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Why her words floated from her mouth and swam around inside my chest, I didn’t understand. But that was exactly what happened. “You’re welcome. I didn’t want to wake you,” I said, running my fingers over her cheek, then to her soft, beautiful hair.
“You can wake me, Nick. It’s fine,” she said, my eyes falling to her plump, open mouth. “And thank you for the clothes—and everything.”
I touched her bottom lip with the pad of my thumb. “Did they treat you well this time?” I asked, still mesmerized by her lips.
She smiled and said, “Yes, everyone was exceptionally well behaved for some reason.”
That made me laugh before I answered back, “As it should be.”
After that, I insisted on taking her to the rest of the stores she’d had an issue with yesterday.
Cherry insisted she had enough clothing for the next several years and there was no reason to shop any more.
Having her disobey my requests—no matter how tiny—gave me pause for thought. Everyone in my life did what I said.
And if they refused, there were consequences.
It also confused me as to why she wouldn’t want me to buy her more things.
While it was true that she’d bought many items from the first store, it was far from everything she needed.
Then I realized something. It hit me like a baseball bat, right in the gut.
I enjoyed it when she didn’t immediately do what I wanted.
Which seemed all kinds of messed up to me.
The reason I was successful, was because people listened when I spoke. And they did what I asked of them.
The way Cherry expressed herself, with honesty and without abandon was—refreshing?
Like last night.
When Langcaster called me because he was worried about her. He’d given me the lowdown on what had happened. Apparently, when he’d asked where her packages were, she’d burst out into tears right there in the car.
It still hadn’t prepared me for walking in and seeing her flat-out in bed, watching a bad eighty’s movie—tissues scattered on the bed and on top of her bedside table.
Yeah, she’d had a horrible day.
Seeing her like that—instead of how she’d been at the hotel—had come as a surprise.
But the biggest surprise of all had been me sticking around to act as some kind of comfort, no matter how meager. I’d definitely considered leaving her alone for the night.
Until I witnessed the carnage that laid in her bed.
After that, there was no way I could leave her alone in there by herself.
Holding her in my arms all night—instead of fucking her every which way I wanted—was also something new to me.
And she’d offered her body to me.
And Christ knows, I wanted to take it.
I knew that was possibly the last thing in the world she’d likely wanted to do at that moment.
But why such a thing mattered to me remained a mystery.
Making sure she’d eaten—even if I had to feed her myself—had become my top priority.
