Chapter 27

He carried their luggage out to the car and put it in the trunk, then went around to help her in. He got in behind the wheel, but before starting the car, he shifted his body around to look at her.

“Are you sure you want to go to a hotel?”

She looked back at him. “Well, I’m not going to live here any longer.”

“Well, why don’t you just come back to my place?”

“Do you mean come back to your place until I find an apartment?”

He cleared his throat. Suddenly he felt a little bit nervous. He had never lived with a woman before—that is, other than his mother.

“I was actually thinking that maybe you could move in with me on a permanent basis.

“But if you think it’s too soon, I’ll understand, and if you do say yes, I’m going to have to figure out how to fit all of your clothes into the condo.

“I suppose I could turn the spare bedroom into a walk-in closet for you, or perhaps we could look for a bigger place.”

When she didn’t say anything, he looked at her, feeling a little discouraged. “I’m sorry. I’m rushing you. Let’s just forget I asked.”

“How can I forget when you’ve already asked? Dexter, I would love to move in with you—that is, if you mean it.”

“I do mean it. I want your face to be the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning and your lips the last thing I taste before I fall asleep at night.”

He leaned over to kiss her, making sure not to touch her shoulder. “Let’s get you home and into bed. You need to rest.”

Feeling like he was on top of the world, he started the car and drove off. The only thing on his mind that was kind of bothering him was what to do with all of her clothes and shoes and stuff.

He would just have to do something with that spare bedroom, which could be used as an extra closet for her clothes, because he was not going to ask her to get rid of her stuff.

When they reached his condo and got up to his apartment, he helped her get undressed for bed. Once she was settled in, he thought he better go get some groceries and a set of keys made for her.

He went over and sat on the bed and leaned over to kiss her.

“I’ve got no food in this place, so I’m going to go out and stock up on groceries. Is there anything you want before I go? All I have is some water and crackers, but they’re probably stale by now.”

“Maybe just a glass of water. And while you’re gone, I’ll go to sleep. I should take a pill now for the pain.”

He went out to the kitchen and opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water. He grabbed a glass from the counter and took it back to the bedroom and poured some water into the glass.

“Now is there something that you like a lot to eat, or something you don’t like that I shouldn’t get?”

“I’m not a picky eater. I’ll eat just about anything. I would like strawberries. They are my absolute favorite dessert.”

“Okay. I won’t be gone long, and I’ll make sure to lock the door behind me.

“If you wake up and think of anything you want me to get, just give me a call on my cell,” he said, placing her phone next to her on the nightstand.

“Roxie, I love you, and I’m glad that we decided to move in together. I hope you won’t regret it.”

She reached up with her good arm and touched his cheek. “I love you, and I’ll never regret it. Secretly, I was hoping you would suggest us moving in together.”

After giving her a kiss and making sure that she was all right, he left to go get the groceries. He also wanted to stop and get her some flowers.

He knew that they had things to discuss, but that could wait until she was feeling better. Right now, all he wanted to do was take care of her and show her how much he loved her.

There were going to be some changes he would have to make in his life.

For one thing, he was done being a bodyguard and would have to find another line of work, one where he would be home at night.

The other thing was that he knew how important her career was.

He wondered if she would go back to work for her father once she found out he offered to make her partner, or would she want to start up her own business?

Whatever she decided, he was behind her 100 percent.

He was gone longer than he thought he would be, and when he got home, she was sitting in the living room watching TV. “Hey, what are you doing out of bed? You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I was tired of laying down, so I thought it would be okay if I came out here and watched TV. You sure have a lot of stuff there,” she said when she saw all the bags in his arms.

“There’s more in the car. Just let me put these in the kitchen, and I’ll go back out and get them.”

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left again to get the rest of the stuff, and when he got back, he found her in the kitchen, taking things out of the bag.

She saw the look of disapproval on his face and knew he was not happy with her. “I just wanted to help.”

He walked over to her and took the frozen vegetables out of her hand. “Right now your job is to rest so that you will heal. I don’t want you lifting a finger for the next few days.”

He then handed her a bouquet of flowers of different varieties. “I wasn’t sure what your favorite flower was, so I got them to put a mixture in. I hope you like them.”

She took them from him and placed them close to her nose as she smelled them. “This was so sweet of you. And I love them. Do you have a vase I can put them in?”

“You go lay down on the sofa, and I’ll take care of the flowers after I put the groceries away. I mean it. Get going.”

“Wow, you are so bossy,” she said, smiling as she walked back into the living room.

She lay there on the sofa, listening to him putting the stuff away and humming to himself. She thought back to when she’d first met him.

He was so tough-looking and so stern that she had to admit she’d been just a little intimidated by him.

She considered him to be an arrogant, self-righteous jerk, but then she saw the sweet and tender side of him.

He was everything she wanted in a man: strong, dependable, gorgeous, with a body that had women drooling. The fact that he was amazing in bed was a bonus.

“Now, what’s that smile on your face for?” he asked, putting the vase of flowers on the coffee table.

She blushed, feeling her face getting hot. “Do you really want to know?”

