Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“It’s not perfect.”
“All right, maybe it’s not perfect. But it’s perfect for me. Because I don’t know any other man who would’ve sat here for fifteen minutes and helped with my makeup because they knew how much it meant to me. And it does. I just . . . thank you for giving this back to me. You don’t know how much it means.”
“You’re welcome, baby.” Leaning down, he kissed her forehead. “Now, hair?”
“All right, darlin’. Let’s just slow down. You only just learned to do makeup. Not sure you’re ready for hair.”
“Hey, if I can do contouring, I can damn well do hair.”
Well. She couldn’t argue with that.
36
“Do you know where my phone is?” Opal asked as Renard walked in, carrying a tray of food.
Her stomach actually growled. Seemed she was getting her appetite back. But then, her man could make anything taste good.
“Yeah, I’ve got it.”
“Oh, good. Can I have it?” She hadn’t felt like using it until now. But she’d woken up feeling a lot more alert today.
“No.” He grimaced. “I mean, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” she asked.
He’d been tiptoeing around her since her explosion the day before yesterday. He kept trying to speak softly and he was barely swearing.
She knew he was doing it for her, but honestly, she wanted her old Renard back.
“You’re supposed to be resting.”
“I have been resting since I got here.”
Now, she wanted to see her friends. They’d visited her in the hospital, but she’d been kind of out of it. And then she’d been asleep when they’d brought her some stuff. She missed them.
“I just don’t think you’re ready to deal with the thousand text messages and calls from the people in this town.” He set the food down on the nightstand.
“Everyone has been texting and calling?”
He grunted.
Amazement filled her. “This really is the best place to live, isn’t it?”
Renard stood and eyed her. “Yeah, Gem. It is.”
She took a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions in check. “I’m getting up today.”
“No, you’re not.” He frowned. “I mean, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Yep. She wanted her old Renard back. Plus, he must be giving himself an ulcer trying to curb his bossy ways.
He sat, then picked up the tray and set it carefully over her lap. It had two bits at the side that came down on either side of her hips.
“Did you have this tray before?” she asked.
“Came with the apartment. Eat your eggs. Um, please.”
She glanced down at the scrambled eggs and potato hash. All things that were soft for her to eat.
“I don’t want to eat, though. And I want my phone.”
“You need to eat.” He picked up the fork.
“Renard, I know you’re not deaf.”
He held up a forkful of eggs. “Open up. Coming in.”
She glared at him. “When I called you Daddy, I didn’t mean that I wanted you to start treating me like a baby.”
“Not meaning to treat you like a baby,” he said. “Meaning to treat you like you’re someone precious who went through something horrendous and needs to be taken care of. That’s how I meant to treat you.”
“Damn,” she said, pointing at him. “You’re good.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I am?”
“Yes, I was gearing up for a fight and you took the wind out of my sails.”
“You wanted a fight?”
She shrugged. “Not saying I wanted it. Although maybe then I’d get my old Renard back.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“You can’t keep tiptoeing around me. Every time you boss me around, you then try to amend it so it doesn’t sound so bossy. And you’ve hardly sworn at all. Or gotten loud.”
“I just . . . you’re recovering. You need gentleness and quiet.”
“I love you.”
His eyes flared.
“But I fell in love with the guy who isn’t afraid to express himself. Who is blunt and grouchy and bossy. I want my gruff teddy bear back.”
He blinked, looking like he was thinking. Then his shoulders relaxed. “Well, thank fuck.”
“What?”
“That was exhausting.” He rubbed his stomach. “Think I gave myself an ulcer.”
She couldn’t help but giggle. “Good. Now, give me my phone. I want to text my girls and see why they haven’t been to visit me.”
“Ah. Well.” Renard cleared his throat.
That was a guilty look if ever she’d seen one.
“I asked them to give you some time to recover and that I’d text when you were ready for visitors. You needed some peace and quiet.”
She wanted to be mad. But he was right. She had needed a couple of days to get herself sorted.
“You were right.”
Surprise filled his face. “I was?”
“Yeah. You were. But . . . I want to see them. I need to see them and they need to see me.”
She knew that they had to be going nuts.
“Yeah, well, I’ve had increasingly grouchy messages from a number of unhappy Malones. Apparently, they need fucking proof of life.”