want to go again.” She said it with complete certainty. She meant every word.
There was no way she was ever going to submit to anyone again.
Raid watched her steadily. No sign of shock or disagreement.
“I mean it. That isn’t me exaggerating or being dramatic. It’s not something I want you to fix. I never want to go back.”
“Then you won’t,” he said simply.
“What if . . . what if people try to make me?”
“And who do you think is going to do that?”
She shrugged.
“If anyone tries to make you do something that you don’t want to do, then you tell me.”
“And what will you do?” she asked.
“Take care of it.”
“All right. Raid, Raid is trying to make me take a nap, and I don’t want to.”
He gaped at her. Then his lips twitched.
“Well, hello, little smart-ass,” he murmured.
Uh-oh. Was that too much?
Before worry could really take hold, he reached up and slowly flicked her nose.
“Did you . . . did you just flick my nose?” she asked.
“Yep, smart-asses get their noses flicked.”
“That seems rude.”
“Gonna add an addendum to my ‘no one gets to tell you what to do’ rule.”
“A what?”
“An addendum. You know, additional material that is added to clarify or add to something.”
“I . . . I know what an addendum is. Just didn’t know that you’d know.”
“When we were younger, we had a lot of family meetings. I figured if I researched how a meeting was supposed to be run, I might have more chance of winning an argument.”
“Did it help?” she asked.
“It did not.”
She couldn’t hold back her lip twitch. “Do I want to know what you were arguing for?”
“I think the question is, what didn’t I ask for, darlin’.” He winked at her before his face grew serious. “Why are you sleeping on the floor?”
She glanced over his shoulder. “Never imagined that Raid Malone would be in my bedroom.”
“You didn’t? I dream about you in my bed all the time.”
Her gaze shot to his. “You do not.”
“Baby, you are delusional if you don’t think I’ve dreamed about you. About going to sleep with you in my arms, waking up with you, and all the things in between.”
A slight tendril of panic unfurled. “Raid–”
“Why are you sleeping on the floor, darlin’?” he asked.
“Because it feels safer,” she blurted out.
“You don’t feel safe sleeping in here?”
“Not . . . not really.”
“Where is your suitcase?” he asked suddenly.
“What?” she asked in confusion. Why would he want to know that?
“Your suitcase. We’ll pack up some of your stuff and move you out to the ranch.”
She took two stumbling steps back. “No.”
“No? Why not? You don’t feel safe here. I can make you safe there. So we’ll move you now.”
Wow. He made it sound so simple.
“Because I’m not ready for anything like that.”
He eyed her for a long moment. “I don’t like that you don’t feel safe enough to sleep.”
“It’s just . . . it’s just in the bed. I guess I like feeling hidden. That’s why I’ve been sleeping between the bed and the wall.”
It was stupid. It wasn’t like it would actually give her any protection if Steven or anyone were to break in.
Steven isn’t going to come looking for you.
“You can’t be getting a very good sleep on the floor.”
That was true.
“If you want to stay here and you want to sleep on the floor, then we’re going to get you a stretcher or a blow-up mattress.”
That sounded amazing. There was just one problem.
But how to tell him?
“I’ll look into it.”
She expected him to protest or take over. But he shocked her by nodding. Then he gently pushed her back before standing. He lifted the blankets off the floor and put them on the bed.
“Hey! What are you doing?” she asked.
“You’re napping in the bed.”
“But I–”
“I’m going to be in the apartment, so you’ll know you’re safe, therefore you’ll sleep.”
“Therefore?”
“Therefore.” He nodded as he made the bed.
Raid Malone was making her bed.
Holy. Heck.
He even pulled down the blankets on one side for her.
“Raid. You don’t need to stay while I nap.”
“Where else would I be?” he asked.
“At your house?”
“To do what? Think about you? Worry that you’re not sleeping, or that you’ve fainted again and hit your head and are bleeding out on your bathroom floor? Think I’m better here.”
“I’m not going to faint again.”
He shot her a quelling look. “I think you should get ready for your nap and stop arguing. It can’t be good for your blood pressure.”
“It might raise it.”
“I need to talk to Jenna. Maybe no arguing could be added to the list of things she wants you to do.”
“An addendum?”
He shook his head at her while waving his finger in the air. “So sassy. Get into bed. I’m going to be on the other side of your door, keeping you safe. Only time I might go out is to make a phone call, but I’ll be right by the door. No one is getting to you. No one will hurt you. I promise.”