“I do.”

“Well, I was thinking of your body and all the things you’ve done to me with it. In fact, I wouldn’t mind having it naked on top of me right now.”

Damn, the way she was looking at him…the tip of her tongue when it swiped across her bottom lip got him hard.

As much as he would have loved to tear off her clothes and make love to her, he just couldn’t, not until she was healed. “Not now. Maybe in a few days, if you’re feeling better.”

“It’s only my shoulder that’s sore, not my lower half.”

He had to chuckle at her persistence. He leaned over to kiss her, breaking the kiss before it went too far.

“Nice try, sweet cheeks, but you’ll have to wait just as I do. Now I’m going to start supper. How does chicken stir-fry sound to you?”

“It sounds delicious. I didn’t know you could cook.”

“For your information, I happen to be an excellent cook—or should I say, chef. I can make just about anything you ask for.”

He handed her a glass of water and took one of the pills from the bottle and handed it to her.

“It’s time for your pill, and when you’re done, I want you to lay back down and try to get some sleep. I’ll wake you when supper’s ready.”

Taking the water and pills from him, she saluted him. “Aye aye, captain,” she said, giggling.

As he was walking away, he commented over his shoulder, “Keep it up, you cheeky little monkey, and when you’re feeling better, I’m going to cuff you to the bed and spank your butt.”

“Oh my. I’ll have to be sure to be a little bit sassier in the future. I’ve been wondering when the handcuffs were going to start coming out.”

Going back into the kitchen, he had to laugh to himself. If she was really looking forward to being tied to the bed, he was going to make a point of doing just that.

Thinking about her all tied up and helpless underneath him got him hard. He felt the pressure beneath the zipper.

She seemed to have a knack for getting him all horned up when there was nothing he could do about it.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep when she felt his hand caressing her arm. She could smell the sweet aroma of what he was cooking, and her stomach growled.

“That smells so delicious.”

“I hope you like it. If you want, we can eat in here. It might be more comfortable for you.”

She sat up and stretched her good arm. “No, I would rather get up, so that I can start moving around.”

He helped her up, even though she’d said she could manage. They went into the kitchen, and he had her sit down while he dished out a plate for both of them.

“Wow, you were right. This is delicious.”

He smiled when she complimented his cooking. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but can you cook?”

“Yes, my mother taught me before she died. But I have to admit, I haven’t done much cooking in the last few years.”

When they were done eating, he did up the dishes, and later they got ready for bed.

“Oh, I almost forgot to give you these,” he said, getting out of bed and going over to his jacket. He took out her diamond earrings, along with the check.

He handed her the earrings but still held on to the check.

“I’m glad you were able to find these.”

“It was very clever of you to leave them so that I could. It was a big help letting me know which direction to go in.”

“What’s that in your hand?” she asked when she noticed he was holding it.

“Before we left your father’s place, he gave this to me.”

“Oh good. You decided to take the money after all. I’m glad you did, because you really deserved it.”

“Maybe you better take a look at it,” he said, handing it to her.

She gave him a funny look, wondering why he would want her to look at it. Did her father not pay him as much as he said he would? Or did he give him more?

Her eyes widened when she saw it was made out to her. “I don’t understand. Why is it made out to me?”

“I told both you and your father that I would not take his money for protecting the woman I love. But I thought it should go to you.”

“But why?”

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to go back and work for your father or not. If you decide you don’t want to, then this money could help you to start up your own business.”

“My own business? But that would take forever, and I would need a lot more money than this.”

“You could start off small and build it up. This money can be the start of owning your own business.

“You’ve already got people asking you to design clothes for them, and if you need more money, I can help you with that.”

“You? But you don’t have that kind of money.”

“I kind of do. Remember how I told you that when I came out of the Navy SEALs I made some financial investments and it paid off pretty well for me?

“Now, mind you, my wealth is nothing compared to your father’s, but I did all right. Look, you don’t have to decide right now.

“Just hang on to this money until you know what you want to do. But whatever that is, this money is yours.”

“Why are you being so generous? You earned this money, so it’s yours.”

“If you won’t take it, then I’ll just tear it up.”

“You wouldn’t,” she said in shock.

He took the check between his fingers. “Yes, I would. Now what’s it going to be? Are you going to accept it or not?”

She snatched it from his hand. “You really are crazy. I’ll do what you suggested. I’ll hang onto it until I decide what I want to do.

“It would be better to keep it than to have Claudia get her hands on it.”

A thought came into her mind, and it made her feel sad. “I suppose you’ll be moving on to another job soon. I guess that means you’ll be gone for weeks, maybe even months at a time.”

When she lay down, he leaned over her. “I’m giving up on that line of work.”

“You are?” she asked, feeling relieved.

“I have no intention of leaving you alone, not even for one night.”

“Then what will you do?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll think of something. There’s something else on my mind, something you mentioned a while back.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I think it’s time I went back home and visited my parents, and I want you to go with me. But we’ll wait until you’re feeling better. You’ll still go with me, right?”

“Of course I will.”

After talking for a while, they finally went to sleep.