Her throat was tight. She wanted to rage, wanted to read him for filth the way she would anyone else who dared to tell her anything about herself. Except, there was so much kindness and truth glimmering in his hazel eyes, that the fight that was always brimming just beneath the surface somehow dissipated, leaving her with this desire to give into what Adam was offering.
When was the last time someone took care of you?
Again, even when she asked herself that, she couldn’t come up with an answer. And right there, she decided that maybe, just maybe, it would be nice to know what it felt like to let someone else take the reins.
Her fight with her mother this afternoon left her raw. Even though she smiled and teased on her doorstep when he arrived, deep down she was hurting from the things her mother had said to her.
Could she stop being superwoman for five minutes and let this man be a balm to her tired soul? Did she even want to?
Without thought or word, she moved her hand away from the door, placing her palms flat against her thighs. Adam sat still, watching her, probably to see if she would default to her superheroine ways. But whether it was because she didn’t want to fight with him or maybe because he’d spoken complete truth to her that rattled her aching soul, either way, she sat there and would continue to do so until he opened the door for her. Because for tonight, she wanted Adam to take care of her, to focus on what she needed, and if her temporary acquiescence was all he asked in return, tonight, only tonight, she would give it to him.
He opened her door and helped her out of the car, carrying her bag in one hand while the other rested at the base of her back, gently guiding her from the driveway, up the steps and into his house.
“So, what do you have planned tonight?”
He sat her bag down next to the bottom of the staircase, and turned toward her.
“I’m gonna draw a hot bath for you upstairs. You can soak some of that tension away while I cook. I have Alexas set up all throughout the house, so I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready for you.”
“You’re not gonna join me?”
He folded his arms, one corner of his mouth lifting into a cocky grin.
“I’d love to, but I think you need some time to soak away the day. I want you able to give all your attention to the good, relaxing time we’re going to have when you come back down.”
Not sure how to respond to that, she simply nodded and followed his lead upstairs into the spacious main bedroom.
Once inside, he sat her bag down on the foot bench and pointed to a door to their right, before disappearing inside the bathroom.
While he did whatever he was doing in there, she took in the spacious room with its wooden panels accenting the window frames that brought a masculine yet warm look to the room. The maroon and cream accents in the carpeting and the gold-framed artwork on the walls brought together the bold and modern in conjunction with the deep brown furnishing.
By the looks of his bedroom, Adam had great taste. She couldn’t wait to get a tour of the rest of the house to see how he’d made this cookie-cutter house in his development, a home.
“I left lounge clothes and a robe on the back door.”
“You bought me lounge clothes? How did you know what size?”
He shrugged. “I notice everything about you. Figuring out what size fluffy pj’s you wore wasn’t that hard.”
Impressed, she nodded and turned to walk toward the bathroom when she felt his large hand tug on hers. When Janae turned around, Adam pressed his lips to hers. Soft, yet strong, his movements were intentional. This wasn’t one of the chaste kisses he’d given her whilethey were in public. This was delayed passion he’d apparently been holding on to since he’d left her earlier in the day.
When he released her, he walked backward toward the bedroom door, taking in her luscious form once again. “Dinner will be waiting for you when you’re done. See you soon.”
She stood there for a few moments processing what was happening. The truth was, she couldn’t really say one way or another exactly what was going on. Her heart was pounding, her mind was spinning, and her body was vibrating with pent-up energy she didn’t exactly know what to do with.
Having sex with Adam had been easy. He was gorgeous, and he knew how to please her. But this wasn’t sex. Oh, she was sure it would lead to great sex. She was almost counting on it. Yet somehow, this was something deeper than just the physical. This was care. And like he’d said in the car, she knew how to give it, but receiving it was a foreign matter altogether.
She shook her head, trying to get control of her thoughts when she stepped into the bathroom. The room was dim, lit only by several candles strategically placed throughout the open-spaced room.
The clawfoot tub was filled with rose petals, and she could smell lavender wafting up from its depths. This wasn’t just care, this was thoughtful care, and the idea that someone cared enough about her to do something so simple, yet meaningful, made Janae’s heart beat harder in her chest.
Adam was right, she wasn’t used to this kind of treatment. For the first time in her life she could admit that even though the idea of letting someone else run the show for a bit scared her, she desperately wanted to become used to this type of care by a person who claimed she was important to them.
“I hope I didn’t stay in the tub so long that dinner got cold.”
Adam stood at the counter, stirring the contents of his slowcooker. He could easily blame the inviting warmth floating up from the appliance on the heat that was slowly traveling through him. That would be a cop-out. Owning his reaction to Janae, when his eyes met hers, Adam admitted the only thing causing his temperature to rise was the beautiful woman standing in the flannel robe he’d left for her upstairs.
Yes, Janae in flannel was doing it for him. That shouldn’t surprise him since Janae in anything he’d seen her in since his return seemed to tick all the boxes he hadn’t realized he even had.
